I Can't Keep My Rabbit. What Are My Options?

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You are not a bad person. Most people who reach this page tried hard first. In the largest published study of shelter rabbits, 77 percent arrived as owner surrenders (Cook and McCobb, 2012), and the most common reasons given are an inability to provide care and housing problems. Both are usually circumstances rather than character.

Work through these in order.

1. Can the problem be solved?

Allergies. Often it is the hay, not the rabbit. Switching hay type, moving storage out of living space, using an air purifier, and keeping the rabbit out of the bedroom resolves a meaningful share of cases. Worth trying before rehoming.

Housing or a landlord. Get it in writing before you assume. Some no-pet policies apply only to cats and dogs. If you are moving, start the rabbit-friendly search early; rabbits are frequently permitted where dogs are not.

Cost. Community clinics run low-cost spay, neuter and RHDV2 vaccination events, and some rescues help with emergency veterinary costs for owners trying to keep their animals. A one-time bill is a bad reason to lose an animal.

Behavior. Most of what people find intolerable is fixable. Spraying and aggression usually resolve with spaying or neutering. Litter box problems are usually about the box or a hormone issue. Chewing is about rabbit-proofing and boredom. Give it a week before you give up.

Time. A bonded second rabbit often means less work rather than more, because the rabbits meet each other's social needs.

2. Rehome the rabbit yourself

This gives the best outcome when done carefully, because your rabbit skips the shelter entirely.

Write an honest listing including the difficult parts. Take good photographs in natural light at the rabbit's eye level. Charge an adoption fee of $25 to $75, which deters the people you do not want. Ask where the rabbit will live, whether they have had rabbits before, who their vet is, and what happens if they move. Meet in person. Send the supplies with the rabbit.

Never list a rabbit as "free to a good home." Free animals are collected by people who should not have them.

3. Surrender to a rescue or shelter

Rabbit rescues are usually full and usually have a waiting list. Contact several, expect to wait, and ask to be put on the list rather than giving up after one no. Offer to keep the rabbit until a space opens, which is the single most helpful thing a surrendering owner can do.

Bring the rabbit's history, veterinary records, and current food. Say what is actually true about the animal, including the difficult parts. A rescue that knows the rabbit bites strangers can place it successfully. A rescue that finds out later cannot.

4. Ask about temporary foster

If your situation is temporary, a medical leave, a deployment, a move with a gap, some rescues will foster short term and return the rabbit to you. Fewer offer this than should, but it exists and almost nobody asks.

Never release a rabbit outdoors

Domestic rabbits are not wild rabbits. They cannot forage, have no predator avoidance, are often brightly colored, and in Southern California they will meet coyotes, hawks, cars, heat, and rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus. Most die within days.

Abandoning a domestic animal is a crime in California and in most other states. If you have already released a rabbit, call your local animal control or a rabbit rescue the same day. Domestic rabbits can often be recovered if someone moves quickly.