Photo: Dani Simmonds
On occasion, a family's pet rabbit might escape from its home, or in some instances, a family might decide they can no longer keep their pet rabbit and simply abandon the rabbit. Domestic rabbits can't survive well out on their own; they need protection from the elements, from other animals, from cars, from disease and from starvation--as all domestic pets do. If you come across a loose pet rabbit, here are some ways to rescue the rabbit and bring it to safety.
Instructions
1. Obtain a rabbit cage if possible, and make sure it has a solid, rather than a wire floor (wire is uncomfortable for a rabbit). If it's at the last minute and you don't have a cage, a cardboard box will have to work. Bring some food to entice the rabbit because the rabbit will not likely walk in freely. Raw carrot tops, raw broccoli and Italian parsley are all foods that are safe and appealing to rabbits. It will likely be at night (when rabbits tend to come out), so bring a flashlight along as well.
2. Get as close to the rabbit as you can with the vegetables in your hand and have the cage door open with more food inside. Wait for the rabbit to hopefully walk in. If the rabbit won't go in freely, try to lift up the rabbit and place him in the cage or box.
3. Once the rabbit is settled in and calmer, stroke the top of her head lightly. They prefer this to other parts of their body.
4. Check Petfinder.com, AdoptaPet.com and your local Craigslist to see if a rabbit was lost in your neighborhood. You can also post a free announcement in the lost and found sections of these websites. Include the general area where you live along with the closest cross streets. Put up signs around your immediate neighborhood as well (you don't have to go out of your immediate vicinity, since odds are the rabbit wouldn't have traveled that far). If someone calls to claim the rabbit, make sure they provide an accurate description and give you their address; you want to make sure it's the actual owner because you don't want the rabbit getting into the wrong hands. If nobody claims the rabbit within a few days, move on to Step 5.
5. Place free ads on Petfinder.com and your local Craigslist, but be sure to charge an adoption fee to ensure that the rabbit is wanted as a pet and goes to a good home; this will help weed out any unscrupulous people who may want the rabbit for the wrong reason, such as for food or selling to a lab for research.
6. Search online for a rabbit rescue or humane society in your area and contact them. If they can't take in the rabbit, ask if they have any other suggestions. Your other alternative would be a city animal shelter (animal control), but check how long they generally keep rabbits. City animal shelters euthanize rabbits if they run out of space or a certain amount of time elapses and they're not adopted. Holding periods vary from shelter to shelter.
7. If you will be keeping the rabbit for a few days or until a home is found, feed rabbit pellets and hay. Place a dish containing the pellets and a water dish close to the cage door, so that you don't have to reach in far and frighten the rabbit. Rabbits enjoy shredding regular paper or newspaper and playing with cardboard paper towel or toilet paper rolls, especially when stuffed with hay.
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