Why are there so many rabbits in shelters?
I came across a couple of interesting articles with facts and statistics explaining why commonly-quoted statistics about rabbit overpopulation are inaccurate. I will link to them at the bottom of this article. There are actually very few rabbits in shelters and rescues, compared to the number of cats and dogs and the overall rabbit population in the USA. While detailed and accurate statistics aren't available, we do have enough information to get at least a generalized idea. (If you know of more complete and accurate statistics available, please let us know.)
The 2012 AVMA survey found that only 1.7% of households in the USA own rabbits, for a total of 3,210,000 rabbits nationwide--down from 6.2 million in the 2006 survey.
As of early 2013, in monitoring Petfinder there are usually around 5,000 rabbits listed for adoption nationwide . . . which means that at any given time, about one one-thousandth of one percent, or .001%, of America's pet rabbit population are available for adoption. According to the House Rabbit Society, "HRS volunteers rescue about 1,500 rabbits per year from their local shelters"--this number would equal an extremely miniscule percentage of the number of pet rabbits in the USA. Even at the top number suggested by the HRS, "over 35,000 per year," the number of rabbits surrendered or abandoned by their owners each year would be barely one one-hundreth of one percent, or 0.01%, of current numbers (one out of every ten thousand rabbits), and only half of that (0.005%) if calculated at the population statistics (6.2 million rabbits) that applied at the time the page was written.
According to a small study in 2012, over 75% of the rabbits available for adoption in the 4 shelters surveyed ended up being adopted. If this statistic holds true on a broader scale, that would mean that up to 0.00125% to 0.0025% of pet rabbits in the USA end up either languishing in shelters or euthanized each year.
So the overall number of rabbits being rehomed, abandoned or surrendered to shelters each year out of those that are owned is extremely low, and the number that don't get adopted is only a portion of that--probably about one or two thousandths of one percent. This equates to only one or two out of every hundred thousand rabbits kept as pets in the USA. The number of rabbits in shelters, and especially the number that end up unadopted or euthanized, is only an infinitesimal fraction of the number of rabbits in America.
In my opinion part of the reason there are as many rabbits as there are in shelters is that many of those were not very adoptable due to temperament and/or health issues in the first place, or needed to be intensively worked with before they were ever offered to the public. Some of them were likely surrendered specifically because of such issues. As a breeder who is very careful about the quality and temperament of any rabbits I put into circulation, many of these are rabbits that I would consider it unethical to sell as breeding stock, show rabbits or pets.
When we first started looking for rabbits for our kids, we started with the rescues and shelters. We went and looked at about 50 rabbits. Out of those 50 there were exactly two--one bonded pair--that were mellow in temperament, friendly and easy to handle. One of them had a missing eye.
We would have adopted them, but the shelter would not allow us to introduce our dog to them--even from a great distance across the room with the dog on a leash and the rabbits in a cage in one of the "meet and greet" rooms. They discouraged us from adopting them because we had a dog, saying that the mere smell and sight of the dog from a distance might cause the rabbits to panic and die. As you can see from the photo above, our dog is just fine with rabbits.
Many of the rabbits I have seen in rescues and shelters around here have health issues like "allergies," buck teeth that need to be trimmed regularly, thin fur on their feet that can cause problems with sore hocks, or other issues that demand extra care or make the rabbit more fragile. Even the healthy ones often have temperament issues that make them unsuitable as pets or breeding stock. Many are either aggressive or excessively flighty. Most cannot easily be picked up and handled. They may bite and kick excessively, or be afraid of people.
If you read the materials put out by the HRS, the HSUS, and other "rescues," they often make it sound like it is normal for rabbits to not want to be handled, to bite or be aggressive, or to be afraid of humans. I believe this may be because many of these shelters are full of poorly-socialized or bad-tempered rabbits. If an organization isn't willing to put the less-adoptable ones down, work intensively to socialize them before offering them for adoption, or at least present these rabbits as special-needs cases, they have to convince the general public that it is normal for rabbits to be this way.
They repeatedly say in their literature and in talking with people that rabbits aren't good with kids, don't like to be picked up, will be territorial if put into a smaller space, are nearly always aggressive if not altered, will get sore hocks if kept in a wire cage, and may require special care like trimming their teeth. Rabbits like that are what we call culls*. :) Of COURSE they have trouble placing all their rabbits, if most of them are like that!
These kinds of special-needs rabbits can sometimes be successfully rehabilitated or given a good quality of life, depending on the issue, but they are not usually the best choice for most first-time pet owners or families with children.
