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Julio came in with serious damage to his genitals from being kept with another rabbit. Shiro came in with a severe respiratory infection and injuries to his genitals caused by another male rabbit.
Bugzy Malone – brought in as owners no longer wanted him. He was very underweight and covered in thick matts of urine and feaces.
enough to fatten up before meeting their fate. The standard pet shop sized hutch is the same size that laboratory rabbits today are kept in – so why are people still keeping their 'beloved' pets in them? 9 out of 10 of the rabbits we see also require emergency dental treatment. Either due to malocclusion of the front incisors or painful spurs on their molars, both of which are due to lack of hay in their diets.
accidental litter. The only female was still living with her two son's and came to us heavily pregnant. One of the males, Teddy, came to us with such badly overgrown incisors he could not eat and was under 2kg in weight.
Some examples of the rabbits we have taken in over the last four months are: l A group of 5 young males who were living together and had caused serious injuries to each other. 3 of them had severe cases of Pasteurella and none of them had ever been vaccinated. l A group of 4 Flemish Giants who had been kept in hutches and used for breeding. They all had extremely overgrown nails, were either very overweight or underweight and had sores on their legs and feet. l An 8 year old boy who had been living with a painful jaw abscess. l A group of 5 who were the result of an
These are just a very small handful of the rabbits we have taken in. Sadly they do not all survive long enough for us to find them a loving forever home, but at least their last few weeks/months would have been the best they'd have ever had. For those that do pull through, are healthy and happy for possibly the first time in their lives, we work tirelessly to find them the perfect homes. We ensure no rabbit lives a life alone and that they are never shut in a hutch. We follow the RWAF minimum accommodation guidelines and give information on the right diet. Adopters sign a contract that says they must keep up regular
www.rescueandanimalcare.com
Julio after he recovered.
Teddy’s teeth – over grown and wrapped in hair.
vaccinations, health checks and take out insurance. This way we know all our rabbits will be looked after for life. We rely solely on donations from the public to keep up this work and through the pandemic we have lost around £35,000 in donations a month that we would usually receive via our 14 charity shops and fundraising events. Times are incredibly tough for everyone at the moment, but even a monthly donation of £5 would make so much difference and enable us to continue helping rabbits in need. n For more information visit www.pactsanctuary.org
RESCUE AND ANIMAL CARE 29 JANUARY – 29 FEBRUARY 2021
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