Why do bunnies receive the short end of the stick?

[eskaisbell]

Visited our little local farm today for some fun for the family. I was so sad to see the conditions the bunnies were kept in. Small wire cages, little to no hay, half had no water and those that did was in rusty disgusting dishes. They wreaked of ammonia so their cages clearly never get washed out. One little sweet mini lop I think had a sore on his nose that looked untreated.

I just don't understand. All the other animals there had these large enclosures, huge hay racks, and space to run and hide if they want. Not the rabbits.
I posted a scathing review.

 

[zuppa]

I am all with you on this unfortunately I can't comment more on the issue because of the forum's rules that 'we are not bashing breeders here' but I completely agree that their life is miserable and pointless my heart is breaking every time I see this sort of pics and think of the rabbits kept in these miserable conditions.

 

[GigiRabbits]

Bunnies can be cheap and they can reproduce quickly, so I guess that some people think they can treat them poorly and it won't even matter It makes me so sad as well - I hope these rabbits get some better care!

 

[ArtistChibi]

Considering it only cost $19 to adopt a rabbit here where I am at the local shelter and what they recommend rabbit owners do compared to what Tu Shen's breeder does, it's not surprising people still think rabbits don't deserve respect.
But if you think about it, some breeders keep and breed rabbits for food. My old neighbor did. Were those rabbits for sale for food or for pet ownership?

 

[HalaBuns]

Rabbits are still seen as being “disposable” - literally. I read one story yesterday of a bunny being rescued from a trash can outside a pet market here. They obviously bought it, immediately regretted the idea and then dumped him in a bin. Bunny is doing great btw, but that probably happens regularly. The pet market should be closed down, it’s disgusting.

7 bunnies have been found dumped here in the last 24 hours alone, it’s heartbreaking. One woman has found 3 in a month whilst out walking her dog. People don’t bother to take the time to educate themselves or think their choices through before buying a rabbit. And the breeders here don’t care whether the bunnies survive or not, they just want a sale.

Someone actually infiltrated our closed FB bunny group last week and tried to “adopt” a bunny for the purpose of eating it. You can buy rabbit meat here, but they preferred to try to trick the rabbit community into handing over a much loved bun. Sick.

Sadly, I have no idea how we change the mentality of some people.

 

[LizzyMayHarvey]

7 bunnies have been found dumped here in the last 24 hours alone, it’s heartbreaking. One woman has found 3 in a month whilst out walking her dog. People don’t bother to take the time to educate themselves or think their choices through before buying a rabbit. And the breeders here don’t care whether the bunnies survive or not, they just want a sale.

Someone actually infiltrated our closed FB bunny group last week and tried to “adopt” a bunny for the purpose of eating it. You can buy rabbit meat here, but they preferred to try to trick the rabbit community into handing over a much loved bun. Sick.

Sadly, I have no idea how we change the mentality of some people.

And this is why I totally prefer animals over people.

Sadly, I have no idea how we change the mentality of some people.

Some humans are just thick.

 

[SallyMarshall]

Unfortunate rabbits, I feel so sorry for them, when the animals are not taken care of it's terrible!!

 

[Farm_Lover_With_Bunnies]

Errr yes, I was at a local feed store the other day and they had baby bunnies in tiny wire bottom cages and there were so many in each cage that they couldn’t really move without stepping on one another and they had no hay! So upsetting

 

[eskaisbell]

These bunnies weren't for sale or raised as meat as far as I know, they're just part of this farm where you can go and look at farm animals and feed them. Except you can't feed the bunnies and they have signs asking you not to touch them.

Honestly I'm of the opinion even if you're going to raise animals for meat, they should be given humane treatment and treated with respect. I know they breed some of them and sell the babies, some of the cages had probably 3 week of babies.

 

[TreasuredFriend]

Ditto -- Loud and clear. I prefer my pets and animals over humans. Certain humans consider animals to be disposable commodity. -- Rabbits get far less respect than the top two surrendered pets to shelters.

I frequent various groups and continually hear about the uwanteds, discards, abandoned rabbits, and forms of disregard by uncaring indivudals who think lagomorphs are void of emotions and feelings. They are just "objects".

In 2008 I visited a forum, maybe even this forum, and a poster commented about an ag' store that had a bun with a broken leg and the (unnamed) place was going to throw the small unpurchased white rabbit in the trash can by close of business before Easter Sunday. I hear many, many observations from friends wrt the same experience you had.

We, or I, bond with people who care ....

 

[TreasuredFriend]

Many stories & actual observations of the same experiences that members here have posted.

- If anyone has suggestions on how to change this, I'm all ears. I do feel HRS is trying to improve lives for lagomorph pets (via education and efforts) yet it's going to take a lot of adovcacy and Caring Hearts, and voices speaking up to turn the Titanic around.

