Opinions Please. Is this rabbit abused. (serious question)

I had shared a post here on HH talking about the little bunny that was kept in the courtyard of the assisted living community where my mother lives. It lives in a courtyard that is totally enclosed by the building. We had been reassured that the bunny was well cared for although nobody could tell us exactly who was in charge of it's care.

We actually got to see the precious thing Monday. It was never been visible the times we went there before. The night before there had been wind and rain. It had been sunny all morning and had dried things out. At 1 PM we found him(?) mostly wet and fairly muddy. He has one of those largish plastic dog houses, perhaps 24" x 18" and it was on a porch under a roof. Inside the little house, the pine shavings were soaked and black. The water bowl had algae in it and what I assumed to have been pellets at one point was brown mush.

This is what we found: [url=]Rabbit's House[/url]
This upset me. Since I've never seen more than pictures of the lovely hutches and runs that HH makes for it's outdoor buns so I don't know what would be the reasonably acceptable habit for an outdoor bunny.

It's a lovely English Spot mix I think. Looks maybe 4lbs. To me it looked skinny. I wanted to bunnynap it right then and there! It was quite friendly but it was a bit wary of being petted. I have no idea if it is a buck or doe. Hubby tried to get a 'view' to check for male bits but crawling in the mud was not be done in his Sunday go to meetin' clothes.

So what about it? Is that acceptable for a little bun?

It's not how I would keep my buns, even if I took one in in an emergency situation I would provide better accomodation than that.

If you bunny nap it, it will probably be replaced with another bun. Education is the way forward here I think. Is there a site warden you could speak too?

Vince the bunny wrote:It's not how I would keep my buns, even if I took one in in an emergency situation I would provide better accomodation than that.

If you bunny nap it, it will probably be replaced with another bun. Education is the way forward here I think. Is there a site warden you could speak too?

agree

Vince the bunny wrote:It's not how I would keep my buns, even if I took one in in an emergency situation I would provide better accomodation than that.

If you bunny nap it, it will probably be replaced with another bun. Education is the way forward here I think. Is there a site warden you could speak too?

I agree with both sentences here. How you described the pine shavings as soaked and black and the bunny wet and muddy isn't good

I certainly wouldn't have a bunny of mine living like that There's no excuse for him/her living in dirty/wet conditions.

Don't you get extremely hot weather where you are? If yes, that plastic thing must be baking some days!!!

Disgusting, the food dish for a start will have bacteria breeding on it, the water dish same. The bedding will not keep him/her warm when its cold, far to exposed period. I would contact your local rspsa.

Thanks ladies. Nobody will say who is responsive for that poor little creature! That little house is under the roof of the building and that makes me really wonder if perhaps the courtyard perhaps had flooded briefly. The flash flood sirens did sound for about 15 minutes.

I also saw a small wire variety cages in another part of the courtyard. We couldn't get to it because my wheelchair won't go on soft muddy ground. There were 4 turtles in the courtyard too and they were somewhat tame.
I'll continue to investigate and talk with the local SPCA.

Again, thanks for your input!

If they let the food dish and water dish get like that then they are not bothered about the well being of the rabbit , and wheres the hay?

I think they certainly need educating on a rabbit's needs and welfare or better still the rabbit taken off them I doubt if they can be bothered to get another rabbit as they don't
even look after this one poor bunny!

Definitely looks like a bad case of neglect. For the bowl to be that dirty and contaminated means that no-one is regularly looking after the bunny. As you know, bunnies need hay for bedding and food, but also need regular cleaning out. Someone must know who has overall responsibility. Otherwise, it could be that everyone just muddles by thinking that someone else will do it.

I agree that rather than just report it, when it will just be replaced with another little victim, it would be better first to try to explain why the set-up is so bad and how they could improve it.

Really if no-one is prepared to look after the animals appropriately, they shouldn't have them. It doesn't help the residents and it certainly does nothing for the rabbits.

Poor little thing, that isn't good.

I think I'd talk to them, and offer to take it off them. If you're happy to have another one that is I couldn't leave it there without doing anything, I'd feel too bad.

He/She can't have been checked that day at least if that's what the bowl and house looked liked, and if no one is taking responsibility i'm not convinced they'd be bothered to get another one.

Hope it gets sorted out one way or the other.

I think it is a disgrace too. I wish I could come with you love and we could both give them a talking to. Thank you for telling us and please let us know how you get on. I wish I could give more support.

Hugs

JO xx