For our family, we wanted rabbits that would be friendly and healthy, enjoy human company, allow themselves to be picked up, would be good with children, weren't aggressive and could coexist with a dog without dying of stress.
That's why we ended up getting them from a breeder.
We realized in the process that there is definitely a place for more people raising really good-quality rabbits with excellent health and temperaments, a health/temperament guarantee and ongoing support from a knowledgeable breeder. Especially quality rabbits that can be successfully shown as well.
And that, my friends, is a big reason why we became rabbit breeders.
Our rabbits are highly unlikely to end up in shelters because (1) we are very selective about any rabbits we sell, and they are guaranteed to have good health and temperament, (2) we screen potential new owners and make sure they know how to care for the rabbit and what is entailed in proper rabbit care and handling, (3) we provide ongoing advice and support, and will always take back a rabbit for any reason if someone decides they no longer want it or are unable to care for it, and (4) with very few exceptions, rabbits that don't stay here become food or are sold as show or breeding stock. So they are also not competing with shelter rabbit for homes, since someone interested in showing, breeding or eating rabbits would have absolutely no use for a shelter rabbit.
If you are at all interested in breeding or showing, you should buy the best-quality pedigreed stock you can find and afford. That's where finding a good breeder is important. The ARBA website has a list of breeders organized by state, with information on what breeds each rabbitry raises, which is a great place to start.
If you want a pet rabbit that is spayed or neutered and you can find a suitable one in a shelter or rescue, I do highly recommend that option. It is less expensive (at least in our area) to adopt a rabbit that is already altered than to pay for the surgery yourself, and with an adult rabbit you can be relatively sure of its temperament. So, by all means, adopt a rescue rabbit if you can find a good one. There are good ones to be found--they just tend to get adopted more quickly.
But there is absolutely nothing wrong with buying a rabbit from a breeder where you know the animal's history and can often get better information and ongoing support, as well as often having some sort of guarantee that the rabbit is healthy when you purchase it. People should be allowed to choose the option of buying from a breeder if they wish, and there are very good reasons to buy from a breeder instead of adopting.
We did later find a local rabbit rescuer who is, in my opinion, very good. She is not affiliated with the HRS, but works with the local animal control and shelter to take in neglected or abandoned rabbits. She works with the rabbits until she is sure they are tame enough and healthy enough to be adopted before adopting them out for a small fee. If she gets in a really nice show-quality purebred, she tries to put it in the hands of a 4-Her or someone interested in showing and improving the breed. I do support that rescue with donations and referrals. I have also taken in needy rabbits myself and volunteered at local shelters helping with rabbit care, nail trimming, etc.
Many people do not realize that several of the most prominent animal rights organizations such as PeTA and HSUS are not actually focused on improving the welfare and treatment of animals. Their long-term goal is to completely eradicate the existence of all domestic animals, including pet dogs and cats.
They basically believe that any sort of human/animal interaction is exploitation of animals. They think animals should be left alone in the wild. Animal rights activists actually kill quite a few animals . . . in their minds, the animals are better off dead than being "exploited" by being kept as pets or farm animals.
We support the humane treatment and excellent care of animals, but we strongly oppose organizations that would try to eradicate all domestic animals. http://noanimalsleft.org/node/13
Wayne Pacelle, Senior Vice President, Humane Society of the United States (HSUS): "We have no problem with the extinction of domestic animals. They are creations of selective breeding. One generation and out." (Animal People, May 1993)
Ingrid Newkirk, Founder, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA): "Pet ownership is an absolutely abysmal situation brought on by human manipulation. We would no longer allow breeding. As the surplus of cats and dogs declined, eventually companion animals would be phased out, and we would return to a more symbiotic relationship-enjoyment at a distance." (Harper's Magazine, August 1988)
http://www.beatastandardpoodles.com/id24.html
Organizations like this have no problem with burning down farms, spray-painting 4-H kids' pets at fairs so they can't be shown, or releasing domestic animals to get hit by cars or die in the wild, so a simple misrepresentation of facts is nothing.
The Rabbit Overpopulation Myth [PDF format] explains why it is actually impossible that the oft-quoted 90% of rabbits are abandoned, and that the true number is probably closer to somewhere below 2%--far less than the percentage of dogs and cats that end up abandoned or in shelters.
Another interesting fact is that rabbit meat processors are constantly publishing that they have a shortage of rabbit meat. They say that there could be a much greater market for rabbit meat, but that the US supply can't keep up with the demand. If you look at the ARBA's list of processors buying rabbit meat, the vast majority rate their demand as being higher than their supply. I personally have received unsolicited contacts from processors so desperate for fryers that they are approaching rabbitries trying to find someone to sell them meat rabbit fryers. They have restaurants wanting to buy more rabbit meat than they have to sell. If there was truly a vast overpopulation of rabbits in the country, this would not be the case. (See our page about rabbit meat for more information on that use of rabbits.)
There are more interesting links and pieces of information regarding the rabbit overpopulation myth and other rabbit-related issues at the Rabbit Education Society website.
Also check out this article, Pentimento by Diane Klumb, originally published in Show Sight magazine. It's by a dog breeder, but what she says really applies to reputable breeders of any animal. It explains why purebred, quality animals do not generally take away homes from shelter animals.
Yes, we are breeders--we try to be excellent ones; and we are proud of what we do.
Shiny Satins Rabbitry
http://shinysatins.weebly.com
*Note: The term cull simply means to remove from the breeding program (when used as a verb), or (when used as a noun) it refers to a rabbit that is not suitable for use in a breeding program.
Culling is not necessarily terminal. A rabbit that is not suitable for use in a breeding program sometimes will be kept as a pet or placed in another home, particularly if it has a good temperament and does not have any defects or health issues that would significantly harm its quality of life. Selling or giving away a rabbit to a pet home with a no-breeding contract is one of several possible actions referred to as "culling." A breeder keeping the rabbit themselves as a house pet without using it for breeding would be another way of culling. If the rabbit is being put down, that would be technically referred to as terminal culling.
A rabbit with significant health or temperament problems would not be considered suitable for use in a breeding program or to be presented for sale as if it was a normal, healthy pet. Most rabbits with these types of problems are kept by the breeder until the problem is resolved, or terminally culled. If placed in another home at all, most reputable breeders would offer rabbits like this at a discount or give them away for free to homes that had the expertise and willingness to deal with a special-needs rabbit, with full disclosure that it had an issue that was outside the norm. Rabbits with these kinds of issues are generally uncommon in a well-run rabbitry. A normal, healthy pet rabbit is not aggressive and does not have chronic health issues.
A rabbit that merely does not fit the breed standard well enough to be used in a breeding program due to cosmetic issues such as color or type would, if it otherwise had good health and temperament, be perfectly suitable as a pet. This type of rabbit would not be considered in any way flawed or special-needs in a strictly-pet context.
The 2012 AVMA survey found that only 1.7% of households in the USA own rabbits, for a total of 3,210,000 rabbits nationwide--down from 6.2 million in the 2006 survey.
As of early 2013, in monitoring Petfinder there are usually around 5,000 rabbits listed for adoption nationwide . . . which means that at any given time, about one one-thousandth of one percent, or .001%, of America's pet rabbit population are available for adoption. According to the House Rabbit Society, "HRS volunteers rescue about 1,500 rabbits per year from their local shelters"--this number would equal an extremely miniscule percentage of the number of pet rabbits in the USA. Even at the top number suggested by the HRS, "over 35,000 per year," the number of rabbits surrendered or abandoned by their owners each year would be barely one one-hundreth of one percent, or 0.01%, of current numbers (one out of every ten thousand rabbits), and only half of that (0.005%) if calculated at the population statistics (6.2 million rabbits) that applied at the time the page was written.
According to a small study in 2012, over 75% of the rabbits available for adoption in the 4 shelters surveyed ended up being adopted. If this statistic holds true on a broader scale, that would mean that up to 0.00125% to 0.0025% of pet rabbits in the USA end up either languishing in shelters or euthanized each year.
So the overall number of rabbits being rehomed, abandoned or surrendered to shelters each year out of those that are owned is extremely low, and the number that don't get adopted is only a portion of that--probably about one or two thousandths of one percent. This equates to only one or two out of every hundred thousand rabbits kept as pets in the USA. The number of rabbits in shelters, and especially the number that end up unadopted or euthanized, is only an infinitesimal fraction of the number of rabbits in America.
In my opinion part of the reason there are as many rabbits as there are in shelters is that many of those were not very adoptable due to temperament and/or health issues in the first place, or needed to be intensively worked with before they were ever offered to the public. Some of them were likely surrendered specifically because of such issues. As a breeder who is very careful about the quality and temperament of any rabbits I put into circulation, many of these are rabbits that I would consider it unethical to sell as breeding stock, show rabbits or pets.
When we first started looking for rabbits for our kids, we started with the rescues and shelters. We went and looked at about 50 rabbits. Out of those 50 there were exactly two--one bonded pair--that were mellow in temperament, friendly and easy to handle. One of them had a missing eye.
We would have adopted them, but the shelter would not allow us to introduce our dog to them--even from a great distance across the room with the dog on a leash and the rabbits in a cage in one of the "meet and greet" rooms. They discouraged us from adopting them because we had a dog, saying that the mere smell and sight of the dog from a distance might cause the rabbits to panic and die. As you can see from the photo above, our dog is just fine with rabbits.
Many of the rabbits I have seen in rescues and shelters around here have health issues like "allergies," buck teeth that need to be trimmed regularly, thin fur on their feet that can cause problems with sore hocks, or other issues that demand extra care or make the rabbit more fragile. Even the healthy ones often have temperament issues that make them unsuitable as pets or breeding stock. Many are either aggressive or excessively flighty. Most cannot easily be picked up and handled. They may bite and kick excessively, or be afraid of people.
If you read the materials put out by the HRS, the HSUS, and other "rescues," they often make it sound like it is normal for rabbits to not want to be handled, to bite or be aggressive, or to be afraid of humans. I believe this may be because many of these shelters are full of poorly-socialized or bad-tempered rabbits. If an organization isn't willing to put the less-adoptable ones down, work intensively to socialize them before offering them for adoption, or at least present these rabbits as special-needs cases, they have to convince the general public that it is normal for rabbits to be this way.
They repeatedly say in their literature and in talking with people that rabbits aren't good with kids, don't like to be picked up, will be territorial if put into a smaller space, are nearly always aggressive if not altered, will get sore hocks if kept in a wire cage, and may require special care like trimming their teeth. Rabbits like that are what we call culls*. :) Of COURSE they have trouble placing all their rabbits, if most of them are like that!
These kinds of special-needs rabbits can sometimes be successfully rehabilitated or given a good quality of life, depending on the issue, but they are not usually the best choice for most first-time pet owners or families with children.
For our family, we wanted rabbits that would be friendly and healthy, enjoy human company, allow themselves to be picked up, would be good with children, weren't aggressive and could coexist with a dog without dying of stress.
That's why we ended up getting them from a breeder.
We realized in the process that there is definitely a place for more people raising really good-quality rabbits with excellent health and temperaments, a health/temperament guarantee and ongoing support from a knowledgeable breeder. Especially quality rabbits that can be successfully shown as well.
And that, my friends, is a big reason why we became rabbit breeders.
Our rabbits are highly unlikely to end up in shelters because (1) we are very selective about any rabbits we sell, and they are guaranteed to have good health and temperament, (2) we screen potential new owners and make sure they know how to care for the rabbit and what is entailed in proper rabbit care and handling, (3) we provide ongoing advice and support, and will always take back a rabbit for any reason if someone decides they no longer want it or are unable to care for it, and (4) with very few exceptions, rabbits that don't stay here become food or are sold as show or breeding stock. So they are also not competing with shelter rabbit for homes, since someone interested in showing, breeding or eating rabbits would have absolutely no use for a shelter rabbit.
If you are at all interested in breeding or showing, you should buy the best-quality pedigreed stock you can find and afford. That's where finding a good breeder is important. The ARBA website has a list of breeders organized by state, with information on what breeds each rabbitry raises, which is a great place to start.
If you want a pet rabbit that is spayed or neutered and you can find a suitable one in a shelter or rescue, I do highly recommend that option. It is less expensive (at least in our area) to adopt a rabbit that is already altered than to pay for the surgery yourself, and with an adult rabbit you can be relatively sure of its temperament. So, by all means, adopt a rescue rabbit if you can find a good one. There are good ones to be found--they just tend to get adopted more quickly.
But there is absolutely nothing wrong with buying a rabbit from a breeder where you know the animal's history and can often get better information and ongoing support, as well as often having some sort of guarantee that the rabbit is healthy when you purchase it. People should be allowed to choose the option of buying from a breeder if they wish, and there are very good reasons to buy from a breeder instead of adopting.
We did later find a local rabbit rescuer who is, in my opinion, very good. She is not affiliated with the HRS, but works with the local animal control and shelter to take in neglected or abandoned rabbits. She works with the rabbits until she is sure they are tame enough and healthy enough to be adopted before adopting them out for a small fee. If she gets in a really nice show-quality purebred, she tries to put it in the hands of a 4-Her or someone interested in showing and improving the breed. I do support that rescue with donations and referrals. I have also taken in needy rabbits myself and volunteered at local shelters helping with rabbit care, nail trimming, etc.
Many people do not realize that several of the most prominent animal rights organizations such as PeTA and HSUS are not actually focused on improving the welfare and treatment of animals. Their long-term goal is to completely eradicate the existence of all domestic animals, including pet dogs and cats.
They basically believe that any sort of human/animal interaction is exploitation of animals. They think animals should be left alone in the wild. Animal rights activists actually kill quite a few animals . . . in their minds, the animals are better off dead than being "exploited" by being kept as pets or farm animals.
We support the humane treatment and excellent care of animals, but we strongly oppose organizations that would try to eradicate all domestic animals. http://noanimalsleft.org/node/13
Wayne Pacelle, Senior Vice President, Humane Society of the United States (HSUS): "We have no problem with the extinction of domestic animals. They are creations of selective breeding. One generation and out." (Animal People, May 1993)
Ingrid Newkirk, Founder, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PeTA): "Pet ownership is an absolutely abysmal situation brought on by human manipulation. We would no longer allow breeding. As the surplus of cats and dogs declined, eventually companion animals would be phased out, and we would return to a more symbiotic relationship-enjoyment at a distance." (Harper's Magazine, August 1988)
http://www.beatastandardpoodles.com/id24.html
Organizations like this have no problem with burning down farms, spray-painting 4-H kids' pets at fairs so they can't be shown, or releasing domestic animals to get hit by cars or die in the wild, so a simple misrepresentation of facts is nothing.
The Rabbit Overpopulation Myth [PDF format] explains why it is actually impossible that the oft-quoted 90% of rabbits are abandoned, and that the true number is probably closer to somewhere below 2%--far less than the percentage of dogs and cats that end up abandoned or in shelters.
Another interesting fact is that rabbit meat processors are constantly publishing that they have a shortage of rabbit meat. They say that there could be a much greater market for rabbit meat, but that the US supply can't keep up with the demand. If you look at the ARBA's list of processors buying rabbit meat, the vast majority rate their demand as being higher than their supply. I personally have received unsolicited contacts from processors so desperate for fryers that they are approaching rabbitries trying to find someone to sell them meat rabbit fryers. They have restaurants wanting to buy more rabbit meat than they have to sell. If there was truly a vast overpopulation of rabbits in the country, this would not be the case. (See our page about rabbit meat for more information on that use of rabbits.)
There are more interesting links and pieces of information regarding the rabbit overpopulation myth and other rabbit-related issues at the Rabbit Education Society website.
Also check out this article, Pentimento by Diane Klumb, originally published in Show Sight magazine. It's by a dog breeder, but what she says really applies to reputable breeders of any animal. It explains why purebred, quality animals do not generally take away homes from shelter animals.
Yes, we are breeders--we try to be excellent ones; and we are proud of what we do.
Shiny Satins Rabbitry
http://shinysatins.weebly.com
*Note: The term cull simply means to remove from the breeding program (when used as a verb), or (when used as a noun) it refers to a rabbit that is not suitable for use in a breeding program.
Culling is not necessarily terminal. A rabbit that is not suitable for use in a breeding program sometimes will be kept as a pet or placed in another home, particularly if it has a good temperament and does not have any defects or health issues that would significantly harm its quality of life. Selling or giving away a rabbit to a pet home with a no-breeding contract is one of several possible actions referred to as "culling." A breeder keeping the rabbit themselves as a house pet without using it for breeding would be another way of culling. If the rabbit is being put down, that would be technically referred to as terminal culling.
A rabbit with significant health or temperament problems would not be considered suitable for use in a breeding program or to be presented for sale as if it was a normal, healthy pet. Most rabbits with these types of problems are kept by the breeder until the problem is resolved, or terminally culled. If placed in another home at all, most reputable breeders would offer rabbits like this at a discount or give them away for free to homes that had the expertise and willingness to deal with a special-needs rabbit, with full disclosure that it had an issue that was outside the norm. Rabbits with these kinds of issues are generally uncommon in a well-run rabbitry. A normal, healthy pet rabbit is not aggressive and does not have chronic health issues.
A rabbit that merely does not fit the breed standard well enough to be used in a breeding program due to cosmetic issues such as color or type would, if it otherwise had good health and temperament, be perfectly suitable as a pet. This type of rabbit would not be considered in any way flawed or special-needs in a strictly-pet context.
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If you wish to share an article or information, you are welcome to link to the site. You may not take our articles or photos and republish them elsewhere without our specific permission.
