Quantifying the Shelter Rabbit Population: An Analysis of Massachusetts and Rhode Island Animal Shelters

Scholarly work on the nonhuman animal shelter population has widely focused on cats and dogs. As a result, little is known about the population dynamics of domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in shelters. The records from 4 companion animal shelters in Massachusetts and Rhode Island were analyz...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied animal welfare science 2012-10, Vol.15 (4), p.297-312
Main Authors: Cook, Amelia J, McCobb, Emily
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal care
Animal euthanasia
Animal populations
animal rescue shelters
Animal Welfare - standards
Animals
cats
Correlation analysis
dogs
Euthanasia, Animal - statistics & numerical data
Female
foster care
Male
Massachusetts
Oryctolagus cuniculus
Pets
population dynamics
Population Dynamics - statistics & numerical data
Rabbits
Rhode Island
Time Factors
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Scholarly work on the nonhuman animal shelter population has widely focused on cats and dogs. As a result, little is known about the population dynamics of domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in shelters. The records from 4 companion animal shelters in Massachusetts and Rhode Island were analyzed to describe these dynamics. A majority of the rabbits at the 4 shelters were surrendered by their caregivers, were between 1 and 6 years old, and were unaltered at the time of intake. The most common reasons for surrender were the caregivers' inability to care for the rabbits or a lack of interest in doing so. Over half of the total rabbit population was subsequently adopted and the overall live release rate (percentage of rabbits leaving the shelter alive) was 75.54%. In some cases, the use of a foster care system was correlated with a decrease in the euthanasia rate. The results from this study will help the sheltering field clarify the scope of the problem of homeless rabbits.
ISSN:1532-7604
1088-8705
1532-7604
DOI:10.1080/10888705.2012.709084