Adoption vs Purchase
Adoption vs Purchase
Westley's World’s recommendation will always be to adopt a desexed, vaccinated rabbit(s) from a reputable, genuine rescue organisation or to adopt a bun needing a new home from The Warren - Rehoming
Here are the pros and cons to the Adoption vs Purchase scenario...
Adoption
- If a rabbit is adopted from a reputable rescue or from The Warren - Rehoming it will already be desexed and possibly microchipped and vaccinated. This will save you a LOT of money down the track...
What do we mean by a ‘reputable’ rescue?
Unfortunately many places claim to be ‘rescues’ but are far from it. In reality they are simply a 're-homing' service, taking money labelled as 'adoption fees' for rabbits that have not been vet checked let alone desexed or vaccinated. Some are even run as a ‘front’ for unscrupulous breeders.
So, a genuine and reputable rescue:
* will not adopt out an entire rabbit, ever. The only exception would be placing a rabbit that is too young to desex into a foster to adopt home.
* will vaccinate every rabbit with Filavac.
* will microchip every rabbit.
* will have the rabbit thoroughly vet checked by a rabbit savvy vet and will address any identified issues before the rabbit is available for adoption.
- If an adult, the rabbit’s personality and temperament will easily be assessed. This means the rabbit will be a ‘known quantity’ and may be more readily matched to an existing rabbit or a specific family situation.
- The rabbit’s breeding may be unknown and therefore there may be hidden issues (such as dental malocclusion) related to being poorly/cross bred. However this type of issue can also be a serious problem with so called purebred rabbits.
- The rabbit’s past diet; if poor, may impact on its future health - especially gut and dental issues. However, it’s important to understand that these issues can very often be remedied by changing/improving the diet.
- Adopting an already bonded M/F pair of desexed rabbits means that all of the hard work has been done for you and you won't have to have two setups side-by-side for the bonding process to take place safely. You can read more about how the Bonding process works here - Bonding
Purchase
- The rabbit will most likely be entire and unvaccinated. This will cost you a lot of money in the future; around $400-$600 per rabbit.
- There is no guarantee that the 'purebred' rabbit that you purchase is actually what it is claimed to be.
- A kit’s temperament is not a reliable indication of what its personality will be like as an adult rabbit. Your cute, cuddly little kit may well become a completely different animal once puberty hits. Some will settle and return to their former personality after desexing, but there are many that do not.
- Statements such 'Mini Lops don't need much space and are great for kids' abound. They are deceptive and honestly, are just plain dishonest. Whilst we can generalise a bit with statements about some breeds such as 'Flemish Giants are placid', this does not mean that ALL Flemish Giants are placid in any way.
- A breeder should breed for type, correct conformation and temperament. Unfortunately this is rare.
- Many breeders or pet shops will sell you incorrectly sexed kits or even same sex pairs so that you ‘don’t need to pay to desex them’. This can lead to heartbreak and upset later once the rabbits mature sexually. You can read more about the dangers of same sex pairs this here - The Perils of Same Sex Rabbit Pairings
- Certain breeds; especially the flat faced breeds, are bred for the 'cute' factor; often to appalling extremes. Being bred to exaggerate certain features means that the rabbits are at very high risk of developing serious problems like malocclusion.
- It may be easier to set the rabbit up for good gut and dental health if the right diet is started from a young age.
Buns needing homes can be found here The Warren - Rehoming
Here are some of the things you should consider if purchasing from a breeder.
***Please note a breeder should have absolutely no problem answering ANY questions you may have and should not be evasive***
TradeMe is generally not a good place to find a rabbit ... The vast majority of listings are for cross/backyard/mill etc bred rabbits. To ensure you are paying the correct price for a well bred rabbit and in the interests of your potential rabbit’s health and well being you are best to purchase a certified purebred rabbit. To do this contact the Rabbit Council of NZ or the National Rabbit Association to ask for a list of recommended breeders. Just because a listing claims that the rabbit is a pure bred one does not make it so!
* Has the breeder ever had RCD on their property? If so, what protocols were put in place to address this?
Rabbit Calicivirus/RCD is present throughout New Zealand - especially in the the warmer summer months, and it can strike anyone at any time. Responsible breeders should put themselves into quarantine and stop selling rabbits if they have an outbreak, however some do not and by continuing to sell rabbits the virus is spread further resulting in more pet rabbit deaths and in fact your new rabbit/s may die from it soon after arrival.
You can read more about RCD here - RCD
The best protection against RCD is to vaccinate your rabbit. A minority of breeders do so before the rabbit leaves their property but there are a few things you need to check in regard to this -
* Ask if the rabbit is vaccinated.
Here are the facts...
Filavac - this is the only vaccination that should be used for your rabbit.
- Given from 10 weeks of age, then yearly.
- Info about the use on kits younger than 10 weeks can be found here - RCD
- Covers all 3 of the virus’ present in NZ at this time.
- Has very few side effects.
- More expensive. Ranges in price from around $70 - $150.
- Supplied in single dose vials so no need for mass vaccine days.
- Supply can be unreliable at times.
If they do vaccinate (not common) many breeders who have done so will only vax with Cylap (now outdated and discontinued) because it is cheaper, however this will not fully protect your rabbit. Some do not understand the difference between the vaccines and it has also been reported that some are vaxing with Cylap but claiming to have given Filavac so make sure to ask which vet did the vaccination and ask for proof via a vax certificate or vet book entry.
Consider these factors when deciding if the price being asked is fair -
* Is the rabbit vaccinated?
- This will affect the price being asked so as discussed, ask for verifiable proof because the cost of the rabbit may include a vaccination and you need to know which vaccine was given.
* Is this a well bred/purebred rabbit? Does this breed actually exist in NZ?
- What evidence does the breeder have to back up any claims?
- You can check this by contacting the Rabbit Council of NZ or the National Rabbit Association for their recommendations for good breeders and to check up whether the breed being claimed is actually available in NZ.
* Asking price?
- Check with Rabbit Council of NZ or the National Rabbit Association to find out what a fair and reasonable price is.
* If claims are made in regard to the rabbit’s blood lines being award winning etc, then ask for verifiable proof.
- Which rabbit club awarded the prize and who can you contact to confirm this?
Copyright 2019 - Jen Herd/Westley’s World