Warning: Undefined array key 0 in /home3/wvdispat/public_html/wp-content/plugins/seo-optimized-images/seo-optimized-images.php on line 154
Deprecated: pathinfo(): Passing null to parameter #1 ($path) of type string is deprecated in /home3/wvdispat/public_html/wp-content/plugins/seo-optimized-images/seo-optimized-images.php on line 154
by Suzyn Barron, President of Warwick Valley Humane Society, Inc.
Did you know after six long months, the court finally released the 113 animals seized from horrendous living conditions that we have been caring for costing thousands of dollars. Legally seized animals are considered “live evidence” and cannot just be put on a shelf for storage.
There is no funding from the State, County or local government during a court imposed hold. Their official release authorizes our organization to adopt or transfer them to other organizations which thankfully has happened. A few local and several distant organizations offered placement for 54 of the 56 rabbits and 20 of the assorted fowl! We did have to rent a U-Haul and between two transporters, make the over 300 mile journey for 29 of these animals to begin their new life. Yes, we go that extra mile for our homeless pets. Caring for 56 rabbits on a twice daily basis was a time consuming, labor intensive and expensive endeavor. We all breathed a sigh of relief to be left with only 2 of those rabbits which we added to the HIP HOP room containing 2 other long term Lagomorphs from another hoarding situation.
That sigh of relief was short lived when we recently received a call about a couple of abandoned rabbits roaming around in a resident’s yard. Two were successfully caught and came into the shelter. Both are females. The black one gave birth to five bunnies the very next day! The other female is very pregnant and due any day now. A day later, the third abandoned rabbit was caught, which fortunately is a male. The fourth was not as lucky as the first three. A person’s dog caught and killed it. Now we hear there is another still out there. Where’s there? Hedges Road in Warwick. And this is not the first time! Last year abandoned rabbits were wandering the same neighborhood and were successfully caught and admitted into the shelter. And these are only ones we know about. No doubt others met their demise as rabbits are preyed upon by foxes, coyotes, owls, dogs, etc. who do not differentiate between wild and domesticated rabbits. Domesticated rabbits are bred to be pets. The use of outdoor hutches is outdated and dangerous as hutches are not 100% safe and are broken into by raccoons, fisher cats, bears and the like. That’s why outdoor rabbits have a much shorter lifespan than an indoor rabbit by years. Pet rabbits like pet cats cannot make it their own even though they enjoy the “freedom” to wander and forage but will end up starving to death or being killed. So who is abandoning these rabbits? There have been no reports of lost rabbits. If anyone knows where these rabbits came from please reach out to the shelter at 845-986-2473 so we can hopefully prevent any future domestic rabbit releases.
“Be like a rabbit, always ready to hop enthusiastically into each new day.”
Pet of the Week
Small Pet Adoption applications are available at wvhumane.org or call 845-986-2473
