A rescue group in Nova Scotia says more and more domestic rabbits are being abandoned outdoors and left to fend for themselves.
Tammy MacDonald-Flat, president of 10,000 Carrots Rabbit Rescue, says Hammonds Plains, N.S., is one of the worst hit areas.
“Hares are indigenous to Nova Scotia. They're our wildlife. They know the ebbs and flows of the season. They know where to hide, they know what their predators are. Domesticated rabbits don't, so it's really not much different to dumping a dog or a cat outside,” says MacDonald-Flat.
MacDonald-Flat says while abandoned rabbits have always been a problem, it’s become worse in recent months.
“People will be on a walk on a wooded trail or a walk on an old logging road and have seen people literally drive up, drop the rabbits off and just leave,” she says.
MacDonald-Flat and other volunteers will tiptoe through people's yards and brush and catch each abandoned rabbit. She’s found some with severe injuries.
“We don't have a place, we don't have a shelter or a building for them, so we do have fosters that have the rabbits. They're all over HRM and Hants County,” says volunteer Lisa Conrod
The organization has about 35 rabbits ready to be adopted. But they say as soon as one is adopted, another is brought in.
"We don't know the numbers, but there are a lot,” says MacDonald-Flat.
The group is asking those who have a pet rabbit but are unsure if they want to keep it to give them a call or find a home that isn’t the woods.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Laura Brown.
