Is it bad?

[JuniorxMyxLove]

My neighbors have like 7 bunnies. At one point they had a total of 15, but (thank god)they sent a lot of them to the shelter. Anyways, they kept them in the basement for a while. Then it was the garage. Then it was the side of the house, under a tarp. And now its in the driveway, under a tarp. Half the time they forget to put the tarp on. I was over there one day when it was raining, and they didn't have the tarp over the bunnies cages! The girl there was like, "eww I hate the smell of wet bunny!" and went inside! She didn't even put the tarp on! I'm over there a lot and I've never once seen them clean the cage. Also, I've never seen them interact. My friend says she loves them, but she can't even remember how many she has, or what their names are. They keep the bunnies out on the driveway all year round. They are never brought inside, or played with. In the winter, one of the 5&7 year old boy jobs are to crak the ice and thaw the bunnies water!
In their driveway, they have a bunch of crap on top of and laying around/against the cages. I think they've got 3 or 4 cages.

So, what I'm wondering is this: is this animal creulty? I know nothing about bunnies. For all I know, they could prefer to live outside in the cold. But is it bad? Should I ask my mom to call the shelter about this? Or is it perfectly fine?

[buttercup132]

YES it's animal curelty. Failing to provide adiquite shelter.
Sadly that's the only thing they can get in trouble for from what you have said. But maybe if animal control came they could convince them to surrender some or all of the bunnies. It's worth a try?
Do they even get hay?

[JuniorxMyxLove]

I know they did at one point (haha I was the one who introduced it to them) but now...? I really don't know. probably not. I know they don't get fresh fruits or veggies daily. I know thats bad for guinea pig, but for bunnies?

[Pawsitive Thinking]

That is definitely animal cruelty. Get animal control onto them as soon as you can - poor bunnies

[Karen]

Yes, it's bad. Bunnies need shelter, can get very sick if they get wet without a good place to dry off ... just not a good or healthy situation for them. If she "hates the smell of a wet bunny" it's probably because the cages are not cleaned enough - as bunnies don't smell if they are clean, and rabbits prefer to be clean. So it is absolutely neglect.

That's not even adressing the emotional needs of a bunny, the lack of socialization and interaction ...

Animal Control doesn't care about that part usually, but neglect is abuse.

[3muttsandaboston]

Rabbits do not NEED human interaction especially if they live with other rabbits. Also rabbits do better in the cold than they do in the heat. Mine both live outside in a large 10 ft x 3 ft cage and are very happy. They are mother and daughter and bonded. They do not need or want my human interaction at all. lol I think what they are doing is cruelty rabbit cages should be covered with that tarp at all times. 1. for shade from the sun 2. for a barrier from the cold and 3. shelter from rain and wet.

[JuniorxMyxLove]

okay, i'll talk to my mom about it tomorrow. She's more likely to do it now, because she's gotten so fed up with carpooling: they've forgotten to come pick me up, havent called to say my friend is home sick, etc...

I know there is an adorable bunny named Patches, one named Tuesday, and one named Coconut. They got rid of speckles, so I'm not sure what other bunnies they have. But they're all adorable.

[Genny]

That's sad :( It is cruel to have animals and not care for them properly. I have a rabbit and when I wash him off every now and then he does not ever stink~so the smell of the rabbits must be when it is raining all over their cage where they use the bathroom?? stuff like that.

Good Luck with helping all of them :)

[Marigold2]

Oh this is so horrible, horrible. Please report them. They should NOT be allowed to have any buns at all. :mad:

[IRescue452]

At the very least there should be a law in your area about animals having water at all times. WI is the worst state with animal laws but they do get taken away if not provided with water. Check town ordinances too about the poop all over and the smell. It may not be directly protecting animals, but laws about having a mess like that can be used to your advantage.

[buttercup132]

At the very least there should be a law in your area about animals having water at all times. WI is the worst state with animal laws but they do get taken away if not provided with water. Check town ordinances too about the poop all over and the smell. It may not be directly protecting animals, but laws about having a mess like that can be used to your advantage.I agree with this too if you complain about the smell that might also help them get taken away.


They do not need or want my human interaction at all I beg to differ with your statement of them not needing human interaction. That's like saying a dog doesnt need it either. They might be able to do without it but they are much better with it. Yours might not want anything to do with you possibly because they do live outside and have not had proper socialization.

