Despite the good intentions that push some people to offer a rabbit for Easter, many people who do so underestimate the money and time required to take care of such an animal, which means that we observe numerous abandonments in shelters.
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In an interview with LCN, the owner of the La Fabrique Éco-Animaux shelter, Stéphanie Lamotte, sounded the alarm regarding the number of animals received by her organization in the weeks following the Easter holiday.
“They are left in front of our door in a box or in front of the doors of our partners […] or people let them go completely into the wild, and there are organizations that are forced to work with volunteers to get them off the street, because their life expectancy on the street is really not very good,” she said.
“When the construction holidays arrive, it’s a disaster,” she continues. Chicks, ducks and rabbits arrive dozens of times a day.”
Many hours and around fifty dollars per month are required to properly care for a rabbit, not to mention visits to the veterinarian which can cost up to $1,000 per impromptu visit.
Rabbits also have behavior that is not suitable for all types of households.
“They are territorial, they don’t live in cages, they don’t like young and very young children, they don’t like being picked up, they need to be on the ground with them, they need time , explains Ms. Lamotte. They eat greenery and hay.”
“People don’t realize it, find that it costs too much and choose to abandon it,” she adds. Often they won’t even send them to a shelter even though the shelters charge practically nothing to take them back.”
Adopting a rabbit is only recommended for families with children over 7 years old and who are aware of the needs that these animals may have.
“We tell people to go to the Quebec rabbit group and get information,” she maintains. Please don’t buy from pet stores, go to shelters instead. [où] they will have analyzed the behavior of the rabbit. He will have been vaccinated, sterilized and his behavior will be much more peaceful.
Watch the full interview in the video above