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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be worried about the school rabbits? WWYD?

451 replies

lottieandmia · 13/05/2017 00:17

Dd's school acquired two very cute little rabbits recently. She has been very keen to sign up to take them home to look after for the weekend so today we collected them for the weekend.

I'm really shocked to see that they spend pretty much their entire lives in a tiny living space which does not allow them to move around or stretch out. My guinea pigs have a much bigger cage than they do. The rabbits cage allows them to only do one hop from length to length (if that)

We're animal lovers and I'm very worried about them. So much so that I'm willing to buy them a bigger hutch to donate to the school.

In my situation what would you do about this? We have never had rabbits but I do know they are intelligent, complex and are often rehomed due to a lack of understanding about their care needs. What would you do?

OP posts:
70isaLimitNotaTarget · 16/05/2017 20:39

I read the £11,000 I didn't invent it.

I won't add up how much my guineas cost me (nowhere near £11k thankfully but £4 a week in hay for starters )

squiz81 · 16/05/2017 20:54

That £11,000 is a scary stat that I can completely believe is correct! We are down to 2 rabbits (had 8 at one point) they turned 10 this year and have cost us a lot of money. We have no regrets though, we love them lots!

Theresnonamesleft · 16/05/2017 21:14

I wonder if the school have liked into the long term cost. It seems madness to commit to this level of expense when schools are having funds cut.
Wonder if there will still be the same level of parental commitment in a years time when the financial reality starts to hit.

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 16/05/2017 21:49

They probably assumed they'd be a cheapish) pet to maintain.

Rabbits (£30 each maybe)
The original hutch (possibly donated )
Grass
Veg given by the pupils
Bedding hay by the bale rather than pet quality hay

But a Dental Surgery for a rabbit can be £100s.Especially if you get a rabbit with mal-alignment and they need regular ongoing care.
XRay
Respiratory - medication, vet checks

They most likely assumed they could get by if the bunnies were healthy enough. And some animals skim happily through life without seeing a vet.
Some are plagued with problems.

Yes the parental involvement might dwindle, especially when it gets to winter and their more work.

BlondeB83 · 16/05/2017 21:54

That is absolutely shocking! Please but then a bigger hutch with a run and burn that monstrosity!

BlondeB83 · 16/05/2017 21:55

Loads of people don't understand the complex needs of rabbits and as such they are the most neglected pet in the country. Sad

70isaLimitNotaTarget · 16/05/2017 22:17

Blonde the OP has ordered one to be delivered to the school (as a gift) and they're been arsey because they can't send the rabbits in the big hutch when they get sent to pupils for weekends.

They are definately the most neglected pet.
I'm not a rabbit fan (I've kept guinea pigs for years) but I have a big (messy, I'm not garden proud) garden and sometime ponder adopting some . But then I read threads like this and I know I cannot care for them.

GuntyMcGee · 16/05/2017 23:23

OP I think you've done a wonderful thing to even try to change the opinions and behaviour of the school.

Im horrified that there is even still a 'class pet' trend. It's unnecessarily cruel, especially to those two poor buns stuck in that tiny cage.

If they're sent home to people's homes for the weekends in that thing, no doubt that's where they'll spend all weekend at most of the houses they're sent to, purely because suitable Bun dwellings are expensive and take up huge amounts of space - I bet the majority of people who sign up to have them don't even have the bare minimum to suit the needs of the rabbits.

As for the head saying that they did class assemblies - is he serious!?!

Telling a group of young kids how to care for a rabbit in an hour assembly and then leaving it to them to tell the parents is neglectful to say the very least.

The diet these buns has sucks, the living space is atrocious and who arranges and pays for their veterinary care?

Ive been lucky to have had a bonded pair of rabbits, but now that they're both gone over the rainbow bridge, I wouldn't have any more. They're expensive, hard work to keep clean, need so much space, mental stimulation and exercise. They're intelligent, interesting creatures and their behaviour is utterly charming (mine used to binky like nutters around the garden, and one used to dig trenches and then 'mud surf' for hours).

They make bloody awesome pets when you treat them right and allow them to just be rabbits. But they're not pets for kids.

And it's not right for them to be cooped up like that, unable to stretch out, for more than a short car journey (which in itself can make the stressed and susceptible to cardiac arrest).

A school is no place for rabbits, a tiny hutch is no place for rabbits and the homes of people who are ill prepared and unwilling to care for them properly is no place for rabbits.

All that will happen is that these poor rabbits will have mental and physical issues, will scratch and bite the children and will live out a miserable and short life.

As much as the head has a responsibility to the children, he also has a responsibility to the welfare of those rabbits and also to ensure that the children understand about responsible pet ownership.
They're not being shown a good example and using the excuse that that is what they've been told by one person/pet charity is ok, is not responsible either.

If they'd done their proper research before obtaining the rabbits, they would have seen how hugely unsuitable rabbits are as pets for kids, let alone as school pets.

The head should be ashamed of himself.
Well done you Op for making a stand. Keep plugging away and get rabbit welfare on their case too!

Garnethair · 16/05/2017 23:35

What a horrible idea to keep rabbits and send them home lie this. The head should be ashamed to treat animals in this way. It's an appalling example to children. Well done OP. I hope the head reads this thread.

kiwigeekmum · 17/05/2017 01:04

Oh what a disappointing response from the head.

Hopefully the Rabbit Welfare people will send someone to the school ASAP to talk to the head and explain very firmly why the current setup is not suitable.

