Each indoor pet, regardless of size or irresistible cuteness, requires careful consideration prior to purchase or adoption.
Sadly, thanks to the flood of fluffy rabbit imagery and pushed rabbit sales leading up to Easter, many people unknowingly acquire adorable animals they are wrongfully led to believe are low-maintenance pets ideal for their young children.
What these buyers do not see when they look into the eyes of the innocent creature is a social animal which can live for over 10 years and would rather run around and chew on baseboards than be held and squeezed. Many people who give into their children’s pleas and get a rabbit end up taking their pet to a shelter or even setting them free to fend for themselves outdoors.
According to Natasha Daly of the National Geographic, the frequency of rabbit abandonment rises astronomically in the time following Easter.
“Jennifer McGee, co-manager of the Georgia chapter of House Rabbit Society, a shelter in the southeastern part of the state, says they normally receive one to two calls a week about abandoned rabbits. But in the six weeks after Easter, the shelter gets three to four calls a day,” Daly states.
I was once the child infatuated with the idea of having a rabbit on my own, but was always denied by my parents. I always assumed rabbits were easy to care for, and could never understand why I was not permitted to get one.
However, I now own a dwarf lionhead rabbit named Clementine that I love dearly, but she definitely requires an extensive amount of attention and care.
Rabbits are not meant to be kept in a cage because they love to run around.
While running around, she also loves to chew on anything she can find, especially shoes, wood and cords. In addition, while rabbit poop has no scent, their pee smells particularly heinous and requires a frequent cage cleaning.
Rabbits, depending on temperament, can even resort to using their teeth or claws when feeling threatened.
This is not to say I would discourage everyone from owning a rabbit, but to do in-depth research so no rabbits or children are harmed in the process.
According to House Rabbit Society, many rabbits can become significantly more aggressive when they reach four months old and are not yet spayed or neutered, and many bad behaviors will surface or worsen.
Some large pet retailers have even stopped their sale of rabbits for Easter gifts to help combat the rabbit abandonment issue.
According to Tara Evans of The Sun, Pets at Home, one of the largest pet stores in the UK has done just this in all 430 of their stores, going so far as to offer “free workshop sessions” to explain the responsibility required to own and care for a pet rabbit.
Rabbits are intelligent animals and when cared for correctly, they can show affection toward their owners. They are not mindless creatures to be caged for the rest of their lives, and they require as much social interaction as a cat or a dog.
I say these things not to deter people from buying a bunny, as I personally believe they are a great addition to the family. I say this in the hopes that these animals will not be bought as a short-lived and themed gift, but rather as a long-term companion.