Important warning bad enclosure - WARNING v upsetting image

Hi - I am new on here and I just wanted to warn people in the bunny world of the possibility of a problem with a certain type of enclosure.  Please take a moment to read this, look at the style of enclosure, read the 1 star reviews and look at the awful photo that shows a rabbit trapped between the bars.  Photo is shown as 1 customer image, the link for it is under the main photo, it is an upsetting photo, but shows the problem clearly.

A few months back a lady had been warning people (on a page on facebook) about an enclosure as her little rabbit had died as their head got caught between the bars of an enclosure, the same enclosure that I have. At the time I checked mine and from comments made by other people it seemed that small or young rabbits were not ideally suited to this type of enclosure. I looked the enclosure up on a few websites and on some it did state don't use if your rabbit is small or under 6 months.

My rabbit Isis is just back from hospital she has suffered a broken jaw, and on the enclosure there are two bars which have been pushed apart, after speaking with the vet, although her injury could have been caused by a fall, or bad landing after a binky, it is however also consistent with her having had her head stuck between the bars.

She is closer to 2 years old, so not a tiny rabbit, nor is she small as she was around 3.5kgs. I never thought for a minute that she would or could have fitted her head through the bars.

If you do have one of these styles of enclosures, it is worth taking precautionary measures. A friend has lined the bars with chicken wire, to prevent any accidents happening. I don't know if that is the best solution, but certainly worth looking into, after her rabbit also got it's head stuck between the bars. Another friend of mine, who had the same happen, found her rabbit had broken it's claw on her back foot, trying to free herself.  Another friend, sadly found her rabbit had died.

I have emailed the seller, and Amazon, to ask if they will look into the safety of this run. If you look at the reviews for the link below, there are several reviews at the 1 star rating of injuries or death of a rabbit.

I have posted this on a couple of other places, and sadly the comments I am getting are showing more injuries and deaths.  I am not posting this to upset anyone, just to warn of a possible problem.


***Please note that the customer image, on the below link, is of a rabbit trapped in the cage, and it has died, it is really upsetting, but clearly shows how a rabbit can get trapped***

***Because I am new, I can't post a link, but if you look on Amazon for a 72" rabbit playpen enclosure run, it costs around £30, has about 86 reviews on it.  The same run is available in several places to buy and comes in a few sizes ***

Wow that is really bad.

Here's the link and photo

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0064OEJGM/ref=s9_simh_gw_p199_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1KZ56Y4WBD2WB4MG8AFA&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=430153987&pf_rd_i=468294

Thank you for posting the link.

I am gutted about my wee bunny getting hurt, and given the reviews it seems a common problem.

Oh yikes! That is awful

Oh my God  

That poor poor bunny     

I can't cope with this its terrible this will haunt me.

Oh my gosh, that poor rabbit  

This is my run I think  

Oh god that's awful

Tuckerbunnies wrote:Oh my God  

That poor poor bunny     

I can't cope with this its terrible this will haunt me.

Me neither.... I wish I hadnt looked
poor poor bunny

I dont really use runs / enclosures as all mine have fixed ones.... but I do have them for certain occasions ... I wouldnt have anything but the one below... theyre fantastic... and extremley safe

I personally think that this thread should have a warning as the photo is quite upsetting and will upset a lot of people. I've been in tears  

I have one of those. I'm going to chuck it. Thank you for the warning .

I don't think many of you know this, but this happened to Pebbles. She was being looked after at a friends, and she got spooked and headbutted the run and she got her head stuck. Hetty had to wrench the metal apart to get her out, and somehow she didn't have a single injury.

I didn't use the run again for a long time, i was too nervous. Admittedly, now I do but only supervised. I never ever leave them out in it, they have an attached wooden run, and they have this run for on the grass, and I put them in it while I clean them out to give them some grass. But I wouldn't leave them in it alone, like you say its quite common and I know when I contacted Zooplus, they couldn't care less about it.

The run always looks daft when the girls are in it, because its full of tunnels and hidey holes, one in each corner so the can dart to safety. But I don't leave them in it. So, in theory it's pretty useless!

So sorry if the post has upset anyone, or more that the image has. It is awful, and makes me very upset. The reviews are telling a sorry tale. The company that sold me mine are being a bit dismissive, and I just want to try to get word out that if you have a run like this, then you could have potential for an accident.
I don't want another bunny to go through what mine is just now. She was in hospital for a week and has a broken jaw.
I do plan to take this further, but Amazon are investigating it, so hopefully that may do something.

It's okay Maizie, I know it wasn't intended to upset - more to inform. We just have to make sure images like that have a warning in the subject title, so that people know what to expect when they open the thread  

Oh my gosh, makes me realise how lucky pebbles was to have had no injuries at all. I remember her eye was slightly red but within a day she was fine. She is a very delicate little lady, I suspect if it had been any of the others they wouldnt have been so lucky.

Do keep us updated on her recovery, she is a very very lucky girl.  

Maizie,
Can you pop something warning about it onto our facebook page, ill then share it and post on some other pages?

I think we need to get this message out there as widely as we can.

Katie

Of course I can, Katie Is the facebook page Happy Hoppers?

And to anyone else, please if anyone can, share the warning, and let other friends, forums and facebook pages be aware of the possible dangers. The more poeple who know, then the better. Thank you.

These runs need to be recalled! My buns won't be using theirs again until I've modified it. Thank you so much for posting this link and making me and other people aware of how dangerous this is!!

Will try and spread the word

That's horrific, and the couldn't-care-less attitude makes it even more so  

Has anyone informed the RWAF and RSPCA?

Its on the RWAF fb page...I can see.

I brought one of these recently for someone who had aquired buns and I wanted to help make sure they had enough space. Im going to now buy some mesh for the inside and mine is going in the bin

Apologies if any distress was caused by posting the photo - obviously I posted that. I felt that without the photo it is easy to think 'my bun must be bigger, it won't happen to them'. I just wanted to show the reality of the situation.

Thank you for sharing this with us love and I really hope some action is taken.  That poor lovely little bunny.

Hugs

JO xx

That is absolutely shocking! 

what is more shocking is that even though the site is FILLED with reviews telling of numerous rabbits being trapped and some even dying, the company is still advertising this as suitable for rabbits. 

I think that the company should be ashamed of themselves and suggest that we mobilise to get them to remove mention of rabbits and to add that these should NOT be used for rabbits because of the dangers.



Detailed Seller Information

• Business Name: PEL UK
  
• Business Type: Distribution
  
• Business Address:
  
  
  
  • Unit 2A, 2nd Floor,
    
  • Building 28, Westminster Industrial Estate, 34 Bowater Rd,
    
  • LOndon
    
  • SE18 5TF
    
  • GB
    
  
  

Great to get the message out and warn people of the horrors of these runs
I also was shocked by the photo.... but part of me thinks.... who dashed for the camera to get a picture of such an awful accident    I would have been hysterical!

2 things spring to mind June:

1. everyone has a camera on their phone these days and many people are never without their phones.

2. If you are unsure of the safest way to proceed you send a photo to someone who may be able to help.

awwww poor bunny