RSPCA issues stern Easter bunny warning after 160 rabbits are discovered crammed into one garage

The RSPCA have issued a stern Easter bunny warning after more than 160 rabbits were found in overcrowded conditions in a single garage.

The pets were rescued from a domestic property after their owners became overwhelmed as a result of overbreeding.

Details of the shocking case emerge as the animal charity and other welfare organisations grapple with a ‘rabbit crisis’ with animal centres struggling to cope with a huge influx caused by abandonments triggered by the cost-of-living crisis and out-of-control breeding.

An RSPCA spokesman said: “While many of us associate Easter with images of cute and happy bunnies, the RSPCA paints a different picture of a surge in unwanted rabbits that will all need rehoming.

“Many owners find their bunnies breeding out of control when they don’t neuter their pets.”

When the RSPCA visited the property last September, the rabbits were housed in cages stacked up on top of each other and a small number were running free on the garage floor.

The owners started with four rabbits about 15 years ago, but didn’t do anything to prevent them from breeding.

A pet-sitter had contacted the charity when she found a dead rabbit and another who was trying to eat her own litter.

RSPCA inspectors conducted health checks on all the pets and then sexed each, before separating them into different hutches.

They then started rehoming the rabbits to RSPCA centres and branches as well as private boarding establishments. .

Inspector Durant said: “This is a very good example of the problems that can be encountered by rabbit owners who fail to neuter their rabbits and then end up becoming totally overwhelmed.

“The owners said they tried separating them, but they weren’t quick enough and the rabbits bred again and again.

“It was an astonishing discovery to make and although most of the rabbits were in a healthy condition, their environment clearly wasn’t suitable. The smell in the garage was pretty overpowering and we found the rabbits in basic cages stacked up - some of them contained six rabbits.”

The RSPCA has now found the majority of the rabbits their fur-ever homes, although there are still a small number in private boarding.