Need to find your rabbit a new home?

  • When Keeping Your Rabbit Becomes Difficult
  • What Can Evergreen Do to Help?
  • How Do I Find My Rabbit a New Home?
  • The Last Resort

    • When Keeping Your Rabbit Becomes Difficult

    There are circumstances when caring for a rabbit becomes difficult. Moving, allergies, behavior problems, changes in finances and "no pets" clauses can all cause frustration. The easiest solution is to say goodbye to bunny and the fastest way to do it is to seek out an animal shelter. After all, it's their job to take in unwanted animals and find them new homes, right?

    Before you take your rabbit to a shelter, there are some things we'd like you to consider.

  • Shelters have a very limited amount of space for rabbits, if they accept them at all. The surrender of even one rabbit may mean euthanasia for that rabbit (or another who is a long-term shelter resident). It's not uncommon for people to surrender several rabbits at a time, typically an unaltered pair and their "unintended" litter.
  • Even if a shelter has a foster program, the number of homes is limited. There may be no room in foster care for your rabbit.
  • When you surrender your rabbit to a shelter, you have no control over the quality of home he or she goes to! Some shelters do a great job, requiring indoor homes and up-to-date knowledge of rabbit care and nutrition, but others receive so many animals that they aren't as choosy!
  • Will your rabbit behave normally in a small cage in a shelter filled with barking dogs and crushes of people, or will his personality be masked by stress?
  • Does your rabbit box or nip because she's unaltered? If so, she may be labeled as "aggressive" and "unadoptable." Some shelters (typically animal control) don't have the resources to spay or neuter rabbits before adoption. They may euthanize rabbits with behavior problems, even though the behaviors are normal for most rabbits in that situation.
  • Is your rabbit ill or elderly? If so, he or she may be euthanized at intake instead of put out for adoption. Many shelters don't have the funds or expertise needed to treat rabbits for the simplest of health problems. Most potential adopters are looking for healthy, young rabbits.
  • Are you surrendering a bonded pair? It's much harder to place two rabbits together than separately. By necessity, many shelters house bonded pairs together to save space, but then adopt them out as single rabbits to two different families.
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    What Can Evergreen Do to Help?

    As much as we'd like to help every needy rabbit we hear about, there are several reasons we can't accept rabbits from members of the public:

  • The shelters we work with receive many more rabbits than they have room for. The rabbits we accept from them would otherwise be euthanized due to lack of space.
  • We operate with limited funding. This means we can only afford to feed, house and care for a limited number of rabbits.
  • All of our rabbits are housed in private homes on a volunteer basis. This means we only have space for a limited number of rabbits.
  • You may not have to give your rabbit up. Let us help with resources and behavior counseling.

    • Need our help? Ask yourself if you're experiencing one of the following problems:

  • Behavior Issues
  • Allergies
  • Moving
    • Behavior Issues

    There are often simple explanations for most "negative" rabbit behaviors, such as aggression, spraying and chewing. If you're frustrated with your rabbit, please contact us. Our members are experienced house rabbit owners who have encountered many different rabbit personalities. We'd be happy to work with you to find a solution that enables you to keep your rabbit.

    Allergies

    If you find you're allergic to your rabbit or hay, there's still hope! The following are suggestions from real live allergy sufferers.

  • Make your bedroom a bunny-free zone and run a HEPA filtration unit while you're sleeping.
  • Change your furnace filter frequently (HEPA filters are available).
  • Limit your contact with hay. Have another family member feed your rabbit, or wear gloves and a mask.
  • If you're allergic to timothy, try feeding a different cutting (some people find they're less allergic to a late or second cutting which has fewer heads) or feed a different low calcium variety of hay (such as orchard grass). We'd be happy to help you locate what you need.
  • For more information, please see:
    • Moving
  • The Trip

    Yes, you can take your rabbit with you!

    If you're moving across country, there are several airlines that allow rabbits in the passenger cabin for a nominal fee. These include Delta and Continental (traveling as cargo is very stressful for rabbits and is not recommended). We know of one husband and wife who made two cross-country flights from Michigan to Washington State, bringing two bonded pairs along each trip. Obviously this is an extreme case, but it shows that traveling with bunnies is do-able.

    Rabbits also travel well by car with a little advance planning. See the articles below for more information:

  • When You Get There

    The Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) maintains a list of local "pet-friendly" rental properties in the Seattle area. Shelters across the country maintain similar lists.

    The HSUS offers a great resource called How to Find Pet-Friendly Rental Housing, which includes 13 Steps to Finding Pet-Friendly Rental Housing, Links to Sites that List Pet-Friendly Apartments, Sample Resume for Your Pet and more.

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    How do I find my rabbit a new home?

    If your situation is different, keep in mind that shelters and animal control have very limited space for rabbits. The surrender of even one rabbit sometimes results in another being euthanized to make room. Please try the following suggestions for rehoming your rabbit first.

  • Place an ad in The Muttmatchers Messenger, a local pet rescue and placement publication. For more information, pick up the latest issue at Petco or send the publisher an e-mail.
  • Post a free classified ad on Petfinder. Petfinder's Post-a-pet is full of great pets that, for some reason, can't stay in their current homes. People also list pets here that they find as strays as an alternative to taking them to the shelter. These pets are usually currently living with a foster family or their original family. The listings are good for 14 days (although you can resubmit them after they expire) and you will be required to ask for a modest adoption fee or your listing will be removed. Photos cannot be submitted, but you can provide a link to a homepage where they may be viewed. If you don't have a homepage, we've developed a public page where individuals may post photos of their pets. Please contact us if you'd like more information.
  • Place an ad in the Seattle Times. We've had good luck using this approach to publicize our rescued rabbits.
  • Post a flyer with a picture and a biography at your veterinary clinic.
  • Post flyers about your rabbit on kiosks for this purpose at Petco or at other pet supply stores.
  • See:

    • When placing an ad or posting a flyer:

  • Remember to ask a reasonable adoption fee (such as $20) to ensure you'll be contacted by serious adopters. Adopters who will not pay a fee are unlikely to spend money on veterinary care or quality supplies and may even be interested in your rabbit as a cheap source of food for a pet snake.
  • Mention whether or not your rabbit is spayed/neutered, litterbox-trained or accustomed to cats. All are pluses to potential adopters!
  • Be as descriptive as possible. Use colorful adjectives (affectionate, friendly, mellow) or mention an endearing habit ("loves to sit on the couch").
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    The Last Resort

    As a last resort, please take your rabbit to a shelter or to animal control. Do not relase your rabbit outdoors. Just because you've seen cottontails (or even feral rabbits) locally doesn't mean your domestic rabbit will fare well outside.

    If you abandon your rabbit,

  • It will be hit by a car
  • It will be attacked by neighborhood dogs (or other predators such as raccoons, coyotes and hawks)
  • It will suffer from:
    • Disease (such as respiratory and parasitic infections)
    • Starvation (when the vegetation dies back)
    • Injuries (such as lacerations, abscesses and broken limbs)
    • Fly attack (when fly eggs are laid and hatch in moist rabbit fur)
    • Exposure to the elements (even in our temperate climate)
    • Abuse (some humans are very cruel to animals)
    •  In addition, because rabbits are territorial, domestic rabbits released into feral colonies are seen as outsiders and attacked. Battle injuries become much more serious once infected.

    A shelter will give your rabbit a second chance. If he or she is not adopted, euthanasia will be far more kind than a slow or painful death outdoors.

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