There are many reasons people may be faced with needing to surrender their rabbit, and it can be a very difficult decision. Please take a moment to learn about your options.
We would love to try and help resolve an underlying problem
Ideally, we would like to help make it possible for you to keep your rabbit. Some of the most common reasons people surrender a rabbit are “fixable” problems.
- Spay/neuter: When a bunny reaches four or five months of age, a number of behavioral problems can begin to manifest. Spraying, aggression, and destructive behaviors can all be the result of sexual maturity. These behaviors can very often be eliminated or alleviated with spaying/neutering. If such behaviors are a factor in your decision to rehome your bunny, please let us know and we might be able to help.
- Destructive behaviors: Chewing and digging are natural behaviors for rabbits. We may be able to show you ways to “bunnyproof” your home and/or provide other outlets for these behaviors. It could also be that your bunny may be trying to tell you something. It is possible that there is a medical issue or something in the bunny’s home environment that is triggering this behavior.
- Poor litter box habits: Few pets are “perfect” in this department, but there are usually ways to help your bunny improve their litter box habits. Let us see if we can help with this!
Try to find a new home for your rabbit outside of bunny lu
There are multiple options for you to try to find a new home for your bunny on your own. This will allow you to personally vet your rabbit’s new owners to make sure that you are comfortable with where they spend the rest of their life. Please visit Home-To-Home.org and RescueMe.org to list your rabbit yourself.
In some cases, we are able to also do a courtesy listing for your bunny on PetFinder and AdoptAPet if your bunny is already spayed or neutered. Please fill out the surrender form and send it to us at surrenders@bunnylu.org to start the courtesy listing process.
Never set a rabbit free!
Nothing is more cruel than abandoning a domesticated animal to fend for itself in the wild. Domestic rabbits are a completely different species from the wild rabbits native to North America. Centuries of selective breeding have taken away their instincts (and natural camouflage) to fend for themselves, and they are sure to face a horrible death.
- They will become easy food for hawks, dogs, cats, raccoons or coyotes.
- They can be hit by a car, become sick and injured, die from starvation and lack of water, and often become sick from fleas, ticks, and maggots.
- Priority intake is given to rabbits at risk of euthanasia in shelters and rabbits in other life-threatening situations.
- If you are considering surrendering your rabbit because you do not feel like you have enough time to spend with them, please understand that the number of rabbits in need of homes is at crisis levels across the country. If you can keep your rabbit, that is currently the best option for them under these circumstances.
- For those rabbits on our waitlist, please know that we are doing our best to find a spot for your rabbit as quickly as possible. We are invested in your rabbit’s future, so we are now asking that you provide us updates on the situation every two weeks. If you are able to find a home or alternate placement for your rabbit while on our waitlist, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can prioritize other rabbits that still actually need to come into Bunny Lu.
- If you are in Fairfax county, VA, please contact the Fairfax County Animal Shelter
- If you are in Loudon County, VA, please contact the Loudon County Shelter
- If you are in Arlington, VA, please contact the Animal Welfare League of Arlington
- If you are in Alexandria, VA, please contact the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria
- If you are in Virginia Beach, VA, please contact the Virginia Beach SPCA
- If you are in Chesapeake, VA, please contact the Chesapeake Humane Society
- If you are in Williamsburg, VA, please contact the Heritage Humane Society
- If you are in Gloucester, VA, please contact the Gloucester-Mathews Humane Society
- If you are in Roanoke, VA, please contact Angels of Assisi
- If you are in Harrisonburg, VA, please contact the Harrisonburg/ Rockingham SPCA
- If you are in Middleburg, VA, please contact the Middleburg Humane Society
- If you are in Charlottesville, VA, please contact the Charlottesville SPCA
- If you are in Norfolk, VA, please contact the Norfolk SPCA
- If you are in Aliquippa, PA, please contact the Beaver County Humane Society
- If you are in Pittsburgh, PA, please contact Animal Friends
- If you are near Pittsburgh and your rabbit has medical issues, please contact Rabbit Wranglers