Please help 74+ Rescue Rabbits

Flexible_Friend

PACT ANIMAL SANCTUARY - RABBIT RESCUE

Late Friday afternoon 7th January the PACT office received a call from a member of staff at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital saying that a man had been admitted two days previously having suffered a stroke and had told staff that he had approximately twenty to thirty rabbits and that they had not been fed or watered for three days. We liased with the man through the hospital staff and he eventually agreed to sign over the rabbits to the care of PACT.
Our team attended the premises that evening and found the rabbits being kept in old rusty filing cabinets and one even in a wet cardboard box with little bedding, no hay and dirty feed and water containers. All this in a filthy, rubbish strewn and rat infested shed. The rabbits, mainly large New Zealand Whites, were desperately hungry and thirsty, had no space to hop or jump, were overcrowded and desperately frightened.
There were too many to take in one attempt, as there were far more than we had been led to believe and we did not have room in the ambulance or enough cages ready at the Sanctuary. Twenty of the rabbits that seemed to need the most urgent care were collected that evening, and the rest were fed and watered. We then returned the following day and collected a further thirty-eight rabbits, adults and babies. Most of the females are pregnant. We checked the dilapidated property to make sure that there were no animals missed and discovered a bonfire site with dead rabbits in various stages of decomposition.
The rabbits had been bred for sale as pets and as meat, and the situation had apparently been in this state for at least nine years, and had been reported to the RSPCA on numerous occasions.
We estimate the cost of vaccinating the rabbits immediately at around £1200, not counting any babies yet to be born, any not re-homed will need to be vaccinated again in six months time. The cost of feed and care for the next six months will be at least £2000, plus veterinary care, some will need antibiotics for infected wounds resulting from rat bites, plus extra staff hours and extra equipment that we need to purchase. We now urgently need to complete our expansion of Bunny Village so that we can provide these animals with the right kind of care and housing.
Donations to help with this extra unforeseen expense would be greatly appreciated.

Tuesday 11th Jan 2011

LATEST UPDATE ON HORSFORD RABBITS

Final total of rabbits taken Friday and Saturday was 70 ranging from tiny babies to adults, with another four babies born Sunday making a grand total of 74. Of those we estimate that there are at least 34 pregnant does. Veterinary inspection has revealed that there are at least two rabbits suffering from Syphilis and 4 suspected cases of myxomatosis plus several cases of suspected pasteurella. All the sick rabbits have started treatment and will have to be segregated from the rest of the group. The whole group is of course being kept separated from the rest of our resident rabbits and guinea pigs – a logistical nightmare.

We also need to find homes for these rabbits and any new babies that will be born in addition to the many rabbits and guinea pigs already in residence.

Our contact details PACT Animal Sanctuary, River Farm, Woodrising Nr. Hingham, Norfolk, NR9 4PJ tel- 01362 820775 or 01362 821306 or email http://www.pactsanctuary.org/contact.html or web site http://www.pactsanctuary.org/

Donations page http://www.pactsanctuary.org/donations/donation-to-feed-horsford-rabbits.html

Local TV news report http://www.itv.com/anglia/rabbits-rescued21120/


If you can help with any of these bunnies please contact the sanctuary directly

Thanks

themull1

Poor things! I presume the man is going to be prosecuted?

Flexible_Friend

Update Friday 14th January 2011

Another litter born today, mum and babes seem fine, there looks to be four or five little ones. All the other rabbits are doing well eating and drinking and enjoying their nice warm beds.

Update Thursday 13th January 2011

Latest news on the rabbits so far so good for most of the rabbits but sadly we have lost one of the new born babies but the rest of the litter seem to be doing well. We have now heard from another member of the public who had also been trying to ‘get something done for the rabbits’ for years to no avail and that their owner only used to visit them at most two or three times a week! The horrors these poor bunnies have been through, lets hope that they can now look forward to a long and happy life.

Please keep the donations coming in. Thank you. Every little helps ...

http://www.pactsanctuary.org/donations/donation-to-feed-horsford-rabbits.html

Flexible_Friend

Update Mon 17th Jan

Thank you for the response to our appeal, it has been just fantastic, there are still some good people in the world! We have had another litter born, and it looks as though at least three females are due to give birth very soon. All the bunnies have severe ear mites so many are on daily treatment. We still need hay, readigrass, bedding, heat pads and lamps and money towards vet bills and of course towards our extension of 'bunny village', some of these rabbits will be with us for some time I think, so we need to be getting on with the work.

Flexible_Friend

Update Monday 24th January 2011

The rabbits are still progressing well, although sadly we did lose another two of the litter of nine. This was not surprising as they were in very poor condition when they arrived at the Sanctuary and nine is a very large litter even for a healthy rabbit. Over the weekend we had another litter born and again mum and babes seem to be doing well. We are keeping all the mums and babies in heated accommodation so we dread to think of the electricity bill, but we’ll worry more about that when the bill arrives, for now the important thing is to get these bunnies on the road to recovery

Flexible_Friend

Update Wednesday 2nd February 2011

The Rabbits are all still doing well. Litters continue to be born and on average we are losing one out of every litter soon after birth. Considering what the rabbits have been through it is not surprising that we will inevitably lose some babies but the fact that so many are surviving is good news.

The sick ones continue to respond to treatment and we hope that they will be well enough to start neutering and rehoming before the end of the month. Thank you to all those kind people for their messages of support and their donations, a full thank you will be posted very soon and will also be printed in our newsletter. We still desperately need hay, readigrass and bedding and donations of carrots would be really appreciated, as would contributions towards rabbit village.