Animal Planet - Animal Cops episode

i was watching Animal Cops today (tears and triumph every time) and there were 57 rabbits rescued from a home. 1 day old kits too! They all ended up at a Rabbit Sanctuary that is run by a woman and her son. My question is this.....at the end, she gave them their "freedom" and let them live free. Did anyone else see this? The video they showed almost looked like they actually set them free, outside of the very large enclosure. Yikes!

Yeah they have showed it multiable time she is out of san antonio texas. she feeds them regular and waters them. I personal would not do it but she is a rabbit sacuary. I dont know if there still running or open but yes they have used them more then once.

I'm pretty sure the area they set them free into is fenced in to protect them from dogs, etc.

The one thing that bothered me about that episode was that if a normal person that knows nothing about rabbits , but has one, might think that it is ok to let a rabbit go, KWIM

I saw that episode a while ago too, and I agree with Luvmyzoocrew.
I assume it was a fenced area of sorts but yes, a regular person may think its okay to let them roam free.

I saw that too a couple of months ago and was a bit stunned but then I thought, if they really were doing that the Houston SPCA would never send the rabbits there, they always want what's best for the animals as far as I can see, so I'm assuming it is a big enclosure of sorts, I'm sure the bunnies will be very happy!

Tried finding this episode online so I could watch it. No luck. =/

But if they just released the rabbits into the fenced in area they're going to be overrun with bunnies in a few months. haha.

Estuko wrote:

Tried finding this episode online so I could watch it. No luck. =/

But if they just released the rabbits into the fenced in area they're going to be overrun with bunnies in a few months. haha.

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The HSPCA spay and neuteur all animals they get in

irishbunny wrote:

Estuko wrote:

Tried finding this episode online so I could watch it. No luck. =/

But if they just released the rabbits into the fenced in area they're going to be overrun with bunnies in a few months. haha.

Click to expand...

The HSPCA spay and neuteur all animals they get in

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Oooh ok. Was still funny to imagine though.

I agree with all of you! I was stunned, and thought nah...they are all spayed/neutered, etc. etc. But I also worried about the idea they projected to those folks who don't know a lot about our beautiful buns. I also figured HSPCA wouldn't let them do that but.....you just never know! Thanks all!

Yeah, there are a lot of things on TV that I see bunnies with and they just make me mad. An episode of Clean House where they moved the bunnies to an enclosure on the porch--in southern California!--from inside (oh and the bunnies loved to eat peanuts), a Jon and Kate Plus 8 where about 20 kids terrorized a FAT bunny that belonged to a magician--petting it so roughly and screaming around it, super fat bunnies on Dog the Bounty Hunter, etc etc.

I have seen that episode many times before.
I didn't think giving the rabbits to the sanctuary where they could roam free was a good idea...I mean, it didn't sound like she neutered/spayed them....and what if they all didn't get along? That's just more problems if you ask me...

Claire, I saw that episode of Jon & Kate the other night and felt SOOO bad for that poor rabbit! She was so still because she was scared out of her wits!! My gosh! I would never let kids attack ANY rabbit like that! Crazy!

Emily

I saw that episode too,and I guess they probably have it fenced it.But That didnt seem like a very good rabbit place to me.(letting them run free I mean) Maybe its just me though.



I also saw the Poor fat bunny. For one it just looked like it was for the act and left in the crate all the time. What a poor rabbit!20 kids hitting it and petting it.

People are soooo stupid sometimes. We should write to whatever channel Jon & Kate are on...TLC?

I haven't seentthat episode of Animal Cops (Oh, to have Animal Planet back!) but I definately agree that is a very bad thing to show on TV to a bunch of clueless viewers. Plus the fact that I think it's just a bad idea to do anyway, fence or no fence. There is no fence in the world that can keep out things like foxes, weasels, or hawks. Regardless of if they were spayed or neutered, it's just an overall bad idea.

Watched the ending of Jon and Kate Plus 8 with the rabbit... Two thoughts. First of, I would think that any rabbit a magician has would be used to this kind of "show", if you will. I'm sure the rabbit is used to being prodded and poked.

However, I do think that the parents and the magician should have told the kids to calm down a little and be gentle as they were being a bit rough with the rabbit. Maybe I'm blind but I didnt see any of the kids out right ATTACKING the rabbit, just petting and rubbing a bit roughly.

I'm no magician but my Kaylie is very good with children. She'll just sit there and let kids poke and prod her. She has also been in a noisy environment most of her life. We have a screaming parrot, two giant dogs that bark all the time, loud cars that drive by and other various sounds. Granted, this is in a home environment but she has been in it for a couple of years now and doesnt even flinch when the loudest sound goes off.

So I think it is very possible that the magician's rabbit would be used to loud sounds and being poked at. I just think the magician could have educated his young viewers a little and show them how to properly pet a rabbit.

Yeah. There is a rescue in MI that has rabbits living in a similar situation, but these bunnies came from a hoarder and lived outside in the AZ desert, so they have most of their prey instincts to rely on. They have a strong fence that is buried very deep to avoid burrowing predators (and keep the bunnies in), and shelters for them to hide in from birds of prey. Weasels are a concern that might be able to get through the fence. They're all spayed and neutered and at one time they had about 600 I think. They didn't have a lot of skirmishes, but when a rabbit had to have vet care from a fight, they usually ended up in the adoptables group after being socialized to people at the animal hospital area. I think they've been working to gradually adopt out these 600 bunnies they had, but it takes time, so they've been letting them live in a communal outside setting like that. I think it can be done, but some pretty extraordinary precautions have to be taken.

http://www.rabbitsanctuary.org/

It's a really great rescue story--the bunnies were first rescued by Best Friends Animal Society(the people of Dogtown on NatGeo), and sent across the country in air-conditioned semi trucks. There's an adorable video of them running around. http://www.rabbitsanctuary.org/residents/reno_500_001.php