The Humane Society of Kitchener Waterloo and Stratford Perth is asking for the public’s help in caring for the unusually high number of stray or surrendered pet rabbits they’ve had to take in so far this year.
It seems as though the Easter bunny may have come early, and he brought all his rabbit friends with him.
For the past few weeks, staff at the Humane Society Kitchener Waterloo and Stratford Perth have been struggling to keep up with the number of stray pet rabbits and those that have been surrendered at both of the organization’s shelters.
“We are definitely seeing a higher number of stray rabbits, as well as calls for help for surrendered rabbits,” said local humane society director of community engagement and outreach, Calla James. “We had seven stray rabbits come in to care this past weekend, with five of them showing up on our property. We believe they were abandoned at our Kitchener-Waterloo shelter overnight, either late Sunday night or early Monday (April 4).
“When one of our staff arrived for work, they found one of the rabbits outside the front door, and then we quickly realized there were a number more. Since (then), we have been alerted to another rabbit just outside of our property here at the Kitchener-Waterloo (shelter), so we do believe it’s a part of that group and we’re trying to secure it right now.”
Currently across both shelters, James said humane society staff are caring for a total of 18 pet rabbits, and there are 34 more on a waiting list to be surrendered once the shelters have room for them.
Typically, James said the two local humane societies take in between 25 and 30 stray rabbits annually, however last year that number more than doubled to 66. As of Monday, James said the organization has already seen 24 stray rabbits come in to either the Stratford -Perth or Kitchener-Waterloo shelters this year.
As with the rabbits that were left at the Kitchener-Waterloo shelter last weekend, James said many of the stray rabbits they bring in were abandoned by their owners.
“A domestic rabbit is not like a wild rabbit. Some people might think if it goes outside, it’s just like a wild rabbit. That’s not at all the case. They’ve been domesticated, they rely on us for food, water, for shelter. So essentially, when we’re looking at those rabbits that were put on our property overnight, temperatures were lower, they were right by a road that is very busy … so they could potentially be hit by a car, and they can be caught by other wildlife as well.
“So definitely not something we would ever recommend. We want people to call us if they have any struggle with a pet rabbit that they might need support for. That could be surrender services or even if they need access to pet food and supplies. We have our pet pantry and we’re able to help them that way.”
Abandoning a pet, whether it’s a cat, dog or rabbit, can also be an offense under the Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act. Anyone with information about rabbits or any other pet being abandoned in their area, including on the Kitchener-Waterloo shelter property, is encouraged to call the Provincial Animal Welfare Services team at 1-833-9ANIMAL.
To help the rabbits currently being cared for by the local humane society, the organization is asking locals to consider adopting or fostering a rabbit to make room for those on the waiting list. Currently there are five rabbits available for adoption. All rabbits adopted out by the local humane society come spayed or neutered for the cost of a $50 adoption fee.
For those who can’t care for a rabbit at home, James said purchasing and donating items like fresh greens, timothy and alfalfa hay, as well as rabbit chew toys and pet store gift cards, or simply making a monetary donation to the Humane Society of Kitchener Waterloo and Stratford Perth, is also helpful.
For more information, visit kwsphumane.ca.