There’s an abundance of domestic rabbits right now at DuPage County Animal Services (DCAS).
Since January the shelter has accepted 120 bunnies, 63 of which have come in the last two weeks.
But what’s the reason behind the sudden increase?
Reasons For The Rabbit Surge
“We typically usually only run about 8-12 rabbits or bunnies at a time,” said DuPage County Board member and Chair of the DCAS Committee Brian Krajewski. “But we had a couple of situations where some people had acquired a couple of rabbits at a pet store and didn’t realize that they were one male and one female and had not been spayed or neutered. Down the road it leads [to] a litter of bunnies, and if they don’t separate them out, pretty soon it’s another litter and another one.”
Krajewksi added that rabbits can reproduce as early as fourth months old, and some of the rabbits at the shelter were surrendered after Easter Sunday.
The shelter currently has around 80 rabbits.
To make room, the shelter is using space usually used for dogs to house the rabbits.
Finding A Furever Home
DCAS is working with regional and national rescue organizations to help find the rabbits their furever homes.
They’re also asking community members to consider adopting a rabbit.
“If you’re looking to adopt a bunny or a rabbit as a pet, definitely educate yourself,” said Krajewski. “And then we would say ‘adopt versus shop’. So you can go to bunny rescues or to the county shelter where have an abundance [of] bunnies you can adopt versus buying them at a store.”
To see if you’d be a good fit you can visit DuPage County Animal Services’ website.
Naperville News 17’s Christian Canizal reports.
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