Daughter doesn't look after her rabbit. Best way to rehome?

[TheodoraLily]

Hi my daughter is 12 and doesn't look after her rabbit. She has even got to the point of lying and saying she has changed water/fed when she hasn't. The poor rabbit never comes out of his hutch.

Best way to rehome?

I can fully believe Pets at home gave that advice I have had similar from them. I will put my hand up and say that I purchased a hutch from them then started reading up more and realised how inadequate the hutch was for our rabbit.

A bigger hutch was bought and she was moved to get better access. Then another extension was bought.. We started looking into rabbit dating places to get her a partner to be with but put it on hold as we had to move. Moved and her hutch broke.. We contacted our local vet who does boarding and agreed to have her neutered at the same time. Plan was vet would have her until we got the new hutch. Sadly she didnt survive the surgery and we have not yet replaced her. When we do it will be a huge hutch with run and 2 rabbits.

However when we were first looking to get a rabbit the " advice" given by places like pets at home was similar to what the OP had been given.

When we got the bigger hutches Snuffles (our rabbit) personality came out so much more.. She was so much fun the entire family enjoyed her.

God, this thread is heartbreaking, that poor animal. I honestly can't believe that anyone would think a tiny hutch is suitable for a rabbit to be in 24/7 - and with no run???

PAH are unbelievably shit - I complained to the manager of our local store because guinea pigs and rabbits were housed together and they were clearly eating the plastic tube that was put in there for them to play with. Nothing was done.

I've seen grown Syrian hamsters fighting there because they haven't got a clue about separating them, again nothing done when I complained.

Yes but you’re not asking your other children to actually meet fundamental needs to maintain their quality of life, are you? You’re taking about encouraging common courtesy and manners.

notsohorrible

Oh come on! Stroke the rabbit. Feed the rabbit. Hold the rabbit gently. Clean out the rabbit's HQ.

You can meet a rabbit's fundamental needs with a decent attitude.

Just to say my daughter works in a pets at home branch in the midlands and has done two years of animal care and welfare and know's her stuff! The thing with rabbits is they are very silent so easily forgotten,different with say guinea pigs who squeal when hungry. I get so cross when I hear of people rehoming pets,our throw away society is disgusting. Do you give your rabbit frest veg OP,hay to munch on. Even worse with our freezing winter last year,i can imagine a lot of very forgotten pets stuck outside or in a dark shed or garage :(

The girl is utterly uninterested

I certainly wouldn’t use an animal for a life lesson.

She doesn’t want it. So the rabbit goes to someone who does want it. And she doesn’t own a pet again whilst under the OP’s roof!

Maybe that's what's wrong with our society notso. You go into getting a pet knowing that it will either be wonderful, or a difficult life lesson, or both. The one thing you don't do is get rid of it if you're bored. Nothing comes for free.

Different style of parenting

My child starts lying and being uncaring for her pet. I am not going to force the issue. I am going to remove the pet from under her care. The life lesson is that if you treat a living being like crap, you lose it and you will get another pet again whilst you’re under my roof.

will not get another pet

Ffs of course the novelty wears off. An adult shouldn't buy a pet for a child unless they're prepared to look after it themselves. Also sounds like you did no research at all. I hope you don't get any other animals!

Can't believe people are saying the OP is getting a hard time! She bloody deserves one, that poor animal. Pets at home have some guns up saying rabbits need to live in at least pairs. I bet she just didn't fancy paying for two

Tag pet rescue in Margate take rabbits. They’re fantastic - I got my cat from them and saw first hand how well the animals are cared for while awaiting rehoming.

Pets at Home will sell you the rabbit anyway if you lie and say you've already got one at home needing a mate. That's how my brother got his (now happily coupled up with a rescue rabbit) They might have a few guidelines they're supposed to adhere to but I'm sure the majority don't give a shit.
Hate that place, makes me too sad.

I grew up in a house where we had a menagerie of animals. Most stuck in cages. They were well cared for but I have no desire to lock up anymore animals for entertainment. So my children know there will be no animals in cages. No hamsters, no birds, no rabbits, no gerbils, no rats, no chinchillas, possibly a cat when they’re older. That’s it. Let animals live the life they evolved to live. Anything else is cruel.

