The Truth About Pet Rabbits

Clearly, I love animals. If you have read even half of the entries on this blog that should be no surprise to you. My current situation as a broke student has prohibited me from owning a loving creature companion of my own thus far, but I have many plans for adopting some pets in the future.

In the meantime, to satisfy my craving for animal exposure I have been watching YouTube videos about animals. I have subscribed to a number of 'pet Youtubers' like Taylor Nicole Dean, Tyler Rugge, Maddie Smith, and recently Lennon the Bunny. While we're on the subject, feel free to go check out their videos! in my opinion they are all excellent examples of pet owners who try their best to be knowledgeable and advocate for the proper care of all animals; exotic or otherwise. A lot of people, myself included, have learned a lot about animal care by watching the videos that these people put out into the world.

That said, many pet Youtubers are creating exotic pet videos, or videos about dog training. Lennon the Bunny is the first channel that I have come across dealing with rabbit care. I am sure that there are others out there, but I am a casual viewer and I don't extensively research for YouTube videos. I do what normal people do and casually click along until I find something of interest.

Anyways, Lennon the Bunny does an excellent job of showing people the up side to rabbit ownership, while also advocating for informed rabbit care and purchasing. In fact, the reason that I am sitting here today FINALLY updating my blog is because of the video that the channel put out here on a case of illegal animal sales happening in Los Angeles.

I have never had a pet rabbit or particularly wanted one, but it is a fairly common occurrence to have families buying rabbits for their children, thinking that the cute fluffy creature will be a great way to teach their child to care for another living creature without needing too much time and effort. As you will discover if you do a little bit of research on the proper way to take care of a pet rabbit, this is a misconception. In fact, rabbits take quite a bit of work, and the care guidelines provided by most pet stores are not accurate and can lead to illness and nutritional issues with your rabbit. Additionally, rabbits (as prey animals) are timid by nature so children can easily upset them or hurt them if they are too loud or rough with their furry friend.

As a result, many rabbits either live shorter lives than they ordinarily would, or end up being abandoned by families who no longer want to care for the (sometimes destructive) little creatures.

My role here today is firstly to warn you against purchasing a rabbit on a whim. Do not buy rabbits if you have not researched how to properly take care of them. This includes researching what to feed them (not solely pellets) and how to enrich their lives (providing lots of toys). Secondly, if you have done the research and feel that a rabbit is right for you; adopt! There are many rabbit rescues around, and even if there are no rabbit-exclusive rescues near you, most rescue shelters will have rabbits available in addition to the more common cats and dogs from time-to-time. There are so many rabbits bred and abandoned every day. Adopting one and giving it that second chance at life not only provides you with an appreciative little friend, it also frees up space in shelters so that they can rescue more rabbits and continue to save as many lives as possible.