Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

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:
NotYoda · 13/05/2017 07:29

I don't actually think the school should be sending rabbits out to people's homes either. They are not taking their welfare seriously.

It's like something from the 1970s

NotYoda · 13/05/2017 07:31

Good on you for taking this seriously OP. Poor rabbits

I'd send the school some of the info. you've been given here.

Saucery · 13/05/2017 07:32

I would not send them back on Monday and email the Headteacher with the reasons why. Although it's doubtful the RSPCA would bother their arses to do anything it might be useful to make clear that you consider it an animal welfare issue and that you are taking further advice.
Don't say you are keeping them, just providing a stable temporary home until the housing and welfare issues are sorted.

Iris65 · 13/05/2017 07:32

I am against animals being kept in school. I have seen too much suffering as a result of neglect once the member of staff who wanted them leaves and I also think that it is abusive to leave them at school overnight, over weekends and over holidays. A school I know routinely leaves animals in school over holidays because the caretaker is 'around' (which means they live on the school site and walk through the premises regularly) and a member of staff drops by once or twice a week.
Horrible way to keep animals, although they now 'only' have fish and lizards.

NotYoda · 13/05/2017 07:36

Saucery

Good idea

The more I think about it the more surprised and annoyed I am that any school would think this is right. My school certainly would not. They rehomed fish that were a throw-back to a decade ago because they were not getting the right standard of care. We really should know better nowadays

Saucery · 13/05/2017 07:36

Would you be able to/want to keep them permanently? Could you give a monthly update to the school about how they are doing?

MimiSunshine · 13/05/2017 07:37

Please don't send the rabbits back in on Monday. I'm not saying permanently withhold them but are you in a position to go in on Monday or sometime next week to discuss the rabbits living conditions with the head teacher?

I'd be sending a note in on Monday to say you need to discuss the welfare of the rabbits and need an urgent appointment with the head and will not be returning the animals until this has taken place.

Wild rabbits run around 3 miles a day, pet rabbits need as much exercise as you'd give a dog. Their hutch should allow them to as a bare minimum do four hops along and stand up on their back legs. That's absolute bare minimum and as there are two housed together then obviously they need double that at least. They shouldn't be kept in it all day because as I say they need as much exercise as you'd give a dog

That hutch equates to animal cruelty and the school need to remedy it immediately. And as for having them shipped to other homes st the weekend, how can they be sure that they'll be adequately looked after?

Quite frankly the school shouldn't be allowed to own these rabbits but hardly anyone ever adopts rabbits from animal shelters so these rabbits are not in for a bright future unless someone can be found to take them on and care for them

DinosaurFarmer · 13/05/2017 07:40

This is how we ended up with our guinea pig! We were talking to the TA when DS1 was in Reception and she said the guinea pigs were brought in by a teacher who then left and left them there and one of them later died.

They weren't allowed to get them out with the children and the staff weren't really animal lovers so although they fed him and cleaned his cage that was as far as it went in terms of care. The remaining one was left there alone at night and over weekends with no-one checking on him and giving him fresh food etc and they struggled to get people to have him over the holidays.

We are massive animal lovers so volunteered to have him over the October half term and when we got him home and we saw that his claws were all overgrown and he was being given some food etc which was bad for him which we sorted out.

When it was time for him to go back we couldn't bear the thought of him going back to that life. First day back we told the school we were happy to keep him and they practically snatched our hands off at the offer! We're nearly 2 years on and he seems a very contented piggie living with us! Grin

bunanarama · 13/05/2017 07:42

Poor bunnies! Echo what others have said about the stress making them ill. One of ours stopped eating recently (we think) due to stress of a journey back from boarding. Took a week of back and forth vet trips, syringe feeding and syringing medicines and cost us around £300. Totally worth it now she's back to her normal crazy self! Would hate to think how it would end if something similar happened to these buns!
Our two are 8 years old and we hope that they'll live until at least 10.
Definitely keep hold of them for now.

CheckpointCharlie2 · 13/05/2017 07:49

Definitely not enough space there :(

Op hope you don't mind but does anyone on here know how to get rabbits to be friends again when they've been apart for a while and seem to be proper enemies? I'll start my own thread but we are going mad with this problem!!!

TheColdDoesBotherMeAnyway · 13/05/2017 07:55

My hamster has a bigger cage ShockSad

Poor bunnies

MidniteScribbler · 13/05/2017 07:59

Iris65 I too am absolutely against animals being left at school, but I do think there can be a place for animals in the classroom, but only if managed responsibly. My students know that they are my pets that I am choosing to share with them in the classroom. I am absolutely firm on how they are treated, and accept no leeway in how the students are expected to act around them. They are my responsibility, not the students, not their parents, not the caretaker.

