Does taking in a rabbit support re-homing?

[lula1128]

  Hi! I have taken in a rabbit from my neihbor who bought her children a rabbit, which they soon got bored of. I’m taking in that rabbit, Max. I am completely against people who know nothing about rabbits buying them. (I’m also against buying from pet stores). So, I agreed to take Max because she was looking to re-home Max and I didn’t want another uneducated person with children buying him. So, I started thinking, am I supporting re-homing rabbits by taking Max in? Plus he was an Easter present Yet another thing I against. So, am I supporting re-homing by taking in Max? Thank You!

[Sarita]

Well you aren’t rehoming your own rabbit but you are taking on an additional rabbit that you are now responsible for whether or not you can find this rabbit a new home.

Rescues are in the “business” of rehoming rabbits…so rehoming is not wrong.

What I always encourage people to think about though when they do take on another rabbit with the intention of finding them another home is if they are willing to keep this rabbit for life if they aren’t able to rehome them. In my experience fostering rabbits, I’ve kept more rabbits than I’ve placed…it’s the sad reality of rescuing animals…not all of them find another home even when you do your due diligence in trying to find one. That was having a 501c rescue group and still not finding homes with Petfinder as a resource…

Also you have to consider how you are going to find this new rabbit a home – where will you look to find a new owner?

[Sarita]

Now that I’m re-reading this – are you keeping Max? Or are you going to find him a new home?

[lula1128]

 I’m keeping Max.

[Sarita]

LOL – oh, okay. Here is my thoughts on this – I love having a rabbit saved from a situation where they aren’t being properly taken care of…I hate that people aren’t more thoughtful when getting pets and just try to rehome their own rabbits because they didn’t think further than their nose.

So, it’s the rabbit I support and the new owner, not the old owner – if it’s someone doing the rehoming, I don’t support them, if it’s someone taking the rabbit and doing it because they know they can take care of it for life, then it’s okay. However I don’t think people should just take an animal because it needs a new home if they don’t have the resources to care for it just to get it out of a “bad” situation when they just don’t have the money or time to take on an added pet.

[lula1128]

Okay, thank you! But I actually have been saving up for the supplies for Max for about two weeks and I just bought his temporary cage (I’m planning on building him a NIC condo.) And several of his toys bought and I have Lulu and Lola’s food, whichI am transitioning him to. And I have about $100 put aside for his neutering soon. Because why would I take him in if I wasn’t giving him a better life?

[Sarita]

Sounds like he’s in good hands now! It’s good you did some planning before you brought him home too.

[kcomstoc]

I’m glad you saved this bunny from having to find a different home that may not have given him as much as you are clearly going to i am a little guilty of not researching enough before I got him but I learned fast and thank god that I did because he is living the life now though I do still need to build his bunny condo. He has a minimum NIC cage right now but soon I’m moving into a 3 bedroom apartment and he will have plenty of space.

[BunniesInTheBreakroom]

What is your guys opinion on “rehoming” to another family member for the rabbits well being? Just curious, I guess it is still rehoming.

[Stickerbunny]

Rehoming and finding a good home for a pet you cannot care for is a _good_ thing. It is the responsible thing. Well, research and not buying it to begin with would be more responsible, but still, at least the family decided to find a good home for the bun than to just set him “free” or kill him or sell him for snake food (which I have seen all of those). So, there is nothing wrong with taking in a pet from a home that cannot care for it. Hopefully the family learned their lesson and won’t be buying any more rabbits.

My Stickers came from a rehome situation, most shelter animals come from similar backgrounds.

[BonnieSue]

I think that if the rabbit finds a new, supportive, and wonderful home, then all is well that ends well.

Is it ideal that sometimes people get animals and get tired of them? Absolutely not. However, it’s just the way the world is. I don’t make a choice to give away my animals, but I don’t believe in blaming or shaming others and giving them a big dressing down over these kinds of things.

[Beka27]

If the question is “does taking in a rabbit from someone ill-equipped and/or not committed to providing care for him/her encourage irresponsible behavior?”… Then the answer is yes.

To clarify, by taking in their rabbit, you are essentially saying, “It’s okay that you are impulsive and go into situations with little to no idea of what you are getting yourself into. I will be here to ‘clean up your mess’.”

Did you attempt to help them keep their rabbit by providing resources and education about proper care, housing, and the importance of altering? Or did you just say, I’ll take him!?

When “problems” disappear with little effort, the people in question don’t learn from that mistake. Don’t be surprised if these kids end up with a guinea pig, hamster, parrot, dog, cat, etc, by next month.

With that said, a rabbit in need is a rabbit in need. You didn’t do anything wrong by taking him in, and it sounds like his life will be a million times better with you!

The problem is that “the inn” is going to fill up quick. When you get the reputation as the bunny lady, folks will start coming out of the woodwork. You need to know how to say no, I will not take your rabbit, but I can help you learn how to care for him so you will want to keep him… Or offer info to local rescues.

[LBJ10]

Beka said it best. =)

[lula1128]

Thank You all for your answers, I don’t feel guilty any more! (:

[lula1128]

 Oh, I offered her help but she said that she really just didn’t want to take care of her rabbit any more because her kids didn’t like him any more.  So I told her I would take him.

[lula1128]

 and I felt bad for Max because he had little interaction and was kept on a very small cage ):

[MoveDiagonally]

Beka – 100% agree.

[Sarita]

Beka did say it best.

[Eepster]

As much as I do get what Beka is saying, irresponsible people will be irresponsible. I remember what used to happen to unwanted pets before rehoming was the norm. Cats went to the vet to be “put to sleep” when people moved. Small animals of all sorts were released into parks. Stray/feral dogs terrorized whole neighborhoods in NYC. Duck ponds were full of domestic duck released after they stopped being cute fluffy yellow easter ducklings. If I hadn’t taken on my first bunny as a rehome when I was a teen, he was slated to go to the butcher.

Rehoming isn’t a good thing, but it is so so much better than the alternatives.

[LittlePuffyTail]

I’m glad to hear you are taking in this bunny. Offering a home to a bunny in need is always a good thing. Looking forward to seeing some pictures once you get him settled in.

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