too many rabbits. please help me.

[cassie]

The person who suggested running an ad on Craigslist is the best idea and really the only solution for your dilemma.

I'm sorry to hear of your dilemma.

You resent them, they don't like you, no one wants them.

Drastic times call for drastic measures.

Either euthanize them, or put them in a box and drive them out to the country and let them go.


Sorry.

Euthanizing them is just plain silly. Wasteful, too. Turning them loose is inhumane and probably illegal. The person who suggested running an ad on Craigslist had the best idea. Selling them is really the only solution for your dilemma. As distasteful as it may be to you, while some rabbits are pets, most are meat. It may make you feel better to know that in the wild, the great majority of rabbits end up as somebody's dinner. Very few, if any, die peacefully in their beds of old age. As it now is in your situation, nobody is happy. Not you. Not the rabbits. Not your husband. Nobody. And until you get the population down to a manageable level, nobody will be. I don't know where you live, but you could probably just put a sign up saying Rabbits For Sale. That is how I used to sell my rabbits. You could also put up a sign on the bulletin board at the feed store. What the buyers do with them is not nearly as important as that the excess rabbits be gone. The sooner the better.

 

[roryanddean]

.

 

[roryanddean]

Do not just give your rabbit away, charge money ($20), that way people are more likely to buy them because giving them away for free may lead them to thinking that they are a burden to keep as a pet, which may be the case in this situation but not as much in theirs. To get people to think about adopting your bunnies, place advertisements, such as in your local newspaper, online (Facebook, Instagram), in veterinarian offices, pet supply stores, or even bulletin boards and again try posting something on craigs list. When making your advertisement include traits such as age, sex, if they are neutered, and positive traits such as, loving, likes to cuddle, house trained, good with children etc. You need to be patient but you should at least get a number of them off your hands.

 

[cassie]

I once found a 4H show rabbit by the side of the road, abandoned. It was emaciated, all bones and fur. It was dehydrated. It's fur was matted. It was terrified. It didn't know how to fend for its self. I took it home and found it a home.
Releasing domestic animals into the wild is irresponsible, illegal, and cruel. Humane shelters are there for a reason. Humane euthanasia is kinder than abandonment. Don't take on an animal if you are not prepared to take care of it. They are not disposable. You should have bought a stuffed toy instead.

If you found it by the road how do you know it was a 4H show rabbit? It could have been a pet that was intentionally released or one that accidentally got out. I am curious how you came to the conclusion it was a show rabbit.

 

[Hholly]

If you found it by the road how do you know it was a 4H show rabbit? It could have been a pet that was intentionally released or one that accidentally got out. I am curious how you came to the conclusion it was a show rabbit.

It had an ear tattoo.

 

[Wyandottes7]

It had an ear tattoo.

Show rabbits aren't the only rabbits tattooed. Often breeders tattoo all their stock so they can identify them and keep good records. Even pets could be tattooed, if the pet owner purchased the rabbit from a breeder. Tattooing is just a common practice used for identification, whether it will be shown or not.

 

[Hholly]

Show rabbits aren't the only rabbits tattooed. Often breeders tattoo all their stock so they can identify them and keep good records. Even pets could be tattooed, if the pet owner purchased the rabbit from a breeder. Tattooing is just a common practice used for identification, whether it will be shown or not.

Well, regardless if it was a show rabbit or not, it was an abandoned, starving, pitiful creature. It was too scared to move. So I doubt it got loose and wandered into the remote wooded area where I found it. Someone had dumped it there by the side of the road.

 

[cassie]

Well, regardless if it was a show rabbit or not, it was an abandoned, starving, pitiful creature. It was too scared to move. So I doubt it got loose and wandered into the remote wooded area where I found it. Someone had dumped it there by the side of the road.

You are right. It was a bad thing to do. But to post that it was an abandoned 4H project and/or a show rabbit is, as the lawyers would say, assuming facts not in evidence. The only thing you know for sure is that the rabbit was born in a rabbitry of some sort. The most probable thing that happened is that it ended up with a misguided and irresponsible pet owner, but then again, neither you nor I know for sure. What I do know is that any 4Hers and rabbit breeders who I have ever known, when they no longer want a particular rabbit for whatever reason they simply eat it or sell/give it to someone who will. End of story. They would not take it out in the woods and dump it.

 

[DutchBunny03]

You may not be very open to this idea, but you could sell them for meat, or take them to a shelter.