There is nothing wrong with buying a rabbit from a reputable rabbit breeder, who breeds rabbits for pets...just as there is nothing wrong with purchasing a cat, dog, or any other animal from a reputable (key word being "reputable") breeder. However, just as many dogs and cats lose their lives at animal shelters, so do rabbits. Why not adopt a rabbit and save a life? Many breeders keep their rabbits at home until they are sold. Many rabbits in the animal shelters are sitting on "death row", waiting for their time to run out. Many of the rabbits being sold at most (not all) pet stores are not properly cared for. You will often see rabbits of both sexes housed together, not being fed a proper diet and most are there to be snake food or an impulse buy for a child. Many of these rabbits bought as impulse buys will wind up at a shelter or abandoned later on.
There are numerous organization, clubs, and groups that work with local animal shelters to foster and find homes for house rabbits. When you get a house rabbit from the animal shelter or local rabbit rescue group, you will usually pay a small fee to adopt your house rabbit. Your rabbit will be spayed or neutered, clean and healthy and ready for you to bring home and love. You will also get information on how to best care for your rabbit. The fee that you pay to adopt your new friend helps the shelter or rescue cover the cost of spaying and neutering, feed and housing, veterinary and other costs of making sure that the rabbits are well cared for.
Aside from adopting a house rabbit, another great way to help rabbits in need is to donate money to the local animal shelter or rabbit rescue organization in your area. If you have some extra time that you can spare, local animal shelters and rabbit rescue groups are always needing volunteers to spend some time grooming, help care for and spend some quality time just befriending the rabbits.
Another way to help prevent rabbits being abandoned and needing to be adopted out is through education. People need to be made aware of the fact that rabbits are not "throw-away" animals. You can't simply turn a rabbit loose "in the wild" when you can't or don't want to care for him any longer. He will either starve to death, become ill ot injured, succumb to the elements, be hit by a car or be killed by another animal. Also, people need to be educated on the importance of spaying or neutering their house rabbit. Not only is it better for the rabbit's health, there are enough rabbits out there needing homes without adding to the population. Then there is problem of the ever popular "Easter Bunny" for a young child. Rabbits do not make good pets for young children. They are fragile animals and often wind up getting injured by small children.
There are many ways that we can help the house rabbits. The best way is to go out and adopt one and give him or her a loving home. It is heartbreaking to think of even one rabbit losing his life. We can't save them all at one time, though we try...we can each do our part to make a difference.
