HARRISONBURG, Va. — As Easter approaches, Virginia animal shelters are urging people to think twice about giving live rabbits as presents.
Huck Nawaz, the executive director of the Rockingham-Harrisonburg SPCA, said that while bunnies make for great pets, they are a major responsibility.
As a result, Nawaz is especially concerned about people buying them as Easter gifts because owners may surrender them or release them to the wild if they cannot take care of them.
"Bunnies are a long-term commitment, so they shouldn't be purchased on a whim, and they shouldn't be gifted," Nawaz explained. "They have needs, similar to dogs and cats in terms of needing to be spayed and neutered. As we all know, they reproduce. They get behavioral problems if they aren't altered, and they have long lifespans."
Releasing a domesticated rabbit into the wild is dangerous because they don't have the survival skills of a wild rabbit," according to the Virginia Wildlife Center. The center said they may be more vulnerable to predators and struggle to find food.
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