HAPPY RABBIT DAY!® Sat 24 September 2022

Hop to it! Saturday 24 September 2022 is International Rabbit Day®. This year’s theme is Bunny Love is… and we are inviting animal lovers and non-profit societies around the world to join in. “You could organise an awareness/fundraising event to help your local rescue,” says organiser Ben Nichols, “or use social media to promote Rabbit Day® and help give rabbits a better quality of life. You don’t even have to have a rabbit – all you have to do is care”.

Bunny Love is…

…adopting from a shelter Rescue rabbits are very deserving of a loving home! They come in all breeds, colours and sizes and are already socialised, house-trained, neutered and vaccinated. Adult and senior bunnies make wonderful companions as they’re mellower and easier to have around than young rabbits.

 …a pair of rabbits Being social animals, rabbits love the company of one or two other neutered bunnies. Many shelters will offer a neutral space to introduce your single bunny to a lifelong friend.

… a rabbit habitat – not a hutch Rabbits love running, playing and exploring so give them the biggest living space you can, for example one or more bunny-proofed rooms, large part of a room or free run of the house. In the daytime rabbits can exercise outdoors in a safe garden or enclosure with adult supervision. Bunnies like to relax and have a nap in a sheltered spot, but it doesn’t have to be a hutch or a cage – our foster bunnies choose to go under a chair draped with a blanket or in their pop-up tunnel.

…lots of fun! Providing a variety of toys will keep your rabbits happy and healthy and protect your home. Great choices include: organic apple, pear and willow twigs, natural seagrass mats, cardboard boxes with two openings to hop in and out, pop-up tunnels and tents, a heap of soil or sand for digging and rolling in and a large tray lined with newspaper and filled with hay and straw, which also doubles up as a snack area and litterbox.

…daily bunny time Spend some quality time with your bunnies every day – talking to them, offering their favourite food, praising their binkies, playing hide & seek, petting them and so on. Be patient if your bunny is shy and let her choose when and how to interact with you.

…loving them on their terms Most rabbits like to be cuddled and groomed at floor level and don’t feel safe when carried around, so please respect their needs. Show your children how to be gentle and stroke them without picking them up, as they would with a large dog. Your rabbits will soon follow you around and snuggle next to you to show that they love you too.