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 But those who want to buy a live bunny as an Easter gift won't
find them for sale at pet stores this year after California
became the first U.S. state to pass a law aimed at stemming a
post-holiday deluge of maturing rabbits being abandoned or
euthanized.
The legislation, which took effect in January, prohibits retail
shops from selling commercially bred dogs, cats and rabbits. The
idea is to encourage adoption of rescued animals and to crack
down on the sale of pets from "puppy mills," "kitty factories"
and "bunny bundlers."
Legislatures in New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and
Pennsylvania are considering similar bills. Dozens of cities,
from Boston and Chicago to Salt Lake City already have local
ordinances on the books.
The problem of abandonment and euthanasia is particularly acute
for rabbits purchased in pet stores, as they tend to be impulse
buys, especially in the days before Easter.
"In the one to three months after Easter, we traditionally see a
spike in shelter rabbit intakes," said Anne Martin, executive
director of the House Rabbit Society, a nonprofit group that
rescues rabbits and places them in foster care.
"In Northern California alone, thousands of stray and unwanted
rabbits end up in the municipal shelter systems, and the
majority of these rabbits are under a year old," she said.
The Easter Bunny, an age-old symbol of fertility and renewal,
plays an endearing role in the springtime holiday celebrating
the resurrection of Jesus Christ, tempting parents to buy one of
the cuddly-looking creatures for their families.
But to the surprise of many, rabbits are not low-maintenance
balls of fur, their owners say, as they require daily cleaning
and specialized medical care.
'UNINTENTIONAL ANIMAL CRUELTY'
"There is a common misconception that a rabbit just can sit in a
cage and eat carrots," said Jacob Levitt, 44, a dermatologist
who owns eight young, adopted bunnies that roam his New York
City luxury apartment.
He said it was "unintentional animal cruelty" to keep a rabbit
cooped up and to fail to give it a proper diet of grass hay.
Fulvio Roman, 32, whose fiance made a "spur of the moment"
decision to buy a pet store rabbit, admitted to being unprepared
for the demands of its care.
"Once she saw the bunny and was able to hold her, she
immediately fell in love," said Roman, who lives on Long Island
and supervises kitchen workers in New York City public schools.
"We didn't know what it really took to have a bunny."
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Eight months later, after the rabbit resisted being picked up,
chewed through air conditioner wires, and their landlord demanded a
non-refundable $1,000 security deposit, they surrendered the rabbit
to a shelter.
"Not everyone knows how much work a bunny takes. We ended up being
educated by force," Roman said.
Rabbits typically live 10 years and multiply every 30 days, with an
average litter of eight babies. Pet stores often fail to neuter
bunnies, according to House Rabbit.
Bunnies mature at 3 to 6 months and males spray urine and females
become territorial. When they grow less adorable, house bunnies are
left in backyard hutches or abandoned in fields or woods.
Under California’s Law, consumers can adopt animals from a shelter
or buy them directly from a breeder.
Some 2.8 million U.S. households have rabbits as pets, according to
the American Pet Products Association (APPA), compared with 60.2
million with a dog, 47.1 million with a cat, 7.9 million with a bird
and 2.6 million with a horse.
The House Rabbit Society said bunnies are the third most abandoned
pet in the United States. Advocates say rabbits are also the third
most euthanized, based on a 2010 study of four shelters in
Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
'DISASTROUS CONSEQUENCES' FOR INDUSTRY
In California, pet industry leaders, many of whom opposed the new
law, say local shops that sell animals will suffer.
"We expect the California law will have disastrous consequences for
the small, local business pet stores," said Mike Bober, president
and CEO of Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council.
But live animal sales account for just 3 percent of the industry's
roughly $70 billion in annual sales, according to APPA's website.
The bulk of U.S. pet store sales in recent years has been for food,
vet care, supplies and over-the-counter medicines.
John Goodwin, a senior director at the Humane Society of the United
States, urged Americans to pass on buying a live bunny as an Easter
present.
"There are plenty of stuffed animals and chocolates in rabbit form,"
Goodwin said.
(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg in New York; Editing by Frank McGurty
and Bill Berkrot)
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