South Jersey Pro Offers 3 Ways To Avoid ‘Death Sentence’ Of Rabbits

CAMDEN COUNTY, NJ – The number of rabbits is multiplying like, well, rabbits this time of year at Buddy Paws, an animal rescue facility in Camden County that specializes in taking in and finding homes for small animals.

“The surrender requests [have] come pouring in from people who bought them at a pet store … didn’t know how much work a bunny is or didn’t know they needed so much space,” Cara Grayson, who runs Buddy Paws, told Patch.

It’s not just in Camden County where rabbits are appearing in droves at some animal shelters, apparently.

In the past few weeks, the Burlington County Animal Shelter in Westhampton also received some rabbits in the past few weeks that need homes, a county spokesperson told Patch.

Rabbits are the third most common household pet after dogs and cats, according to Discover Magazine. At least one species of the animal can be found on every continent of the world except Antarctica, according to brittanica.com.

This may mean that for all the rabbits turned in at animal shelters, there are very likely others in residential neighborhoods that have been taken into their homes. Therefore, Grayson offered these rabbit-raising tips:

• House rabbits in a cage that’s a minimum of 12 square feet.
• Line the cage with Timothy or orchard grass hay and use as large a litter box as possible.
• Find a heavy bowl (not a bottle) to hold food and water, which will lessen the chance the rabbit will flip the food- or water-containing item over.
• Provide wooden chew toys for rabbits to play with and strengthen their teeth at the same time.
• Avoid feeding rabbits sugary treats or foods that contain dairy products.

If a pet rabbit or rabbits have worn out its welcome or is otherwise no longer wanted as a pet, Grayson urged people not to release the animal into their backyards, a nearby park, etc.

This is “a death sentence” for the rabbit, she said.“If you see a domestic bunny outside here are some tips: Call the local animal control officer or animal rescue agency and ask them to take the rabbit. Leave out Romaine lettuce or cilantro for the rabbit to eat, not seeds or carrots."

“Free but domestic bunnies absolutely cannot survive in the wild,” Grayson said. “They don’t know how to forage, they don’t have the correct camouflage and they literally starve to death or are attacked by predators.”

In New Jersey, domesticated rabbits are usually white, black or loop-eared, she said.

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