Really surprised that the rep from Blue Cross said that hutch was OK. Their own website says:

"Outdoor rabbits need plenty of room with a hutch large enough to be able to stand on their hind legs, have the opportunity to stretch out, and hop around. ... The minimum hutch size for small or large rabbits is 183cm x 90cm floor space, by 90cm tall."

Clearly that hutch doesn't even come close to that standard. If it was literally only for the car journey, it might be understandable, but I would bet that many families will leave the rabbits in there for most of the weekend.

Going forward, it is good that your replacement hutch will at least give the rabbits more space during the week (and hopefully on weekends).

If people don't have space in their car, maybe you could suggest to the school a fold-down run like a PP mentioned?

Also it sounds like much better documentation regarding care (and vet information) needs to be provided to all parents who take the rabbits. An assembly talking just to the kids is NOT enough!!

As a PP has said, this is a kind and important thing to do. Thank you for speaking up for these bunnies.

Italiangreyhound · 17/05/2017 01:09

We looked into getting pet rabbits but they appeared very hard to look after they required quite a lot of attention and seemed to need quite a lot of space.

I think you need to speak to the class teacher, or if you prefer you can speak to the head and remain anonymous when it comes to the class teacher of who said it was a problem. In case this has any kind of negative impact on your dd. For example if the school decide rabbits are too much hard work and have to go to a rescue centre.

I've also been told as rabbits are pray for bigger animals they don't like being picked up, so not sure why they are such popular pets. No offense to those who love rabbits!

KnittedBlanketHoles · 17/05/2017 03:11

The head's reply is nearly as outrageous as that hutch. It's awful that those poor rabbits are being treated like this, just terrible- do keep us updated.

MimiSunshine · 17/05/2017 07:13

You're doing well OP, I hope the charities can make the school see what the Head was so unwilling to read from your email.

It angers me so much that his first priority about the hutch was concern it had to be small otherwise parents wouldn't take the rabbits home to look after. Such a backward way of looking at things.

lottieandmia · 17/05/2017 12:57

I've not heard anything else from school yet. It appears from looking at the tracking that the parcel has been accepted today.

OP posts:
LightYears · 17/05/2017 16:13

That's a good sign then. Maybe when the head comes to his senses it'll already be there for it to be set up.
If they still don't want the hutch one of the charities will take it I'm sure.

lottieandmia · 17/05/2017 16:14

Update - my friend who works at the school has messaged me to say the hutch has been put together and is ready to go in - so at least that's one thing! She says it looks great.

OP posts:
Fragglez · 17/05/2017 16:41

That's something, at least!

MsMims · 17/05/2017 17:10

Great that the new hutch is there and well done for your perseverance. Hopefully the RWAF will get through to them - they are a brilliant charity.

@Barbie222 if you're talking about a 'living eggs' type project please cancel! It is also a horribly cruel situation where the chicks are killed once the school has finished with them, unless someone else intervenes to save them. I took 3 male chicks and 2 females from school before they were disposed of by living eggs.

Posted by hillside animal sanctuary:
'Hillside is getting an increasing number of calls about unwanted cockerels due to school projects where are eggs are being hatched to amuse the children causing mainly the cockerels to be surplus to requirements. They also providing these 'projects' to nurseries and care homes.

It seems many 'egg hatching kits' are being provided by Living Eggs and when one lady told them that one of chicks was injured, they said 'just kill it'.

If children want to know where the chicken they eat really comes from, they should be shown round the real intensive poultry industry including the breeder units, the cramped chicken sheds where birds struggle to walk under the abnormal weight of their bodies and then onto the poultry slaughterhouses. That would make at least some of them think about eating their next chicken sandwich.

Please look at this -

www.livingeggs.co.uk/hatch-a-chick/what-we-do/'

Kursk · 17/05/2017 17:17

The hunch the school have is small it's the size we use for baby rabbits, our breeders have more space.

Kursk · 17/05/2017 17:23

Italiangreyhound

We have recently started to breed rabbits, we have found they need more attention than we were planning.

They are not eating as much as we expected though, £11k is a lot more than than we priced it up. But I am guessing that includes insurance and vets bills which we personally don't need to consider.

Verbena37 · 17/05/2017 17:31

OMG, that's so cruel!
They should have a forever home in one place....not be moved to a random strangers every weekend. That makes me so upset to see and hear about.

We had bunnies when we were little and they always had a big cage and access to their run most days....even when it was raining under cover....and inside our house during the winter.

Our three guinea pigs have a half of a massive summer house so they have tons of space for burying and running in. Bunnies need lots of room to run around and lay out and play and jump.

You should write and complain to the school. They obviously don't know how to look after bunnies.

Verbena37 · 17/05/2017 17:33

Suggest to the school a bigger cage with integral run and don't move them at weekends. Have the children look after them every day and at weekends someone needs to go into school to feed them.

In the holidays, they really need someone to go in and care for the
TBH, it's a crap idea having them at all.

Polter · 17/05/2017 17:39

That's such a crap response from the HT, but a result that they've assembled the new hutch. Fingers crossed for a good outcome. Well done lottie Flowers

WunWun · 17/05/2017 17:39

I'm very glad to hear they've accepted the hutch.

lottieandmia · 17/05/2017 19:08

I've just had a brilliant response from the RWA regarding the other issues and how to tackle them. This makes me feel more positive.

OP posts: