Giving Up a Rabbit
Orlando Rabbit Care and Adoptions is a membership organization providing education to bunny parents. We do not have a shelter for rabbits but can partner with you to try to find a solution for your situation.
Before you consider giving up your rabbit, remember that rabbits are social creatures and can become attached to the families they have come to know. Often times, simply making a few changes around your home and having bunny spayed or neutered will alleviate hormonal behavior, improve litter box habits, and protect the future health of your bunny. Best of all, your bunny's true, loving, and fun personality will shine through.
There are also life changes that require the difficult decision to give up your rabbit:
- Moving - Moving to a new apartment that doesn't permit animals can cause a lot of stress. If you can, check for ones that are pet friendly! Many just require a pet fee.
- New work schedule - If your work schedule has made taking care or your rabbit difficult, perhaps friends, family, neighbors or roommates may be willing to help if you are in a bind. The great thing about rabbits is they don't need daily walks like dogs!
- Family addition - Having a baby doesn't necessarily mean you have to give up your rabbit. Be sure to supervise new interatctions between bunny and baby.
- Medical Conditions (e.g., allergies) - If you have discovered that you are allergic to the rabbit or the hay, don't give up yet! Please read these tried and true solutions for living well together. (When the Fur is Flying, by Kristi Cole / Living with Rabbit Allergies, by Susan Smith, PhD)
- Chewing cords?
- Digging carpet?
- Not using the litter box?
- Aggression?
- Bad bunny smells?
Most of these “negative” behaviors are just misunderstandings between you
and your rabbit.
If your rabbit isn't spayed or neutered, chances are this
is adding to the difficulties!
We have a lot of bunny experience and can help you with information and suggestions to help you understand what is happening and how to work out your differences so that you can live happily together. See Empowered Animal Behavior and Training for more info.
Did you adopt from ORCA? Did you adopt your rabbit(s) from us? Please Contact Us. ORCA will pull your Adoption Agreement (contract) information and contact you to set up a surrender. Pursuant to your Agreement with us, the rabbit must be returned to ORCA. Although all returns are given high priority, we ask for your patience as we find a foster home for your rabbit(s).
Did you adopt from someone else? If you purchased your rabbit from a pet store, breeder, farm, flea market, or similar business, your best bet is to reach back out to them to try to RETURN the rabbit. If they will not accept returns, your next step should be to contact your local animal control facility for intake of your rabbit. We are establishing relationships with Orange and Seminole counties to work directly with their Animal Services departments, assisting them with providing critical rabbit care information packets for future owners.
Think about where you plan to bring your rabbit:
- Make sure the rescue or shelter you are considering is legitimate.
- Are they registered with the state as a corporation? Florida's Division of Corporations
- Are they a non-profit?
- Does the organization appear on the GuideStar website? GuideStar contains profiles for non-profits.
- Shelters and Animal Services have very little space for a rabbit and when one is brought in, it may mean that another will have to be euthanized. They may give the rabbit to another facility.
- When you surrender your rabbit to a shelter, you have no control over the quality of home he or she goes to. County laws sometimes govern adoption fees for rabbits. These may be set very low – will your pet end up in a loving home that can provide the care your rabbit may need?
- Many shelter workers are not familiar with the specific needs of rabbits and cannot adequately screen potential adopters.
- Please check references for shelters. Go beyond on-line reviews and observe the conditions your rabbit will be housed in. Is it a place you would be comfortable leaving a beloved pet or a death sentence? Your rabbit may be placed in a room with meowing cats, barking dogs and lots of people coming by. They will not behave normally and will be frightened and shy, and their playful friendly personality will be hidden, potentially hindering any chance they have for adoption.
- If your rabbit is not spayed/neutered, will it be? Will your rabbit be mingling with other unaltered rabbits – providing the opportunity to increase over population?
- If your rabbit boxes or nips because he/she is unaltered, they may be labeled as “aggressive” and “un-adoptable”. We have accepted rabbits labeled as such. When away from a shelter environment, these rabbits did not exhibit any aggressive behaviors. Shelters (especially animal control) don't have the resources to spay or neuter rabbits before adoption. They will probably euthanize rabbits with behavior problems, even though the behaviors are normal for most rabbits in that situation
- If you are surrendering a bonded pair, it's much harder to place two rabbits together than separately. Many shelters house bonded pairs together, but adopt them out separately to different homes. This is extremely stressful to rabbit pairs. Are you willing for your rabbits to not only lose their home, but be separated from their constant companion?
We are frequently contacted by people who feel they cannot or do not want to keep their rabbit any longer. We would love to help every rabbit in need, but the sad reality is that we just don't have the space and resources to help them all. We have no shelter facility. ORCA's rabbits are housed in foster homes. Unfortunately, there are many more rabbits needing homes than our space can accommodate.
ORCA is committed to taking in stray or abandoned rabbits and rabbits who have run out of time at the local animal shelters so that we can save them from euthanasia. We will only consider rehoming cases of extreme circumstances and depending on whether we have the space.
Because ORCA does not euthanize, any rabbit accepted into care will remain with us until adopted, regardless of the cost. Though we gladly take on this commitment, the reality of it means that fewer spaces are available for new intakes.
We are always at capacity! If you are willing to hold on to your personal rabbit indefinitely, we can explore options to assist you in finding your bunny a new home. Please Contact Us with information about your rabbit including:
- A couple of pictures of the rabbit. Include something so we can judge bunny's size
- Tell us where you got the rabbit
- How long you have had the rabbit
- Specify gender, if known
- The age of the rabbit, if known
- Has your rabbit been spayed/neutered? If so, obtain a copy of the paperwork
- Indicate how long you can house this rabbit until we find a foster home
- Tell us about the rabbit's personality: Is bunny a loner? Is he/she used to activity/being around children? Etc.
You can make flyers with a photo and description of your rabbit and place them with local veterinarians, pet stores, community bulletin boards, work places, church bulletins, etc.
If your rabbit has been spayed/neutered, ORCA may be able to add a courtesy posting on PetFinder; however, you will need to provide proof of the surgery to ORCA before we can post.
The best chance of placing your rabbit in a good home (your rabbit has to be placed in a good home) is for you to screen potential adopters yourself. The House Rabbit Society has some suggestions on how to accomplish this: Finding a Home for an Unwanted Rabbit. BE SURE TO ASK FOR AN ADOPTION FEE. This fee is not for your own profit but to prevent your rabbit from becoming food for snakes and the like. As awful as it sounds, this is the fate for many smaller animals given away at no cost. There is a very serious problem of rabbits being "adopted" and turned into hunting game. These rabbits die a very tramautic and agonizing death. You want your rabbit to go to a home that will consider the bunny important enough to pay for. Also asking for a reasonable adoption fee will likely discourage those who cannot afford the extra responsibility and associated food and veterinary costs.
Remember to advertise any food, housing, books, and supplies that you will provide with the rabbit. Do your best to get a good picture that can be emailed, and be sure to mention the things about your bunny that you love the most.
If all else fails, PLEASE DO NOT LET YOUR RABBIT LOOSE OUTSIDE! They can become food for hawks, dogs, cats, raccoons, or coyotes. They can be hit by a car, become sick and injured, die from starvation and lack of water, become sick from fleas, ticks and flies laying eggs on them, and suffer attacks from wild rabbit colonies. They could also be caught and abused by humans. Sadly, some people are very cruel. It would be better to take your rabbit to an animal control facility and at least give the bunny a second chance.
If not adopted, euthanasia will be a much kinder than a slow and painful death outdoors.