A woman called our centre asking us to take a rabbit as the children had grown tired of it and lost interest. Her husband threatened to throw it off the Humber Bridge if we did not!

Although we have been absolutely chock-a-block with rabbits for some time we felt we had no choice but to take him.

The rabbit was brought to us in a cramped, dirty hutch and had badly matted fur.

His face covered in saliva to which dirt had stuck because both top and bottom teeth were both about 8 cms too long which also made it very difficult for him to eat.

As a result he was underweight and couldn't keep himself warm, he was lethargic and depressed.

After a visit to the vet, teeth clipped to the correct length, coat de-matted, he is eating well. The vet estimated he was 1 1/2 kilos underweight which is a lot for a rabbit but with teeth corrected he is already gaining a little weight.

Ken as he is now named, is living with Linda and her family as a house rabbit and beginning to show an interest in life again. He still has his 'poorly' days and probably will never completely recover to full health because of this previous treatment. Linda and her family will do whatever is necessary to keep Ken comfortable.

Update - because of the poor condition of his teeth Ken has suffered a severe set back. He is to have another complete dental on Thursday 11th under full anaesthetic. Do to his extremely poor condition it may be deemed kinder to let him go - will give an update soonest.

Update
Ken came through the operation, another case of horrendous teeth! he's been through so much in his four years and we want to give him the best chance. He is eating better, certainly looks better and is more lively. It is a delight to see the difference but we know he will suffer on going troubles.
Just another situation where poor breeding practices could play a part or simply poor diet by the owner. In Ken's case probably both.

We will continue to do our very best for Ken. He is comfortable in Linda's house being kept as a house rabbit.

Only time will tell what lays ahead for him.

At about 8pm on Saturday the 20th December a couple appeared at our centre gates. They wanted help and advice. They had driven from Leconfield and on passing through Walkington had narrowly missed a small dog on the road.

They stopped a picked up this shivering little bundle. Not really knowing what to do with her they came to us for help.

On seeing her in full light it was hard to believe our eyes.

She was so thin, bones stuck out everywhere, she could hardly stand on her spindle thin legs. Having no strength she shook all the time. She must have been at least eighteen. Some of her teeth were at right angles to her jaw.

She was made comfy, had a big drink of water and two bowls of food then just curled up in her warm bed and went to sleep.

We named her Sally

Her finders went back to where they found her in an attempt to trace her owners. The incident was reported to the authorities but by Monday 22nd no one had come forward to claim her

Over the weekend she had suffered further health problems and was taken to the vet on Monday morning.

Poor Sally was entering kidney failure and it was deemed kinder to let her go.

No one came forward for her, we can only presume that at the end of her life her owners callously dumped her and left her to die.

Thanks to the couple driving through Walkington Sally did not die cold, hungry and alone.

She was only with us 36 hours but we fed her, made her comfortable and kept her warm.

We cared about her and this pathetic little bundle touched our hearts.

R.I.P. Sally

On December 29th we received a frantic call from two dog walkers who had found an injured rabbit

We went to collect expecting the wild sort but found an injured domestic rabbit. It had been attacked and had severe neck injuries

It went straight to the vet where antibiotics were administered, it was placed on a heat mat and was to be given ‘Critical Care Formulae’ every two hours.

This may have been a case of the rabbit escaping its home but more than likely, especially given the location, of it being dumped, no longer wanted by the owner.

Despite full care given, the shock was too much and Steepy died later that day

Rabbits like this are not ‘FREE’ they are ‘FREE FOOD’ for other animals. The likely attacker was a cat, either domestic or feral, looking for a meal.