Mistreated, neglected bunnies

[Crashley]

So, this may be a lengthy post. I apologize early.

There is a farm market down the street from where I work, one I am very familiar with. My sister worked there for 6 yrs a long while ago. Well, about 4 yrs ago they got bunnies. They cycled through bunnies and now..present time. I only work 3 mins from the market so last week i decided, what a better way to spend my lunch break then to love bunnies. I only get 30 mins. I go there and these bunnies are in aweful conditions. Ive know the owners of this market for about 10 yrs now. So im not sure what to do. They live in wooden huts, each hut is seperated down the middle, a bunny on each side. The bunnies nails are so long they are bending side ways and not to mention they are standing on wire, there toes going through each wire. no wood in any of the pens and nothing for them to stand on. I have went every day for the past two weeks to give these bunnies love. The bunnies now know who I am..as im certain i am the only one to love them. The bunnies stay in these pens all year long. Its 85 degrees farenheight here in Ohio and there is no ice or water bottles for these bunnies to lean up against. Ive never seen veggies in the pens, I only ever see full bowls of pellets. The one bunny “Dottie” she has given birth to 3 litters and they keep getting her pregnant. I felt her tummy and was appalled as she is obese and her belly is ROCK hard, every day ive went there its been rock hard. I asked if she was pregnant and they said no. Which means her diet is so poor her belly is probably painful. Every day ive been finding pieces of wood to put in there pens so they can stand on something, the next day the wood pieces are gone. Today, I smuggled in romain leaves. gave each bunny a leaf and they all ate there pieces. Im thinking about taking nail clippers in and clipping there nails too. Ive been going everyday to give love and care. I dont want to offend the owners as ive known them for a while and they to know i own rabbits. My rabbits have a whole room and a fleece blanket to hop on and a perfect diet, It really kills me to see these bunnies in such aweful and unacceptable conditions. What should i do? They are hardheaded and will not change there pens. the buns can only hop about once maybe, each side is only about a foot long. how can i go about helping these rabbits? I was gonna post pics, but they exceed the file size of 500 I made a photobucket and put the links to the pics in there.

[Crashley]

http://s1249.photobucket.com/user/ashleecrashlee27/media/unnamed%201_zpseouo9pay.png.html

http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh509/ashleecrashlee27/unnamed%204_zpsothtmqal.png?t=1498766167

http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh509/ashleecrashlee27/unnamed%202_zpsfgeerjsc.png?t=1498766167

http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh509/ashleecrashlee27/unnamed%203_zps1tldga6k.png?t=1498766243

[Deleted User]

If they are in such bad condition, isn’t this considered animal abuse? I am really unsure of the laws around it but it’s possible this could be considered animal abuse and, in that case, perhaps a local shelter would be able to intervene and take the bunnies? I don’t know how the shelters run either but that’s the first thing that comes to my mind. Those bunnies absolutely need to be taken away, that is for sure. Are they trying to sell the buns or are they “pets”? I would definitely contact someone, maybe a local law enforcement agency could point you in the direction of who you need to contact. Or if you have a rabbit rescue nearby maybe they would want to intervene and you could stay out of it. Either way, it needs to be reported somehow and there are ways for you to remain anonymous. They don’t have to know it was you but those bunnies need to be saved!!

Edit: I noticed you said Ohio. Take a look at these state statutes regarding animal cruelty: http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/959

Specifically 959.13 Cruelty to animals:

(A) No person shall:

(1) Torture an animal, deprive one of necessary sustenance, unnecessarily or cruelly beat, needlessly mutilate or kill, or impound or confine an animal without supplying it during such confinement with a sufficient quantity of good wholesome food and water;

(2) Impound or confine an animal without affording it, during such confinement, access to shelter from wind, rain, snow, or excessive direct sunlight if it can reasonably be expected that the animals would otherwise become sick or in some other way suffer. Division (A)(2) of this section does not apply to animals impounded or confined prior to slaughter. For the purpose of this section, shelter means a man-made enclosure, windbreak, sunshade, or natural windbreak or sunshade that is developed from the earth’s contour, tree development, or vegetation.[;]

(3) Carry or convey an animal in a cruel or inhuman[e] manner;

(4) Keep animals other than cattle, poultry or fowl, swine, sheep, or goats in an enclosure without wholesome exercise and change of air, nor or feed cows on food that produces impure or unwholesome milk; 

It seems that this owner is violating several of the statutes here, which constitutes action on behalf of the bunnies. This makes me so sad. Please help those poor babies, they can’t help themselves! I was so upset when initially reading this that I forgot to say that it’s awesome you have been spending time with them and bringing fresh veggies. I’m sure that brightens their day to get some love and lettuce! But they do need to be removed from that situation!!

[Azerane]

The trouble with things like this, is that while they may not necessarily be getting fed properly or kept in proper conditions, they look at least somewhat healthy (not starving or morbidly obese), they have access to food and water, and they are in a sheltered enclosure. According to law that unfortunately doesn’t really equate to animal cruelty, even though being knowledgeable rabbit owners, we certainly know better.

You could certainly try to get a rescue or SPCA involved but I honestly don’t think you’d have much luck. Maybe just a friendly chat to the owners about your concerns and what they could do to improve.

[Q8bunny]

That’s aweful, Crashley. I’d definitely talk to the owners. Approach it from a suggestion/solution standpoint to minimize how defensive they’ll inevitably get.

[Hazel]

I agree with Azerane, even though we know how bad this situation is, it’s probably not against the law for them to keep the buns this way. So calling the authorities likely wouldn’t do much, and you’ve already said they are too hardheaded to listen to friendly advice. If I was in your situation, I might just help them pull off a magical escape one night… It’s not like these people would miss them, they obviously don’t care about their welfare.

[Author]

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