A Hare-Brained Idea?

As a major pet store begins selling dwarf rabbits, animal lovers voice concerns over the potential consequences

By Sharon L. Peters
CTW Features

Animal rights activists believe that the overpopulation of rabbits, which have a euthansia rate on par with cats and dogs, will grow if stores begin selling dwarf rabbits.

When PetSmart began selling dwarf rabbits in July for $99.99 in 25 of its stores, angry customers and animal rights groups responded with protest rallies, promises of boycotts, a flurry of unhappy emails and letters and Internet chatter.

Bruce Richardson, director of external communications for PetSmart, Phoenix, said the reaction was not entirely unexpected, and that “feedback is part of the process” as the company assesses whether to offer rabbits in some, all or none of its stores. That decision will be made later this year.

He says PetSmart took careful steps in selecting the type of rabbit it chose to sell, as well as the breeders supplying them, and provided its sales staff with manuals to increase their knowledge. Richardson also says the company chose to sell them for a high price to discourage customers from purchasing them impulsively.

But several animal rights groups say PetSmart is contributing to the problem of overpopulation amongst rabbits. It’s for that reason that the company does not sell cats and dogs, opting instead to facilitate adoptions of those without homes.

“There is simply no excuse in this day and age for a company with a reputation for compassion to continue to sell animals but especially animals that are abandoned and euthanized at the rate that dogs, cats and rabbits are,” the House Rabbit Society (www.rabbit.org), Richmond, Calif., the nation’s biggest rabbit rescue and education group, wrote to PetSmart in a letter it then posted on Craigslist.

Animal welfare experts say that rabbits are the third most popular, and the third most euthanized pets in shelters, after cats and dogs.

Richardson said the decision to test rabbit sales in the 25 stores was made only after months of discussion and preparation.

He would not say how many rabbits PetSmart has sold so far, or speculate as to whether or not PetSmart will likely broaden rabbit sales to additional stores or halt them after the test. The company, he said, expects to have enough “preliminary information” by the end of this month or sometime next month to make decisions about the future of rabbit sales.

Much of the concern from opponents of the rabbit sales revolves around the attention rabbits require. They argue rabbits are complicated, fairly high-maintenance pets that should be considered carefully, not purchased when people happen into a pet store.

“A person should get a rabbit only after reading a book such as ‘House Rabbit Primer’ by Lucille Moore, so they understand what they’re getting into,” says Caroline Gilbert who runs The Rabbit Sanctuary, a nonprofit rescue and care facility in South Carolina.

“Rabbits aren’t just like dogs or cats,” she says. “They’re unique. They take over the house. They chew everything. You’ve got to bunny-proof your house, and you’ve got to be very informed about proper diet or that rabbit can die a terrible death.”

Those who understand the challenges before getting a rabbit, and provide the proper attention and care can end up with a “wonderful, charming, gregarious pet” she says, for as many as 10 years.

But all too often people get them, grow frustrated, and either surrender them to a shelter or, worse, release them in the woods or parks where the few that survive predators wind up breeding and creating large colonies that neighbors regard as nuisances.

The House Rabbit Society, which has rescued more than 20,000 rabbits, has expressed concern that PetSmart has chosen to sell dwarf rabbits, which are, even by rabbit standards, skittish and a bit difficult to train. Also, because of their facial structure, they are prone to dental problems that require visits to the veterinarian, sometimes as often as once a month.

There is also concern that pet-store demand will lead to perpetuating the kinds of breeding mills that are common in the dog world.

Richardson says the company carefully selected the type of rabbit after consultations with experts and is working with solid, reputable breeders. He would not name the breeders, but he says they do not include those about which rabbit-lovers have expressed concern.

While rescue societies are worried that most consumers aren’t aware of the complications of caring for a rabbit, Richardson says that “consumers are not being given enough credit” for doing diligent homework before making a pet-buying decision.

“Most people who come in have done their research,” he says.

Also, he says, all the rabbits will be spayed or neutered before they’re sold, and PetSmart will not sell rabbits during the two weeks before Easter, an impulse-buy period that experts say result in thousands of discarded rabbits every year.

For years, many PetSmart stores have partnered with shelters and rabbit rescue groups to offer rabbits for adoption, resulting in nearly 3,000 adoptions since 2002, Richardson says. And that will not change. Selling rabbits in their stores is not intended to reduce rescued-rabbit adoptions, he says, but rather to give an alternative to consumers who are disinclined to adopt.

Many rescue groups, however, believe that the instant access to rabbits in pet stores will mean less demand for rabbits offered by rabbit rescue groups and animal shelters.

Some rabbit rescue groups that have partnered with PetSmart are saying they will no longer maintain that relationship. Richardson says, however, he knows of only one that has written PetSmart to announce it is dissolving the relationship.

That group, Brambley Hedge Rabbit Rescue, Phoenix, which was the first rabbit rescue group to adopt out of a PetSmart store, wrote a letter last month saying its board of directors had concluded it could no longer partner with PetSmart.

PetSmart said there is a great deal of inaccurate information regarding the rabbit-selling test. And the company has placed a FAQ on its website. (See that info at http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=196265&p=factset02)

What’s your question? Sharon Peters would like to hear about what’s on your mind when it comes to caring for, training and loving your pet. E-mail Sharon@Pets2008.com.

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