Possible Neglect?? Need opinions

[DreadfulLullaby]

Hi there all, 

I’m terribly sorry if this is in the wrong location, I wasn’t sure where it would belong. 

So I have a situation. 

Several weeks ago, I started working part-time at a horse boarding stable. I soon noticed that they keep a bunny in an empty stall. Seeing this poor thing every day absolutely breaks my heart! 

He lives alone in a very small cage. This might be fine if he was getting lots of attention, but he certainly isn’t. I’m there from 7am until about 4:30 3-4 days a week. So far, the entire time I’m there throughout the day, no one pays attention to him. I’ve only seen him get attention once. The bunny appears to technically belong to the niece of the stable’s owner, who occasionally rides the horses. I overheard the owner on the phone with her niece one day, regarding an issue with a horse. At the end she said “Oh, and when are you going to come up and take care of your rabbit?” A pause, and then “Well, he’s your responsibility!” 

A few hours later, the girls mother showed up, let the bunny out for five minutes to briefly tidy up the cage, throw him a carrot, put him back in the cage and leave. Again, in the many weeks I’ve been working here, this has happened one time. Now, I’m rarely there past 4:30 and certainly not into the evening, so I can’t say whether the bunny gets any attention in the evening. But even if he does, he is still alone, ignored, and locked up all day, and all night. Another concern I have is that we are approaching our cold Canadian winter, and this bunny lives in the barn. I know a bunny’s body temperature is naturally higher, but there’s no way keeping him in a barn in -30 degrees Celsius is a good idea. 

Technically, I don’t think this bunny is neglected. He has food and water and does not appear to be sick or injured, The poor thing is just so lonely and miserable. I am very tempted to say something to either the barn owner or the girls mother but I’m not sure how much good it will do, and I also don’t want to make things weird and awkward at this job – it pays well and I need it, 

My mom has suggested anonymously reporting it to the local SPCA, who will investigate. (We know they will because they came for us when a nosy neighbour who does not like us reported us when my long-haired cat developed some unsightly but NOT painful mats one winter. When we realized that we were unable to keep up with brushing them, we took him to the vet who shaved them off. He would not let us do it). So they will look into it, but if the bunny has food and water and is not technically neglected, I’m wondering if they will even do anything about it. 

All I want to do is take this poor bun home and let him roam around and play with my two. They have free run of the apartment when I’m home, and a whole room to themselves when I’m not. 

Any thoughts on what I should do?  

[Dface]

You could offer to take the rabbit(provided your buns get along with it) Explaining you noticed him, and saying you have 2 already at home, and you’d like to give him a home, if they aren’t interested in keeping him-try and phrase it in such a way that doesnt make it sound like you are attempting to rescue the animal from the situation, so that they dont get bristley about it. kinda like “I noticed the rabbit in the cage that “noone” seems to own, I have two already, if he’s looking for a home”

The SPCA will not intervene unless the animal is actually missing it’s basic needs(shelter, water, food) In terms of attention, that can be classed under a ‘want’. So contacting them will do nothing as of yet.
IF however, the temperature starts dropping and the rabbit appears to be struggling, definitely contact them.

Seeing as the niece never comes up, I doubt it will be a problem getting them to relinquish ownership over to you, if that’s what you want as an outcome!

[Vienna Blue in France]

Yes, inquire kindly and without judgement.
You haven’t been there long, presumably you are in a job that you love (and well paid!) so don’t put that in jeopardy.

And if you’re part-time you could ask the owner if you could give him some out-of-hours cuddle time…. she may notice that you’re interested and start a conversation with you about him.

It’s up to you really (and your Mum) as you know who works there / who is in charge there and what attitude they have to the animals in their care.

It sounds as if he’s certainly sheltered from the extreme weather conditions outside.

Somebody must tend to him regularly? Who feeds the bun every day?

[DreadfulLullaby]

I don’t even know. I’m assuming someone feeds him in the evening because I never see anyone do it during the day. He is getting food though, I do see some pellets in his bowl sometimes and he has hay. It’s just the fact that he is so lonely and ignored, and confined to such a small space that breaks my heart. I am definitely going to say something about it, I just wanted some outside thoughts on the situation. Thanks for weighing in!  

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