Bits for Pets Blog

ANIMAL rights activists are seeing red after a scheme to breed pink rabbits was unveiled by a South Cheshire firm.

Richard Kirkup and David McHugh, the men behind OCPRS - Orkney Celebrity Pink Rabbit Suppliers - breed Orkney Pinks on the Scottish islands.

They say they stumbled across a formula for the new breed of rabbit after a mix-up in food supplements.

Realising its business potential, the two, who are based in Winsford Road at Wettenhall, fed rabbits with a vitamin supplement which resulted in baby pink bunnies!

They were officially launched at the Marriott Hotel South in Speke at Liverpool on Thursday with the help of ex-Atomic Kitten singer Kerry Katona.

But animal rights campaigners were thrown out by hotel security before the official launch and the venture has been slammed by the RSPCA. They say there is nothing in a rabbit’s natural diet which would turn it pink.

A spokesperson added: ‘It is totally unacceptable these rabbits are being sold purely as a fashion accessory. They need lifelong care and committed owners.

‘This sets an atrocious and worrying example to fans of celebrities who are endorsing them as a fashion accessory.

‘Our inspectors are looking into this and we will ensure the welfare of these animals is not compromised.’

Described by the firm as ‘must have’ celebrity pets, they come in three different types and are priced between £550 and £700.

But despite the accusations, OCPRS says the rabbits are handled with utmost care and attention throughout their lives, and receive regular veterinary care.

Spokeswoman Andrea Winders said: ‘Our pink rabbits make the perfect house pet. They are delivered in air conditioned cars - pink of course -are house trained, and well handled.

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I’M great with arithmetic. My maths is correct 93 per cent of the time and who cares about the other eight per cent?

I’m even better with statistics, despite the fact that 49 per cent of them are completely made up.

But when it’s all boiled down, rabbits are the boys when it comes to number crunching.

To start with, there are 67 breeds of rabbit with 537 varieties. They range in size from 1kg (that’s the Netherland Dwarf) to more than 6kg (the burly and aptly named, Flemish Giant).

Life span, if properly looked after, is normally six to eight years, but we do see rabbits living for more than a decade.

Females are called does, males are called bucks and generally you get between six and eight youngsters, called kittens, in a litter. The largest recorded litter size is 24.

It may surprise you to know that rabbits are the third most popular pet in Britain, with more than two millionrabbits living with us. Remarkably, one in 20 households now owns one or more pet rabbits.

But round about now is when the numbers begin to be bad news.

Unfortunately, around 33,000 rabbits are handed in to rescue centres every year.

That’s 33,000 owners who didn’t think long and hard about whether they really wanted a rabbit and whether they could devote the time and energy required to keep them fed, cleaned and occupied. If you are thinking about the work required, speak to the Rabbit Welfare Association ( 0870 046 5249 or www.houserabbit.co.uk).

Rabbit Rehome (www.rabbitrehome.org.uk) lists details for rescued rabbits looking for new homes and can put potential owners in touch with local rescue centres. Or contact the SSPCA.

And, as you might expect, the numbers get worse.

At least 80 per cent of rabbits in the UK are fed incorrectly and one of the most common reasons for rabbits becoming unwell is a poor diet. There are a number of reasons.

Firstly, rabbits’ teeth continue to grow throughout life.

While they chew 120 times a minute, it is crucial that rabbits are fed high-fibre diets to grind down these teeth. Hay or grass should be the bedrock of this diet, not the aesthetically-pleasing-to-humans muesli type mix that is still sold in many pet shops.

This type of diet allows selective feeding so that the rabbit just picks out the tasty bits, rather like a child presented with a huge finger buffet.

Consequently, 75 per cent of rabbits have dental abnormalities.

Next problem is that rabbits pass two forms of faeces. The hard pellet that is genuine waste and a soft caecotroph which must be re-ingested by the rabbit for proper digestion.

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Rabbits are the most abused domestic pet in England and Wales, with 35,000 abandoned every year, says the RSPCA.

The animal charity said a survey found that 70% of rescued rabbits had been kept hutched 24 hours a day.

Almost 40% had had no food, and half had been living in filthy conditions, it told the BBC.

It found that people bought rabbits but then quickly lost interest. On average the abandoned pets it came across had been dumped after just three months.

Many were simply released in the street or into the wild.

Responsibility

Rabbits are the third most popular pet after cats and dogs and the RSPCA says that rescue centres are struggling to cope with the 35,000 unwanted pets abandoned every year.

Anne Mitchell from the Rabbit Welfare Association warned that parents needed to realise the responsibilities that go with caring for rabbits.

The animals can live for up to eight years and cost £4,000 over their lifetime.

“If you didn’t have the children, would you be keen to have the rabbit? If you wouldn’t, don’t do it,” she said.

“Ninety percent of children get bored, they’re tired very quickly of the chores.

“You can’t treat it like Barbie doll and Action Man and just stuff it in the cupboard under the stairs, although sadly some of these rabbits do end up like that, totally neglected.”

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Fast-breeding pairs of rabbits are adding to a crowding crisis at a Lincolnshire animal shelter.

Nearly 100 unwanted pet rabbits have been occupying cages at a shelter run by Lincoln’s RSPCA branch.

The charity has stopped taking in more rabbits and says there is only enough funding to care for those already housed for two more months.

It says part of the problem is that pet shops are selling people breeding couples, instead of same-sex pairs.

The RSPCA has urged people to come forward to offer homes for the pets.

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Rabbits are wonderful pets and we want to know what weird and wacky things your rabbit gets up to. Please feel free use this page to tell one and all about your pets quirky side.