If OP does do the decent thing and find a rescue to take the bunny, she should pay a hefty donation with her daughter contributing. They may well have to neuter and vaccinate the bunny as doubt OP has bothered.

I can quite believe PAH said nothing, we are in the southeast and I've been to two stores to get hamster food, bedding etc. Pretty much every time my children get upset at seeing big Syrian hamsters fighting each other in tiny tanks. They sell books in these shops on how to look after Syrian hamsters, they would do well to read them and act on the advice. My kids have asked me to say something and I do as sometimes I have see. 3 big hamsters in a tank that is tiny. I've told them the wheels have stopped spinning as sawdust and bedding have wedged them. We got our first hamster from Pets Corner which keeps the hamsters on their own, in bigger tanks and gets them from ethical breeders. We had to show a photo of the cage and where it was in the house before we could take it home, we also had to wait until the hamster was old enough to buy. We did pick up one from PAH because it was getting attacked by another hamster and we felt sorry for it. I feel bad for perpetuating the trade but it now has a 100 cm cage, a big wheel, stuff to climb and we have a hamster proof room for it to run around in. I refuse to go to PAH now as I don't like the way they do things, I only buy stuff to look after it online or at Petscorner who seem to know what they're doing!!

I feel sorry for this poor bunny all friendless in a hutch with no entertainment or interaction all day. Especially if it is a small breed they're well known for being intelligent little souls.

I have 2 indoor bunnies and they have their own room, a pen, a play area, fresh water and hay, access to the downstairs of the house when someone is home and an outdoor run when it's nice weather.

Totally outing myself with this but here is my 2 chilling on the sofa..

My bunnies have moved into a stable for winter. One of them seems to have made friends with my horse! They do brunch regularly.

Loving the stable and house bunnies. Keeping a rabbit in a hutch and just a hutch is horrid. They need space to run and bounce and sniff and nibble. To feel the wind in their fur and the sun on their ears. I know I couldn’t provide the sort of home I would deem acceptable for a bunny. So I don’t have one.

Op you have to at least sort out a better life for your bunny whilst you're making arrangements to rehome it.
Make the effort to make sure it stretches its legs every day for a few hours, it's so so cruel to keep it locked up.
It's not really very hard to provide its basic needs, poor thing.

Honeyroar I was thinking about keeping rabbits in our stables in the future but may I ask, are you not worried by cross contamination from the wild population/ diseases from rats or mice etc? (Pls excuse thread hi-jack.)

OP, I think it is very clear that the advice you received regarding the rabbit was misguided at best. Rabbits are social, intelligent animals who require exercise and stimulation.

You have the opportunity to put this right and see this poor animal rehomed in an environment where he can be happy.
Please do not under any circumstances use Gumtree to advertise your pet.

Contact your nearest small animal rescue and get rohoming process underway as soon as possible

Rabbits, snakes, lizards, rats, birds, etc etc AREN’T PETS! I don’t care how cute they look on your sofa or in their guilded cage/glass box, they should be out in the wild living a complete life, however brief.

That's your opinion Neville and you are entitled to it.

I personally think there is a balance to be struck here. I am not sentimental about animals and I think they deserve as natural life as possible, but rabbits have been domesticated by humans for centuries. Natural life in the wild does not always equate with a particularly "happy" existence;. many of the wild rabbits we find half-dead on our land for example are diseased, starving, suffering. It's reasonable to assume that Cahira's and Honeyroar's rabbits for example will live longer than their wild counterparts without having to experience predation, disease or hunger. I am not saying that is necessarily better than a life in the wild (that would be too arrogant an assumption) but I think it is fair to say it's an equally reasonable existence especially if the factors Wolfiefan mentioned are provided.

This is one of the saddest threads I have read on here, what an awful family you are, your 12 year old (that’s 12 btw, not 2) has not an ounce of compassion for a living animal and I can see where she has got that from😢😢😢