FILE - A rabbit sits in a cage. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — According to the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals, every year, hundreds of people in our area purchase rabbits as pets at Easter time. But unlike bunnies adopted from animal shelters, store-bought rabbits don’t come spayed or neutered.
1010 WINS’ Susan Richard reports:
Rabbits are prolific breeders, and, as they say, “breed like rabbits.” As a result, hundreds of unwanted bunnies are born each year.
Sadly, Jane Hoffman, President of the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals, told 1010 WINS, many owners end up releasing the rabbits outdoors.
“Domestic rabbits cannot survive in the wild and New York City parks are the wild,” said Hoffman. “Don’t fool yourself that ‘I’ll put my rabbit out there and they’ll be fine’. He or she will not be fine”.
Other owners surrender the rabbits to animal shelters like Animal Care & Control of NYC (AC&C) and Rabbit Rescue & Rehab, which take in about 600 rabbits each year, making rabbits the third-largest animal-shelter population after cats and dogs.
To help stave off this annual problem, the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC’s Animals is teaming up with the Humane Society of New York to offer the first in a series of free spay/neuter clinics specifically for rabbits.
The first free clinic will be held on Saturday, April 5 at the Humane Society of New York’s animal hospital (306 East 59th Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues).
Appointments must be made in advance by calling 212-752-4842 and rabbit owners will be asked to bring their rabbits in for a free check-up a few days before the surgery.
[caption id="attachment_34779" align="alignleft" width="185"] 1010WINS' Susan Richard[/caption]
Susan is a native New Yorker whose been heard on...More fromSusan Richard
