If your reasons include any but the last of these, you should never have gotten rabbits in the first place. If you deliberately or carelessly bred rabbits and have too many, they are your responsibility. If you purchased a rabbit who was already pregnant, or two rabbits who were both supposed to be females, only to find they were opposite sexes, please see the last section of this article. Otherwise, we ask you to learn from this experience and never get an animal again unless you can be committed to that animal for his or her life. It is selfish and cruel to get animals if:

• you have not first determined no one in your home is allergic to them
• you are willing to move without taking them with you, or if your job is one which is likely to take you overseas where you can’t take them
• you are not willing to maintain time for them
• you get them when you live in a no-pets rental home
• you think of them as “toys” you can discard when people lose interest

• boredom with caring for hutch rabbits, but getting nothing in return
• frustration over behavior, which may include poor litter-training, biting, etc.

A hutch rabbit is likely to be nothing but a chore, and of course, people are likely to regret having gotten such a rabbit. The responsible thing to do, of course, is to realize an animal is a living, feeling creature, and not an inanimate object. Even if you made a mistake getting the animal, it is your responsibility to see it through—just as it is the responsibility of people, who have a child to see it through, even if it was a mistake.

The Colorado House Rabbit Society can explain how to bring a hutch rabbit inside where s/he can be a wonderful companion. We can also tell you how to litter-train and correct unwanted behaviors. Of course, you have to be willing to spend 20 minutes a day working with the rabbit. If you aren’t willing to work at solving problems, just as you would have to do if the animal were a child, you should never bring an animal into your home - and you shouldn’t expect someone else to take on the responsibility you chose when you got the animal. If you want help solving behavior problems, call us at 303/469-3240 and leave a message.

Finally, people may need to find homes for their rabbits because they have:

• serious health problems making care impossible,
• serious financial problems, making vet care impossible
• the rabbit’s people have died

These are the only appropriate reasons for people to seek new homes for animals (just as they are the only legitimate reasons to seek a new home for a young child). If you are facing these kinds of problems, please call and leave a message. We will verify your situation and try to help.

Where to Take Your Rabbit
The CO HRS gets several dozen calls every month from people who want us to take their rabbits. Obviously, no organization has sufficient facilities and staffing to care for so many rabbits.

Most of the time our facilities, like those of most of the shelters throughout the Denver-Boulder metro area, Greeley, Longmont, etc., are full. Most rabbits taken to shelters must be killed for lack of space. No one at these shelters wants to kill these beautiful, sweet creatures, but when space is exhausted, there is no choice. This is not the fault of the shelters, but of the people who get rabbits and other animals without making a lifetime commitment to them.

If you are determined to “get rid of” your rabbits, the following are your choices:

• The best thing you can do is take your rabbits back to where you got them, especially if you got them from a pet shop or breeder. Stores and breeders who sell animals without helping people think through the issues which may confront them (allergies, getting too busy, etc.) are exploiting the animals, and taking advantage of people who buy them. No matter how long it has been since you got the rabbits, take them back. By doing so, you will help these people understand how they are contributing to the problem faced by people such as yourself, and you will be putting the responsibility back on them where it belongs.

• You may take them to one of the animal shelters where there is a high probability they will be euthanized (more or less humanely killed).

• You may do what we would have to do to find a home: spay and neuter them; litter-train them, and socialize them. Then run a classified ad in the newspaper. If you do this, ask at least $15 for each rabbit, so no one will try to take him or her for stew (this happens quite regularly). Describe them in the most glowing (but truthful) terms possible - litter-trained, friendly, cute, etc. Look at the interviews posted on this web-site to determine what questions you want to ask when interviewing potential adopters.