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Why not check it out and see what you can learn?
RABBIT RESCUE
Written by Jane Tyson,
Scientific Officer, RSPCA
Companion Animals Department
WE BUNNIES LOVE TOYS
TO PLAY WITH SO WHY NOT STUFF
A TOILET ROLL TUBE WITH HAY AND
SEE HOW WE ENJOY IT! YOU COULD HIDE
FOOD FOR US TO FIND TOO!
WE CAN ALSO BE TRAINED TO USE
A LITTER TRAY AND TAUGHT TO
DO SIMPLE TRICKS!
be checked at least twice a day to
ensure they are clean and no flies are
there. At least once a week their nails
and front teeth should be checked to
make sure they are not too long or
damaged. At least once a year they need
a routine health check at the vets, as
well as regular vaccinations.
Money, time and effort
Do you have enough money for
a pair of rabbits?
Rabbits are not easy to look after
and the decision to adopt them
should not be rushed. They cost
a lot of money and take a lot of
time to look after properly. Before
your family thinks about getting
any pet, you need to make sure
you can give them the time and
have the money to care for them
throughout their lives. Typically,
rabbits live for 8-12 years but
some may live for longer.
Domestic rabbits can't live in the
wild with their non-domestic
cousins. The RSPCA was recently
involved in the rescue of two
longhaired pet rabbits that had
been dumped in a wood in Surrey.
They were discovered by
chance, in the pouring rain, by
volunteers marshalling a Wildlife
Trust event, 'Race for Wildlife'. No
one knows how long the rabbit pair,
now named Wilf and Woody, had
been there, but they couldn't have
survived much longer in the wild.
Tania Ord Smith from The
Wildlife Trust, who found the
rabbits, said that it was almost as
if Wilf had come to find help for
his friend, who was suspended
in brambles.
"We were in the middle of
nowhere and Wilf just hopped past
me, stopping and turning towards
me as if to say 'please come with
me'. He was a huge mass of matted
fur and I knew immediately that he
needed urgent help," said Tania.
"I followed him and he led me to
Woody, who was so tangled up in
brambles that he was suspended in
mid-air. He could barely move, let
alone find food. The tangle was so
bad that I had to cut the brambles
and take him home with them still
attached. The poor things were in
quite a state!"
Wilf and Woody were suffering
from a variety of health problems
and struggling to move because
their hair was so overgrown,
knotted and caked in filth.
Tanya passed Wilf and Woody
to the RSPCA for care. Their long
matted fur was shorn, and they
were given treatment for their ear
mites and a course of antibiotics for
breathing problems.
Happily Wilf and Woody made
a full recovery and found a
loving new home.