Rehoming A Rabbit
It takes a community to help rehome a rabbit to ensure that they find a new home safely. House Rabbit Society isn’t able to take in rabbits from the public — we take in rabbits at risk of euthanasia at animal shelters. However, we can offer advice, supplies and support.
Finding a New Home For Your Rabbit
If you adopted your rabbit from House Rabbit Society originally.
Please contact us at 510-970-7575 and we will schedule a return appointment with you. Let us know if there’s a way we could help you problem-solve to keep your rabbit. Our adoption agreement requires rabbits to be returned to HRS if you cannot keep them.
If your rabbit is not adopted from House Rabbit Society,
we are happy to give advice. We can post photos & a bio of the rabbit(s) to our blog & Facebook page to help spread the word about the rabbit needing a home. We may also be able to loan you some supplies so you can temporarily house the rabbit. Call or email us for advice.
Home to Home
House Rabbit Society hosts a Home to Home account where you can list your rabbit as looking for a new home.
Never release a rabbit outside.
Pet rabbits aren’t able to survive outdoors and are easy targets for predators. They’re also at risk of getting RHDV which spreads easily to rabbits outside, other diseases, being hit by cars, and starving to death.
Advertise about the bunny
Ask your friends, family, or co-workers if they want or know someone who would want a rabbit. If not, they can help you promote the rabbit on their socials.
You can also post about the rabbit in the following sites:
The Original BAY AREA Rehome & Adopt PETS (Calif) Facebook group (SF Bay Area only)
What to Look for in an Adopter
Look for an adopter who will keep their rabbit indoor where they will become part of the family. Rabbits live longer and healthier land become part of the family when they're indoors. When a rabbit lives in a hutch outside or in a garage, they are at risk of death from predators, heat, cold, and disease.
We recommend an enclosure that is 4’x2′ (larger is always better!), with a solid bottom not a wire grate, or puppy exercise pen, with supervised exercise time daily inside the home.
Some people even give their rabbit free-roam of a room once they’re spayed/neutered and using a litter box!
Rabbits do not need to have access to outdoor playtime to be happy and fulfilled. Indoor bunny-proofing is important to protect your rabbit and your belongings.
An adult (not a child) should be the rabbit’s primary caregiver, as rabbits live 8-12 years, and childrens’ interest in a rabbit often quickly fades due to competing afterschool activities, and older children will leave for college while the rabbit remains with the family.
We don’t recommend rabbits live at schools or preschools, where they often become unwanted due to childrens’ allergies or if the rabbit becomes nippy with kids, and schools don’t have a budget for veterinary care if the rabbit gets sick.
Animal Shelters
An animal shelter should be your last resort. Not all shelters are able to take in rabbits. For a stray rabbit, contact the animal control agency (public shelter) for the city/county where the rabbit was found to inquire if the shelter is able to assist.
Abandonment
Please never abandon an animal either outside or at a vet office, animal shelter, or House Rabbit Society. Rabbits don’t live long outside as they get hit by cars and eaten by predators, and they die when it gets too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter. It is a crime in California to abandon an animal.
Adopt a Rabbit Available for Rehoming
Please note that these are not House Rabbit Society’s rabbits and are not housed in our facility.
We are hosting them here as a courtesy to the current owners.
If you have a question or concern about one of these postings —
or wish to get advice from House Rabbit Society on adopting a rabbit needing rehoming,
email us at [email protected]