Community Corner
Is a Bunny the Right Pet for You?
They're not as easy to take care of as you think. BunnyLuv can help.
Rabbits are so cuddly and the kids will love them and be able to snuggle with them. The bunnies are so clean and well-mannered, and they’ll love to live in the backyard and are so easy to care of, and it would be great to have just one of them.
Think again.
The BunnyLuv Rabbit Resource Center located in Van Nuys has a staff ready to help dispel all those myths—and make your home a great place for this exotic animal.
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“People have a lot of wrong ideas about bunnies, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be great pets,” said Jody Springborn, the health associate for the BunnyLuv Rabbit Resource Center. She has four rabbits at home, and a 14-year-old dog that doesn’t bother them.
Rabbits will tear up furniture, eat wires, spray urine and drop more than 200 rabbit dropping pellets a day.
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They would prefer to sit next to you rather than be picked up, they don’t like to snuggle (well most of them), and are not great with young children.
They cannot be housed in the backyard because temperatures higher than 85 can prove deadly. And, the Center prefers to adopt out rabbits in pairs because they are such social creatures.
Rabbits live about nine to 12 years, can grow up to 10 to 12 pounds and eat mostly hay, with some vegetables (and not too many carrots).
They do breed, well, like bunnies. A female can have a new litter every 28 days and males can start breeding after only 10 weeks of age.
You cannot just go to the Center to pick up a rabbit. There is an application process. There will be a home inspection and they will check to see if the setting is suitable.
“But we’re good about educating you about how to care and love your rabbit,” Springborn said. “Come on in and talk to us about it.”
The Center needs to find some good homes for their overabundant rabbit population.
The Center is opened Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from noon to 7 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed on Mondays and Fridays. Call 818-988-4488 or go to www.bunnyluv.org. It is located at 16742 Stagg Street, Suite 104, Van Nuys
Click below for other stories about the shelter, view the videos and photo gallery above and check back tomorrow to see if a bunny is a good pet for you.
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