Pasco County outlawed the sale of kittens, puppies, cats and dogs from pet stores last year, and now animal advocates are urging the Pasco County Commission to halt the retail sale of pet rabbits, too.
A trio of speakers appeared before the county board during the board’s public comment portion of its Sept. 28 meeting.
Kurtis Marsh, of Holiday, explained the need for the change.
“Rabbits, if you don’t know, are the third most popular pet, which makes them the third most dumped pet,” Marsh said.
“This year alone, because of COVID-19, our small rescue has taken in 25 rabbits.
“Since the first of September, there have been a total of 66 rabbits we’ve been contacted about — either dumped, or someone is about to dump them. People call the rescues and threaten to dump the rabbits,” he said.
By prohibiting the sale of rabbits at pet stores, the number of rabbits being dumped on the street will decline, he said.
People are buying pet rabbits over the weekend and dumping them by Tuesday of the following week, he said.
“It’s just gotten that bad,” Marsh said.
Another speaker, Renee Rivard, reminded commissioners: “We worked with some of you on the dog chaining law for Pasco County.”
Now, the focus is on trying to end the sale of rabbits by pet stores, she said.
“We’re working on this issue with five counties that make up the greater Tampa Bay area: Pasco, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Manatee and Sarasota. Not a single county-run animal shelter takes in pet rabbits. Only four nonprofit facilities accept pet rabbits,” she said.
She then recited some statistics for the county board.
“SPCA (the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) in Manatee County took in 76 rabbits last year. The SPCA of Pinellas County took in 246 pet rabbits last year.
“We don’t have the statistics yet of the Humane Society of Pinellas, but we’ll get those to you.
“And the Humane Society in Tampa took in 190 pet rabbits, as of July this year.
“There are no facilities that accept pet rabbits in Pasco County,” she said.
A couple of good Samaritans began the Suncoast House Rabbit Rescue in 2019, Rivard said.
“Since then, they have taken in over 100 rabbits. They line up fosters to help them.
“They cannot keep up with the overwhelming number of calls they get from people who are turned away from the nonprofits because they have no space,” she said.
Just this month, the people who run the shelter said they had to turn away 60 rabbits.
“Pet rabbits are not native to Florida and they can easily die of temperatures below 50 degrees and above 80 degrees. They also do not know how to find food and shelter.
“Commissioners, we are asking for your help with this issue.
“As far as we can see, we have two options. Even provide a facility to take in unwanted rabbits, or ban the retail sale of rabbits.
“At the very least, consider a seasonal ban in March and April, to curb the impulse buys of rabbits for Easter,” Rivard said.
Nina Perino, of Palm Harbor, also asked the county board to address the issue.
“It’s a huge problem.
“People just leave them in their cages,” she said, where they get rained on.
“They’re diseased. Full of fleas. Anemic. Sometimes they can’t be saved,” she said.
“They don’t know how to find food, or shelter,” she said.
People will buy rabbits on an impulse and then dump them because they don’t know how to take care of them, or don’t want to take care of them.
“You can’t force people to be responsible,” Perino said, so, she added: “Don’t give them opportunity to buy rabbits.
“Their lives matter, and they only get one,” Perino said.
Published October 06, 2021
Shawn McDonald says
If this is a “huge problem” then Pasco really must be out of problems.
This is classic nudge advocacy. 100% guarantee that this group has nine more “huge problems” lined up for after this “huge problem” is addressed.