Bunnies Could Use a Rabbit’s Foot at Easter

‘Tis the season to get the rabbit cages ready at the animal shelter. Easter is almost upon us.

The fuzzy bunnies at the pet store, so cute and so cheap, are about to begin their annual journeys from children’s Easter baskets to cramped, neglected backyard cages to the night slot at the dog pound.

Doug Dressler of La Habra can’t understand it. His rabbit, Noogie Oogie, has the run of the house and is the greatest pet ever, he says.

“They’re smart. Mine has learned that if you lick the [motion sensitive] lamp three times, it turns on bright. He purrs. They kiss like a dog; they have a smooth tongue. There’s almost no odor. They’re very enthusiastic.”

Like others who have found rabbits to be great pets, he doesn’t understand how some people can simply toss them away. But, they do, says Lt. Marie Hulett of Orange County Animal Control.

“It’s about two or three weeks after Easter that we start getting them dumped in parks and schools and restaurants,” Hulett says. “We had 30 to 40 rabbits brought in last month, and that can triple each month for several months after Easter.”

Some will be rescued by volunteers of the House Rabbit Society, a national volunteer organization whose Orange County chapter operates several foster homes for rabbits.

“Foster parents” keep the rabbits indoors and away from predators, have them spayed or neutered and teach them the techniques of getting along with humans--like using a litter box.

Then they are put up for adoption. But not as junior’s first pet, says Laura Jodar, spokeswoman for the society’s local chapter. Contrary to the sales pitch at some pet stores, rabbits are unfit pets for small children, she says.

“They are very complex animals. Their bone structure and weight distribution are kind of odd. Their spines are very fragile. They’re not meant to be carried or held. You wind up spending a lot of time on the floor.”

Pet stores like to sell the bunnies when they are at their cutest--4 to 6 weeks old--but that’s too young, Jodar says. “Between 6 and 10 months, they become teenagers, little terrorists like a puppy, and that’s when people dump them or put them in a cage outside.”

There, though enclosed, rabbits are not safe. They can succumb to heatstroke. Hectored by hawks, owls, raccoons, coyotes, cats and dogs, they can go into shock and die of fright, she says. “They are, after all, prey animals.”

“So many are dumped,” Jodar says. “Out of maybe 10 Easter bunnies purchased for little kids, maybe one makes it though a natural life span, and certainly not with the original family.”

Many just dump them at greenbelts or parks, assuming they’ll fend for themselves. “But they are domesticated, just like dogs and cats, and they don’t do well in the wild. At this point, they are virtually man-made animals.”

The society wants people to adopt their rabbits, “but we are the first to tell them all the negatives,” Jodar says. “They do bite, scratch, need to go to the vet, need a special diet, live a long time--around 15 years.”

And they shed four times a year.

“But they are smart; people don’t realize this. They learn games, form habits and communicate with you, mostly with body language. They will lick you like a dog, which is a very high compliment. They are fastidious groomers.”

Jodar says they have the variance of personalities that cats and dogs have. Different bunnies from the same litter will vary in how shy, adventurous, fearful or just plain silly they are.

“They are truly companion animals,” Jodar says.

She spends most of her time at home, making the wedding veils she sells, and usually Willow--her 10-year-old, white, pink-eyed rabbit--is at her feet just hanging around.

Willow is even something of a companion to Jodar’s German shepherd.

“I wouldn’t say they’re best friends, but they get along,” she says. “The dog is a vegetarian.”

And perhaps the most surprising trait about rabbits is that the TV commercial is true, she says. They love Trix breakfast cereal.

* To contact the Orange County chapter of the House Rabbit Society, call (714) 254-8685 or connect to their World Wide Web page at members.aol.com/hrsoc. The national society’s Web page is www.rabbit.org