"Aggressive" Bunny at Shelter

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Djakarta

Djakarta

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Aug 21, 2006
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Location
, California, USA
The humane society where I volunteer has a new little bunny that came in last week.

When I first saw him last week, he was a little shy, but if you talkedto him a bit he would come up to you for nose rubs. He was calm andeasy to lift out into the x pens for exercise.

This week, he was a completely different bunny. Now he huffs and gruntsand lunges at you. I set up a step, so he could come out into the x penwithout being lifted but he was just as aggressive in the x pen. (Iwas hoping that he was just being cage protective and wouldbe more relaxed in the x pen.)

What can I do to help this little guy regain trust in people? He isabout 8 months old and hasn't been neutered. Will some of his behaviorsimprove after neutering? Is it best to avoid handling him ?I'm afraid if he bites someone, he could be labeled "unadoptable" andbe in danger of euthanization.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
Sounds like he might have been mishandled by oneof the caretakers, or he's really stressed by the shelterenvironment. Although it might be a good idea to ask abouthaving the vet check him because that's a huge personality change inone week. Maybe there's something medical going on.

Is there any chance someone could foster him? I know youprobably don't have space because you still have your family ofbuns. But he might do better in a home environment.
 
Some rabbitshave very dominant alphapersonalities and can be very unpredictable. They maysometimes improve with neutering.



Pam
 
The bunnywent in to see the vet today (for his neuter).

Turns out the little boy bunny is a little girl! (Iwas going by the information on the intake card and didn't think todoublecheck "down there". )

So maybe the "aggressive" behavior was just hormonal overload.

I'm hoping this increases the chance that I'll be seeing the sweet bunny from last week again some time!
 
what do you do at the humane socitey? I alwayswantted to volunteer therebut i have no idea what they do andhow old do you have to be? i also thought of volunteering in at anadoption center and get to know the rabbits before i chose to adoptanyone of them.
 
At the humane society where I volunteer , youmust be at least 13 years old to be a volunteer. If you are between theages of 13-16, you must be accompanied by a parent at all times. Abovethe age of 16, you will not be required to have parentalsupervision. Check your local humane society, theirrequirements may be different.

I needed to attend a general orientation meeting. The volunteerdirector outlined a number of different areas where you could help- dogwalking, cat cuddling, landscaping, animal transportation for neutersand spays, rabbits and small animals, front desk, thrift shop etc.

Once you decide where you want to volunteer, you receive additionaltraining. They ask that you commit to at least a 6 month period withsome sort of weekly schedule. There is no minimum number of hours- ifyour schedule only permits 1 hour a week , that's what you will do.They will tailor what you do depending on your time constraints. Someareas, like dog walking, take a minimum of an hour.

I trained with a House Rabbit Society volunteer to work in the Rabbitroom. The shelter is chronically short staffed, so sometimes I justtake care of the basics- changing litterboxes, filling pelletbowls and water bottles, cleaning the trays.

If there is time after that, I can take bunnies out for exercise in xpens orfor brushing and cuddling. You can bring in toys. It'samazing how an apathetic bunny will perk up and become playful withsomething as simple as a paper bag, or set of baby links.

The volunteers keep an eye out for behavioral changes( lethargy, noteating etc) and medical symptoms ( changes in dropping, signs ofinjuries, sore hocks, discharge from eyes or nose etc). We report anyproblems to the veterinary staff.

You also can assist potential adopters by answering questions and usingyour knowledge of the bunnies as individuals to help the adopter findthe right bunny.

As far as using your knowledge as a volunteer to help you select whichanimal to adopt, the danger is trying to only select only one. I have 3fosters and have my eye on about a half a dozen others. Iwish I could take them all home, but it just isn't possible.

 
Kawaii608, we also have a listof shelters available if youre interested.I'll send you thelink in a private message.

Most places like rabbit rescues and the humane society are very understaffed, so theyre always happy to have help!
 
I just received an email from one of the sheltervolunteers. The bunny's family showed up at the shelter ! The poorthing had escaped her cage and had been picked up and brought in to theshelter.Her familyhad been looking forher at the shelter closest to them, not realizing that forrelinquishments/strays, their area fell under the jurisdiction ofanother shelter.

Her family wasuncertain how to handle post op care, so theywill pick her up on Tuesday. I'm so happy the little one will be goinghome !
 
Seriously, I've never really seen a rabbit thatwas really a stray. At my shelter, we always kind of laughamongst ourselves when people say that it's a stray rabbit, because weknow they just don't want to admit to it being theirs.

So many times people bring an animal in, and say it's a stray, and thenthe kids start crying, and the animal has a name, and you can tellthey're lying, but there's nothing you can do about it. It'sreally better if people admit it's theirs because then it goes right upfor adoption and the sooner an animal gets out of the shelter, thebetter.
 
There are real strays, maybe you just don't seethem? Maybe nobody bothers to catch the actual strays in yourarea. Soulmate Rabbit Rescue, the one I'm fostering Oberonfor, rescued several stray rabbits off of the streets.There's also a local no-kill shelter rescue that has a lovely dutchgirl that a member found wandering in her yard.

I bet it has more to do with the relinquishment fee, if you haveone. If it's a stray they don't have to pay it.After all, why should you pay somebody to take a rabbit foryou? *sarcasm*
 
Well, I've never seen a stray bunny. I've never seen a wild bunny around my house either.

There is a $5 fee to turn in an animal.

Most of them come in, and you just know it's not a stray.

Especially when they're freaked out, it's just like, and how did you catch the stray rabbit? lol.
 
In my city we have many accualy strays come in.Our shelter has oh about 40% accual strays, and 15% "strays", and therest from various other situations.
 
We do get alot of stray dogs. Then abunch of feral cats at the right time of year. Not very manystray cats that actually belong to people. Just not manystray anything else.
 
We actually get a lot of stray domestic rabbitsthat are picked up by animal control and brought to theshelter...obviously they are rabbits that have been discarded and "letgo" by people who no longer wanted to care for them. No excuse forthat:mad:
 
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