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BINKYBUNNY FORUMS

Forum THE LOUNGE I saw the most horrible thing yesterday…

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    • hiskatey93
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        I went to our local pet store, which solely focuses on taking in animals from homes that no longer want the animal, or can no longer keep the animal. They bring them to the vet, fix them all up if there are any health issues and then sell them to the public. Normally a great thing right?

        Well they had a stunning full grown Rex doe. She was so gorgeous. But beyond overweight. Like this poor girl couldn’t even hop into her litterbox without tumbling headfirst into it since she could barely move her legs cause there was so much excess fat. And she was in serious molt, and it was obvious that nobody groomed her in a long while. Her shedding fur was matted down and filthy.

        I looked up at the girl who was throwing food into the cage, and saw a poor rabbit who clearly was in need to go potty and told the girl to put her in the box to help her. ((She didn’t want to go potty outside of her litterbox. Anyone could see that.)) And the chick rudely told me that the rabbit could handle herself. I then got the manager, and told him that with a rabbit as obese as she was, that she needed some assistance getting into her litterbox, or a different cage with an area that had a wire bottom so she wouldn’t have to hold it all in. The manager then had the audacity to tell me that this rabbit was perfectly fine, not obese at all, and that I had no clue what I was talking about. And it pissed me off. Then I got into it with him about the condition of her fur, and he $*&!ing told me that she wouldn’t let anyone groom her, that she was mean. And my eyebrows went up in shock. I told him to pull her out of the cage and let me groom her if they were so incapable of doing it. And he did. I brushed her, cut her terrifyingly overgrown nails, and put her in a litterbox to use the potty all while she licked and snuggled into me, clearly happy that someone was finally taking care of her. I want to just rip that manager’s head off and hurt him for being such an ass.

        I would adopt her in a heartbeat, but at the moment I simply cannot afford it. And Cash is a large enough handful as it is. It just breaks my heart to see such a beautiful, sweet rabbit treated that way. 

        But when I say how obese she was. When I lifted her up, she had to be damn near 40 pounds. It was just heartbreaking. Especially with such a beautiful demeanor… It just broke my heart and horrified me. This store isn’t a corporate, and I have no idea who to call and yell at for the condition of this animal.


      • Silverpaws
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          Oh my god, thats utterly dreadful. Poor creature. I always worry about pet stores and places that turn animal welfare in to business…. I’m so glad you were able to look after her a bit. Would you able to do a charity thing so you could afford her? donations or that? poor little lady.


        • Stickerbunny
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            You could take pictures and send them to the local rescues and one of them may be able to take her in and find her a home, since the store is supposed to be a rescue of sorts itself and isn’t doing its job. Could also write your local newspaper.


          • JackRabbit
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              If they actually did take her to a vet when they took her in, how could they not know she was so overweight and having problems moving and grooming? I agree with Stickerbunny — this lady needs to be rescued. Even if you could e-mail or call rescues or a no-kill shelter and ask for help for her it could help her.


            • hiskatey93
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                Posted By Silverpaws on 8/16/2014 10:42 AM

                Oh my god, thats utterly dreadful. Poor creature. I always worry about pet stores and places that turn animal welfare in to business…. I’m so glad you were able to look after her a bit. Would you able to do a charity thing so you could afford her? donations or that? poor little lady.

                I’ve shopped there for a long time, and every time I go in their animals are beautifully taken care of, and handled by people with experience with them. This is the first time I’ve ever seen this at the store. It’s heartbreaking and infuriating. I know they recently got new management so I wonder if this is why this happened.

                I’m thinking about searching into the store and calling them and harassing them and beotching. Maybe they will either lower her price, or wind up giving her to a loving home for nothing. I would take her if I could. She would be so worth it. Beautiful sweet lady.


              • hiskatey93
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                  Posted By JackRabbit on 8/16/2014 11:47 AM

                  If they actually did take her to a vet when they took her in, how could they not know she was so overweight and having problems moving and grooming? I agree with Stickerbunny — this lady needs to be rescued. Even if you could e-mail or call rescues or a no-kill shelter and ask for help for her it could help her.

                  I think they all knew that she was so overweight, I just think they didn’t give a $*&! honestly. Or that it was just too much work to help her out. Like I said above they got a new manager, and tons of new staff who clearly aren’t as good with animals as the old staff was. >.>

                  I shall be calling the head office of their company and beotching up a storm, then gonna go to my breeder friend, and see if she can help me find someone adopt the poor girl. There aren’t many no kill shelters around me. Actually there are none around me that I know of. :/


                • Stickerbunny
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                    Doesn’t have to be a no-kill shelter to get them to help with a rescue case. Also, some kill-shelters are no-kill for small animals (my local humane society will euthanize dogs/cats but not rabbits/ferrets). They will know laws, if any are broken, who to contact to get it out there, probably phone numbers of local people who aren’t really rescues but do rescue work, etc. They will also most likely know if anyone has complained about this store in the past. People hate kill shelters, but really, they know a lot of resources and they do want to help the animals most the time. They just lack funding/space to help them all.


