Saddly, we are expecting kits...

[TurtleShark]

The birth of new life is meant to be a happy time. A time of celebration.

Well, maybe for the rest of them it is. But not for me.

I own a rabbit. Sure, I don't give her the best care in the world. But I try. She can run around for a good 4 hours a day. She has a water dish. She has fresh veggies. She has hay all of the time. And she has good pellets.

But, that's not what I'm sad about. My rabbit isn't the one being abused. She's not the one that is pregnant.

The rabbit(s) in question are pregnant.

One lives in a 2x2 cage. She's a larger rabbit and when laying down she can't even fully stretch out on her side. She has a feeder full of pellets. She doesn't have hay, and when she does get hay it falls though the wire on the bottom. She has no place to get off from the wire. And the cage is open fully to the world. She has no where to hide, no where to run. She is also 3 weeks pregnant (or so they think).

The other is in a 3 by 2 cage (or maybe a little bigger). Like the other, she is on wire. She has no hay. She has water and food.

The issue is:
Neither has a nesting box. Both (I'm sure) are stressed.

This is in a class room. So they are disturbed multiple times a day. Sometimes they are held.

I fear for them and their kits. They are "just meat rabbits", but they are alive. If I were them I wouldn't want to raise babies in that place. And I know what they will do if they agree with me. :cry1:

So, I want to do something. But I don't know what. I've tried pointing out the need for hay. I've tried pointing out the need for a place to stand on that isn't wire. I've tried pointing out that they need a bigger cage. And now it's time to do something but what? I can't take them home. I only have one more chance to seem them (probably) before the kits are born. If I had known this sooner then I would have tried harder sooner.

What would you do? What can be done? :nono

 

[MiniLopMad]

This is another one of those difficult situations Those poor bunnies.

Seeing as you've already suggested and given advice, there is not much more you can do. If you can afford it, it may be worth buying some supplies for them. For example, purchase a bag of hay and two hay racks to get them started with hay. You could also get them a nest box each.

If that's not possible, it would probably be best to contact a welfare society - the only issue would be then getting to the rabbits before they give birth.

I hope I helped

 

[Aki]

We're lacking informations here. How do you know about those rabbits and them being pregnant? Do you work at the school or is it the classroom of your child? Who's decision was it to keep the rabbits in the classroom? The teacher? (must be pretty bad if they thought keeping pregnant animals in a classroom was a good idea). Is there a way you can talk to them? If that the case, you can give them those articles :
http://rabbit.org/faq-classroom-rabbits/

http://rabbit.org/a-rabbit-in-the-classroom-what-are-they-really-teaching-the-kids-2/

Ask also about how they feel about the children finding bloody pieces of dead baby rabbits everywhere when the rabbits will have killed their kits because of the stress. What do they plan to do with the babies if they survive? If the parents are meat rabbits, they can expect 10 to 12 babies. Also, what happens to the rabbits during the holiday? Who will care for them? Try to stress the fact, to whoever got the dumb idea that putting animals in a classroom was a good one, that the care of the rabbits will fall upon them in the end and that it's not something they necessarily want. If you can convince that person to let the rabbits go before they die of mistreatment, you can try to see if an association would be willing to get them out of there. If that teacher really wants the children to experience life and ****, I suggest brine shrimps...

Beside that, I'm afraid you can't do much. I'm not aware if there is a legislation regarding that kind of case - I'm French and keeping animals in schools is not something we do, at least I've never heard about it.

 

[Whiterabbitrage]

Can you call an animal abuse agency? The rabbits aren't getting basic care so the agency could theoretically remove them.

 

[majorv]

If they're pregnant then it's certainly not a good situation. They have no hay to nest with so the kits will be born on the wire and will most probably die, if not from being trampled on, then from exposure. That's what the school wants to teach kids???