My dogs who go in with me are specifically trained and certified to work in schools and nursing homes, and have had a massive impact in my classroom. I've had children who are upset curled up in the corner with one of the dogs curled up next to them giving comfort, and some of my very reluctant readers often learn to read by reading to the dogs, taking away the fear of reading to another person (dogs don't judge!). This year, one of my students with ASD has built an amazing relationship with one of my dogs that comes in with me, so much so, that the parents are going to get a puppy from her next litter and have him trained and certified as a therapy dog for their son in consultation with his specialist.

We also have a school farm and vegetable garden, managed by a very dedicated retired farmer and his retired teacher wife. We have sheep, goats, pigs, chickens, guinea pigs, rabbits, ducks, geese and an aviary full of birds. Due to the makeup of our school, some of the children who come have never seen an animal in the flesh in their lives, and others have no clue that vegetables come from the ground. Check out the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program, it's fantastic.

NotYoda · 13/05/2017 08:00

Midnite

I think dogs in school are a wonderful idea

I've seen the impact they can have Smile

user1494658705 · 13/05/2017 08:04

oh we had rabbits in my school. poor things ended up with mental conditions as the kids were always poking or banging the cage. finally they ended up going to live with someone. I was about to ring the rspca on my work. they have a better life now

LightYears · 13/05/2017 08:08

I agree, this sounds awful.
Most schools do the taking home of cuddly toy bear/rabbit but not live ones. I remember back in the 70's when I was at school we had tadpoles, maybe mice.

WhooooAmI24601 · 13/05/2017 08:11

DS1's school has rabbits (and loads of other pets, too) but they live at school permanently. The children are given roles and responsibilities but the rabbits live there in a huge run with a hutch I could fit into. It shows the children that school are committed to giving them the best possible life and the rabbits are happy, healthy and friendly creatures.

At home we also have two rabbits who have a huge hutch and a huge run.Previous posters are correct that they are sensitive, fragile things who need lots of love and time. I'd second everyone who's suggested you hold onto them a while longer til school can sort out appropriate care for them.

megletthesecond · 13/05/2017 08:17

That cage is barely piggy sized. Tbh rabbits don't really need a cage, they can free range in the house and a secure garden.

I'd be kicking up a stink about it. Those poor rabbits can't be passed from family to family every week.

randomuntrainedcuntowner · 13/05/2017 08:27

Rabbits should not be passed from pillar to post like that, with god knows whom. I would ask the rspca or someone from pets at home etc to come in and talk to the school. What is the value of the school having these animals if they are not teaching children how to take proper responsibility for pets and look after them properly?!

Soubriquet · 13/05/2017 08:37

I think you need to make a meeting with the headteacher and take in lots of information and proof

They need a much bigger hutch. And no they shouldn't be moved every weekend either. Very stressful for a rabbit.

Ginandpanic · 13/05/2017 08:40

Well done op. The school are being ridiculous. They are not meeting any welfare guidelines, rwaf, blue cross, Pdsa, Wood Green all say roughly the same. Tell the school you'll return them when they have a suitable area and have given their welfare proper thought. Make a big fuss!

Tiggles · 13/05/2017 08:45

Shock that looks about the right sort of size for a hamster. Mind blown!
The school have to get a bigger hutch and run than that and if it were my school and they refused I would report them to the RSPCA.
Not only is that horrendously cruel to the rabbits it is bringing up 100s of children to believe that is how you can keep a rabbit.

LunchBoxPolice · 13/05/2017 08:48

Poor bunnies. Please don't send them back to that hutch Sad

OhYouBadBadKitten · 13/05/2017 08:57

Midnite, what a cool school and what an amazing teacher you are!

NotYoda · 13/05/2017 08:57

Not only is that horrendously cruel to the rabbits it is bringing up 100s of children to believe that is how you can keep a rabbit

Yes. That's the crux of it, isn't it? It's treating them like objects for the entertainment of the children, without teaching them anything about how to look after them

Msqueen33 · 13/05/2017 09:00

I must admit I know little about rabbit care though we had one when I was little and my dad built him a two storey hunch with a light and heating and a huge run. That picture is awful and beyond cruel. Please don't hand them back until you speak to the school.

@MidniteScribbler I want my kids to go to your school. It sounds amazing.