Thank you for mentioning what you see, how much you care. Bun hugs to you and yours,

 

[kimmieskakes]

Visited our little local farm today for some fun for the family. I was so sad to see the conditions the bunnies were kept in. Small wire cages, little to no hay, half had no water and those that did was in rusty disgusting dishes. They wreaked of ammonia so their cages clearly never get washed out. One little sweet mini lop I think had a sore on his nose that looked untreated.

I just don't understand. All the other animals there had these large enclosures, huge hay racks, and space to run and hide if they want. Not the rabbits.
I posted a scathing review.


View attachment 54605View attachment 54606

This just made me so SAD So Wrong!!!

 

[SableSteel]

That looks like a nice cage to me. KW cages is a very respected brand in the rabbit community; they make high quality cages and their cages aren't cheap. The floor wire of these cages is 1/2" x 1", and of a thick enough gauge that the rabbits feet are usually very clean and very healthy. These are larger than standard breeding cages, and even have baby saver wire on the siders (a finer mesh on the bottom so that babies can't fall through.) The rabbits look clean and healthy. Look like two holland lops and a mini rex in this picture. They even have hay in the cages, which isn't considered necessary on a show diet (I don't feed hay). These are beautiful show rabbits that are obviously quite well loved with thought and research put into their care (the KW cages would have had to been brought in from California!). It's unfortunate you felt the need to put a bad review because these people didn't follow your narrow definition of how a rabbit "should" be treated. There's more than one way to raise a rabbit.

 

[TreasuredFriend]

The rabbits don't look happy at all. Bored. Subjected to being an object in a cage. Their body language is extremely different than the rabbits we have in our home. Very sad that wire is the only surface their feet will know.

Did you see any chihuahua puppies or small dogs being kept in a cage?

 

[TreasuredFriend]

Their body language is different than the rabbits seen on this website, or the housing link that describes small cages with wire bottoms.

RabbitsIndoorsWeebly is a fabulous website. Much more TLC and thought process into making a lagomorph be happy and comfortable.

https://rabbitsindoors.weebly.com/housing-options.html

Some humans view rabbits as objects. Likely keeping a small dog in a set-up like this also.

 

[Watermelons]

Watching.....

 

[peanutdabunny]

These bunnies weren't for sale or raised as meat as far as I know, they're just part of this farm where you can go and look at farm animals and feed them. Except you can't feed the bunnies and they have signs asking you not to touch them.

Honestly I'm of the opinion even if you're going to raise animals for meat, they should be given humane treatment and treated with respect. I know they breed some of them and sell the babies, some of the cages had probably 3 week of babies.

Why is your rabbit so cute! I know this is not about this but you need to make a post just droping photos of your bun! are they a lilac/opal? I am still learning the colors, lol not too easy for me

 

[eskaisbell]

That looks like a nice cage to me. KW cages is a very respected brand in the rabbit community; they make high quality cages and their cages aren't cheap. The floor wire of these cages is 1/2" x 1", and of a thick enough gauge that the rabbits feet are usually very clean and very healthy. These are larger than standard breeding cages, and even have baby saver wire on the siders (a finer mesh on the bottom so that babies can't fall through.) The rabbits look clean and healthy. Look like two holland lops and a mini rex in this picture. They even have hay in the cages, which isn't considered necessary on a show diet (I don't feed hay). These are beautiful show rabbits that are obviously quite well loved with thought and research put into their care (the KW cages would have had to been brought in from California!). It's unfortunate you felt the need to put a bad review because these people didn't follow your narrow definition of how a rabbit "should" be treated. There's more than one way to raise a rabbit.

We just disagree. The cages aside, I wasn't a fan of the terrible smell of ammonia, the rusty water dishes, and those without water. They didn't look happy and loved to me. They looked bored and neglected. The grey holland lop had a sore on his nose and kept sneezing.

I agree with @TreasuredFriend - keeping a dog or cat in a similar situation is considered inhumane and would have a lot of people throwing a fit. But because it's a rabbit, it's ok.


@peanutdabunny thank you! I'm bad with coloring as well, but here are some pictures of my handsome boy and his baby we've decided to keep

 

[Bunnysrcool17]

om gosh!!!! there sooooooooooooooooo cute!

 

[TreasuredFriend]

Your bunnies are very fortunate to have your love, eskaisbell. I agree with everything you typed.

We purchased the KW wire caging units long time ago when I needed to foster 5 from local shelter that were going to be euth'd due to no space left at shelter! (A horse farm surrender of dutches, mom and four babies). The cages eventually were thrown out after we made improvements and upgraded our living area for the fostered family. Our fosters and family members all have litter boxes. We continually do upgrades and do many things as mentioned in the linked article on housing options.

@eskaisbell -- Thank you for the sigh-maker, adorable photos of your treasured snugglers. Enjoy every moment and sneak a hug and ear rubs from me.
- I'm attaching a photo of a fostered bun who liked to lounge around. I have one of Berry kissing her foster dad, plus doing a mile-high binky. I can save those for another day!