                  • hiskatey93
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                      Posted By Stickerbunny on 8/16/2014 12:12 PM

                      Doesn’t have to be a no-kill shelter to get them to help with a rescue case. Also, some kill-shelters are no-kill for small animals (my local humane society will euthanize dogs/cats but not rabbits/ferrets). They will know laws, if any are broken, who to contact to get it out there, probably phone numbers of local people who aren’t really rescues but do rescue work, etc. They will also most likely know if anyone has complained about this store in the past. People hate kill shelters, but really, they know a lot of resources and they do want to help the animals most the time. They just lack funding/space to help them all.

                      I shall call a few of them and look further in to if they euthanize rabbits or not. If they do I’ll be contacting all of my breeder friends, and people I know who love bunnies to see if we can find someone to adopt the poor girl.


                    • JackRabbit
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                        When you call the home office, make sure to point out how well animals there used to be taken care of.

                        The one shop here (that I won’t shop at anymore) that sells animals doesn’t take the best care of the small animals. They do have a cage that they provide for the SPCA to show cats (2 at a time). I can remember seeing a pair of horribly obese cats (brothers) there. The sign told a bit about the boys and clearly said they were overweight and on a diet.

                        Stickerbunny — I understand about kill-shelters and lack of funding (which is a real shame). Just. If there’s another option . . . The SPCA here is no-kill but does get private donations (obits seem to be 50/50 hospice and SPCA for instead-of-flowers donations too). When it comes to animal shelters, I get frustrated — with the amount of money the US govt wastes on stupid things, you’d think just a little of that could go toward helping homeless pets.


                      • Roberta
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                          Putting them on the back foot by attacking won’t help the situation and only make them difficult to deal with. Try going in and saying to the manager straight out that you would be willing to take and rehome her. Can you have her for free or at least a reduced cost. Don’t get mad at them as that will guarantee a negative response… Explain you have had time to think about it and would like to act in the best interests of the bunny and assist them by getting her into care as they are having to continue feeding and housing her.


                        • LBJ10
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                            I agree with Roberta. Attacking them with only illicit a negative response. I would try to work with them as best you can, no matter how infuriating it may be. Perhaps they simply do not know how to take care of a special needs bunny.


                          • katanity
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                              Aww that’s the annoying thing about retail is sometimes there is a high turnover rate of staff and somewhere that was once awesome can quickly turn into a not very nice place to visit. I wish you luck!


                            • hiskatey93
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                                Okay so an update. I got a hold of the offices. They are a small company, so I actually wound up speaking with the owner, and explained the situation. I also told them I knew someone willing to adopt her to give the girl a home with people who could actually care for her needs properly. I passed along the information of the girl who wanted to adopt the bunny.

                                She called and told me that she met with the owner at the store, and walked away with the bun, food, a cage, toys, treats and bedding for nothing, with the owner’s thanks, and apologies. I went in there yesterday to get a new bowl for Cash, and the manager was gone, the animals were looking better than ever, and the owner was there working along side the employees, training them how to properly handle the animals and care for them.

                                It made me feel good that this issue was actually handled. The girl’s name is Lilia, and she is on a strict diet… She weighs in at 38 pounds now, when she went home Lilia was 42, and loves her new home and her new mom. My friend told me getting her to exercise is hard, but she found a good way to get her bun to run. Got one of those small treadmills, put a bowl of yummy fruits out of her reach, sets her on the treadmill and turns is on to a slow walk, and Lilia will go for a while,, trying to get the fruit. She is always there watching and supervising to make sure nothing goes wrong. This is done twice a day, and she increases the time by small amounts each day. ((After each time she gets some of it as a special reward!))


                              • MMK
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                                  I am so happy to read this!

                                  The best possible outcome for the bun and the whole pet shop. I am glad you went right to head office and were able to calmly talk to them. I am also so happy to see the owner step up in this manner! Thanks for the update and post pics if you can!


                                • manic_muncher
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                                    I’m so glad that you walked into that store that day. You’ve not only saved that poor bun, but probably a great many more to come in the future. Great job!


                                  • BunnyBrigade
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                                      Hiskatey93 I’m so happy for you and this little bun! It’s awesome that by you calling, you were able to have a positive change happen in the store. I’m glad you had a friend who was willing to take her in. Your friend seems to be doing a lovely job with her. =]


                                    • Roberta
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                                        Awesome.


                                      • LBJ10
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                                          This is wonderful news! I’m so glad you were able to approach them about it and successfully make a positive change. I think the fact that you went there with someone willing to adopt her in hand made things seem less threatening. I believe that most people generally want to do what it right. Sometimes they just need a gentle nudge. And you offering a solution was probably just what they needed!

                                          Okay, now I have to ask this. This poor rabbit weighed 42 lbs?! Is it bad that I would like to see a picture of her?


                                        • Standard_Procedure
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                                            Sounds like a really overweight rabbit. A Rex is suppose to be a small breed. Even for a large breed rabbit, they’re not suppose to weigh 40 pounds lol. My giant British, or maybe she’s a French lop, just weighs 23.5 pounds at 8 months old. -_____- Hopefully at 18 months old she’ll be bigger. I think that manager got sacked.


                                          • JackRabbit
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                                              I hope that manager got sacked!

                                              So glad she has a new home, and a treadmill!

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                                          Forum THE LOUNGE I saw the most horrible thing yesterday…