Rabbit crisis

A home on the Hamilton Mountain was overrun by bunnies after a rescue group says the pets got out of hand.

About 20 rabbits were rescued from the home and with Easter around the corner, the rescuers are reminding people that rabbits are long-term commitments.

White rabbits were running loose in the backyard of a home in a neighbourhood near Upper Gage and Mohawk Road.

A very concerned neighbour emailed CHCH and said there were loose bunnies, some are getting hit by cars.

Haviva Porter runs Rabbit Rescue and the next day the group of volunteers were at the home and with the owners permission, began capturing the bunnies.

“It seems to be the same typical story where they got one or two rabbits that weren’t spayed or neutered, which you really need to do. And they bred and I guess they didn’t know what to do.” says Porter.

The volunteers captured nearly 20 rabbits in a couple of days, including one week old baby bunnies.

The owner surrendered those rabbits and they are currently being housed at the Guelph Humane Society.

It’s a story rescue workers hear time and time again. People who have unspayed pets generally find themselves overwhelmed at how quickly some can reproduce, especially rabbits.

“Rabbits breed very quickly, they only carry their babies for about a month and can get pregnant immediately after they give birth.” says Melissa Stolz from the Guelph Humane Society.

The man who lives in the home says he used to put them out in his backyard not to set them free but to allow them to have some fresh air and tells CHCH he has no more bunnies on his property.

Since CHCH visited the house, the Rabbit Rescue group says two more bunnies were captured and fear there could be more. while they are cute, Porter says rabbits are big commitments as they can live to be 10 years old, and need lots of love and attention.