[3muttsandaboston]

Mine were both raised from 6 week old babies and handled every day. Yes they hate to be held like 99% of all rabbits in the world. They love each other and prefer each other's company to mine. I do pet them and give them veggies everyday.

[JuniorxMyxLove]

i'm still planning on asking my mom. I went over to my neighbors house, and she was like I LOVE MY BUNNY. So I said we should take them out (bc i felt bad for them) and she was like...nah, lets go shopping. Her "favorite" bunny, Patches, didn't have the tarp on because she 'likes the sun.' And I asked her when she cleaned out the cage, and she said like once a month. And she doesn't clean any other bunny cages but patches. How often are they supposed to be cleaned?

[3muttsandaboston]

That rabbit really needs a tarp over the cage. Direct sunlight can easily cause rabbits to have a heat stroke. What type of cage is it that they live in?

[JuniorxMyxLove]

It's wire.

[Karen]

Miss Hoppy's litterboxes are changed twice a week, roughly.

I hope the rabbits have a piece of board or carpet - even cardboard - to rest their feet on, just being on wire all the time can cause horrible problems with their feet.

[3muttsandaboston]

Wire bottomed cages don't need to be cleaned as often as a solid bottom cage. Is there alot of poop accumulated in the cages?

[JuniorxMyxLove]

They actually have litter boxes, but I don't think they use them..yeah, they don't very much. And Other then the litter box, I think its all wire on the bottom.

[Hellow]

This is animal cruelty, call animal control.

[JuniorxMyxLove]

I'll talk to my mom about it tomorrow. Today is their anniversary, so I don't want to bother her today.

:]

[buttercup132]

Do you think you could get a picture of them?

[Lori Jordan]

I have made the call myself!

Few years back at the other house,The neighbors had meat rabbits.

They were all in cages as big as the were.They had no room to run around.But as meat rabbits i'm sure they do that so they fatten up.

The neighbors vacationed alot and left the rabbits with little food and would not even fill there water bottles up.

A few of the neighbors new what was happening,I called the township and they sent someone out.(The people were gone ofcourse)

The man asked if anyone wanted any of them,At that time my kids were small and i did not think i was ready,But the neighbors had taken some.


The man made it look like the rabbits had escaped,He said there was not much they could do if they were meat rabbits,Sad isn't it?

But we got them all outta there,And they had homes instead of being killed,Which made me feel much better even though you could say we stole them.

[Hellow]

Thats great news! :) :) :) :)

[JuniorxMyxLove]

Okay. I was over there yesterday, and I gave her an ice cream so we could hang out with the bunnies (haha yes I'm horrible). Patches has the biggest cage, by far. It's high up, without a tarp on it, and the only thing she has in there is her food, water bottle, and litterbox. Which she poos in, but then sits in to get off the wire. It's nasty. The litter box had poo like ground into it. AND my neighbor left for camp today, for 5 days! She doesn't know who's gonna feed her bunny! Or the other bunnies, since the boys are up north. I'm really worried about her. And Patches had all this dried waste on her rear, and all over her back legs and stuff. I couldn't hold her, it was that bad. And she had this coconut chunk in her cage, which had been there for a few days. They opened the coconut last week, and it was growing moldy on the inside! EWWW!

Coconut has the smallest cage. It's tiny. Theres like 5 inches of packed down hay on the bottom. he's under a tarp, but his cage is so nasty. It's like hay mixed with poo and who knows what all smooshed into to bottom of his cage and over flowing and GROSS. And his cage doesn't get cleaned when Patches does. My neighbor doesn't clean out the other bunnies' cages. Just Patches. And she doesn't feed them or 'water' them. But apparently they 'have enough hay in there to last them a year!' as my neighbor said. To eat it, they would have to go through their own waste. Ewwww.

Tuesday is the biggest bunny. I think he's so handsome. He's giant and all black and white. But we couldn't take him out because he won't let anyone hold him(totally their fault, when they got him as a baby, he was really sweet!). His cage is a little bigger then Coconuts, but not as big as Patches'. It's in the same shape as Coconuts. He's almost completely covered by the tarp. Poor baby.

I was wrong about my earlier guess on the number of bunnies. There are only the original three. One of the others died, and my neighbors dad took a few others to the shelter because 'the cages were taking up too much room.'

Since my neighbor is at camp, i want my mom to call and have them TAKE THE BUNNIES AWAY while she's gone.