| Congratulations on taking
the first step toward saving a bunny's life! We applaud
your desire to share your life with a rabbit. However,
before making your final decision, we highly recommend
that you take a few moments to read: Is a rabbit right
for you? If you already have rabbits at home, please read
the section on adding another rabbit to your household.
Remember, most of our rabbits end up abandoned by somebody
who "thought" s/he wanted a rabbit and acted
on impulse without thinking through about the impact a
rabbit might have on his/her life.
The House Rabbit Society of Singapore (HRSS) is working
closely with the Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA)
to facilitate the adoption of bunnies in SPCA's care.
SPCA runs the largest animal shelter in Singapore and
receives over 1,000 unwanted animals every single
month. However, the sad reality
is that less than 10% of these animals find good homes.
HRSS volunteers also respond to numerous requests to
rescue rabbits dumped around our neighbourhoods. HRSS
rescued rabbits are kept at the homes of HRSS volunteers
till they are adopted. If you find any abandoned rabbits,
please take them to your home and contact
HRSS immediately. We have a very small number of
volunteers who are able to provide foster homes. Due
to the limitation of our resources, we regret that we
are unable to assist if you are planning to give up
your bunnies.
We hope we have managed to convince you about the seriousness
of the rabbit overpopulation problem in Singapore. We
hope you can adopt one of the rabbits from our adoption
gallery.
The adoption of rabbits in our case is free of charge.
However, we hope you will take up the Friends
of HRSS membership and/or make a donation
to support our very important work.
As a pet is a lifetime commitment with considerable
responsibilities involved, we thoroughly screen potential
adopters. This may include a house visit and/or an interview
with the whole family. After the adoption formalities
are completed we hope you will keep us regularly updated
on how the bunnies are doing. Of course, HRSS volunteers
will always be available, both online
and offline, to answer your queries and advise you on
how to take proper care of your new companion.
Please click here to
see an overview of our screening process.
A Must Read: Bunny
Business before adopting any rabbit.
Kindly review the following adoption policies if you
are interested in adopting any bunnies in our care.
- Primary Caregiver. When a rabbit is adopted
from a HRSS foster home, the primary caregiver must
be a responsible adult. The rabbit should be treated
as an integral part of the family, i.e., no group
ownership (such as a classroom pet). We do NOT
permit the adoption of rabbits as pets for children.
The entire family must want the rabbit.
- Indoor Housing. Adopters of HRSS rabbits
must understand that our rabbits are to live as household
companions. This means that they must have their primary
living space indoors, and must spend every night indoors.
During the daytime, adopters may allow their rabbits
outdoor exercise. If this is the case, the rabbit
must be provided with an area of secure fencing, and
adequate supervision.
- Social Requirements. If the rabbit is going
to be alone (i.e. without the company of people, or
with a cat and/or other household pets) for the majority
of the time, then we recommend that the adopter adopt
a second rabbit as a companion to the first.
- Sterilising. HRSS is working on a scheme
to ensure that all mature rabbits in our care are
sterilised before they are re-homed.
Sometimes we also have very young rabbits in our care.
Sexually immature rabbits of mixed sexes may be adopted
together as long as the adopter agrees to separate
them when the males are 3 1/2 months old and to sterilise
them as soon as the testicles have descended (usually
around 4 months old). Except for medical reasons,
females are to be spayed within 30 days of reaching
6 months old. These same requirements exist even when
an adopter has only adopted a single immature rabbit.
Even when the rabbit will live alone, spaying and
neutering after sexual maturity is still required.
- Returns. We expect that you will do the necessary
homework before adopting a rabbit. We therefore do
not expect to see many cases where you need to return
the rabbit after adopting it. Nonetheless, if there
are problems with the adopted rabbit such that the
adopter needs to return it, we ask that you give the
fosterer some advance notice.
Once an animal is adopted from HRSS, the space vacated
is usually filled within a week. A return requires
two preparations: a space must be opened by a new
adoption, and another rabbit must be "bumped"
from the rescue list at the animal shelter. Nevertheless,
all rabbits adopted from a particular foster home
must be returned to that foster home in case of insurmountable
problems.
- Exchanges. HRSS does not exchange animals.
Exceptions may be made when:
- The fosterer and adopter are working together
on making a match between an adoptee and a pre-residing
rabbit AND
- In the fosterer's judgement, a different match
would be less stressful to the animals.
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