BEDFORD, NH — When you think of animal cruelty, cats and dogs tend to immediately come to mind. However, the Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire (ARLNH) has been instrumental in working with rescues across the country in cases of animal cruelty involving rabbits.
You may remember in March of 2018, the ARLNH coordinated its first rabbit transport. Seven rabbits traveled from Las Vegas to New Hampshire, leaving “sin city” for a better life on the east coast. These rabbits, often referred to as the “Las Vegas Dump Site Rabbits,” were discarded pets that were allowed to roam free and reproduce.
The reason for the urgency in the transport was that they were falling victim to predation and
human cruelty. It was believed that certain individuals were leaving poisoned produce for the rabbits to ingest, causing a number of them to fall victim to slow and painful deaths.
Hopping forward to June 2019, the ARLNH has assisted with three rabbit transports stemming from cruelty situations from three different states. Earlier this year, the ARLNH assisted an Animal Control Officer with a rabbit hoarding case in Massachusetts. Rabbits were living in substandard conditions, some in Rubbermaid bins made into make-shift cages. Nine of the sixteen rabbits made their way to the safety of the ARLNH. Part of the major concern with the containers they were found in is that they did not allow for the rabbits to move out of their own urine and feces.
In the last month alone the ARLNH has assisted with large rabbit hoarding cases in Texas and Pennsylvania. Authorities with the SPCA of Texas confiscated 452 rabbits that were living in a shed in what was described as deplorable conditions. Multiple rabbits to a cage, stacked on top of one another and unable to escape the debris from the cage above. Not long after, close to 30 of the females gave birth, bringing the total number to nearly 700 rabbits. When requests for help went countrywide, the ARLNH once again responded to the call for help and nine, formerly Texas rabbits made their way to the ARLNH.
Also this month, the ARLNH assisted a volunteer rabbit rescue group in Pennsylvania who removed close to 100 rabbits, most of them juveniles, from a hoarding situation where it was unclear which babies belonged to which mom. Nine of these bunnies are now safe and sound at that ARLNH. Due to the stressful living situation, most of the mothers were malnourished and had difficulty giving birth or caring for their young causing a number of the rabbits to have to be bottle fed.
The ARLNH is very fortunate to be able to offer assistance in these situations, largely due to the fact that we have a Staff Veterinarian who can spay and neuter rabbits and a foster program that allows us to place young rabbits into safe and comfortable environments until they are ready for adoption. In addition, thanks to recent building renovations, we have a dedicated rabbit holding room which allows us to assist more rabbits in need.
The ARLNH feels so strongly about animal welfare that our Director of Outreach & Investigations, Maureen Prendergast, helped create new legislation which was recently signed into law that will prevent rabbits under the age of eight weeks from being placed.
“The ARLNH’s mission is to not only help those in need now, but we’re also concerned with the future of animal welfare and are thrilled that this legislation will protect more animals in the future,” Prendergast said.
The ARLNH is always eager to talk to potential adopters as to the benefits of opening your homes and your hearts to a companion rabbit. To see a listing of all of our available rabbits, visit https://www.rescueleague.org/rabbits.
The Animal Rescue League of New Hampshire (ARLNH) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that helps more than 2,000 pets and the people who care for them each year. The ARLNH also offers community outreach programs, including a pet food pantry, low-cost spay/neuter clinics and Safe Haven temporary housing.
For more information, contact Maureen Prendergast at
mprendergast@rescueleague.org or call (603) 471-0888.