Animal charity at 'breaking point' as dumped lockdown bunnies increase threefold

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An animal charity has said they are at 'breaking point' after the number of abandoned rabbits and bunnies increased by 200 per cent.

Rabbit Residence Rescue Centre near Royston can house a hundred bunnies at a time currently has 200 on its waiting list alone.And fewer and fewer people are coming forward to adopt them.

Lea Facey, manager at the centre in Hertfordshire said: "Lockdown is one of the main reasons. "A lot of people impulse bought rabbits because they were stuck at home. "Obviously that was very boring or mentally challenging for some people and rabbits are generally quite easy to get hold of. "You can buy them for 30 pounds in a shop, really easily from free ads and from Facebook rehoming pages with no questions asked."

The charity has rescued thousands of animals over the last 20 years.

But as well as more rabbits in need the shelter has also seen an 85 percent drop in applications from people who want to re-home one - and many who do apply don't have suitable living accommodation.

Staff say people need to think hard about whether they can afford to keep Britain's third favourite pet, which can live for around 12 years.

Emma Collins, an animal care assistant, said: "They are amazing creatures but they do need a companion so just do your research even think about where your local vets are, how much things are going to cost.

"Do you have enough time at the weekends to do cleaning out? It's a boring but much needed job."

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