DESPERATE PLEA FOR FOSTERS: Bunny World Foundation and LAAS join forces to rescue 69 victims of a horrid backyard bunny mill
Email Article | Tuesday, April 25, 2023 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Lejla Hadzimuratovic, Founder, Bunny World Foundation
info@bunnyworldfoundation.org, (310) 498-8600, www.bunnyworldfoundation.org
Bunny World Foundation Plea to Los Angeles Community to help foster 69 rabbits confiscated by Los Angeles Animal Services (LAAS) from a backyard breeding operation.
Rescue Video: https://www.facebook.com/BunnyWorldFoundation/videos/1292320871665563
LOS ANGELES, CA (April 25, 2023) - Bunny World Foundation (BWF), an all-volunteer foster-based animal rescue that finds homes for hundreds of abandoned domestic rabbits each year, is struggling to singlehandedly assist LAAS with 69 rabbits impounded from a backyard breeding operation in the heart of the city of Los Angeles.
On April 14, 2023, LAAS Animal Control was contacted by the neighbor whose cat was killed by the Rottweiler on the property three blocks from one of the LAAS shelters. The LAAS Officer X rushed to the scene and witnessed an impressive backyard breeding operation, mainly of rabbits and chickens. LAAS impounded 17 rabbits right away. A few days later, two female rabbits delivered eight babies while in quarantine at the LAAS shelter. Since the impound, LAAS Animal Care Technical (ACT) Supervisor has communicated with BWF, seeking help with orphans, nursing mothers & babies, injured rabbits, and spaying veterinary resources.
On Tuesday, April 18, 2023, LAAS Officer X called BWF to assist during the second impound of 37 rabbits. BWF team rushed to the scene with another LAAS Officer Y to help assess the situation, sex the rabbits, and help with English-Spanish interpreting.
On Wednesday, April 19, 2023, the family contacted BWF about seven additional infants left at the property. Upon notifying LAAS ACT Supervisor, the babies were efficiently picked up by LAAS Officer X on the same day, amounting to 69 confiscated rabbits in total.
"It was an unfortunate situation seeing numbers of petrified bunnies crammed in filthy makeshift cages with many nesting boxes who will need a lot of TLC before they can trust humans again. Once we arrived at the scene, we worked diligently to sex all the rabbits and identify nursing mothers, potentially pregnant adult rabbits, and juveniles. The bunnies we encountered were mostly pregnant and nursing females I can only imagine how many rabbits suffered in these horrific and squalid conditions, how many were slaughtered for food, and how many ended up in the wrong hands."
~ Jane Stonnington, Retired US Army Master Sergeant & Adoption Manager, Bunny World Foundation
"This was not your typical situation where things got out of hand out of ignorance of not knowing the rabbit's gestation period, which is 28 days. This was a deliberate backyard breeding operation that had been fully functioning for three years, three blocks away from the LAAS Shelter. I am happy we were able to assist LAAS in cleaning up this disastrous and cruel breeding operation."
~Lejla Hadzimuratovic, President & Founder, Bunny World Foundation
Since becoming an LAAS New Hope Partner in 2009, BWF has witnessed and assisted with several large backyard breeding operations in the City of LA. The most "memorable" ones were an inhumane 130-rabbit breeding operation in Sherman Oaks in 2014 and Mar Vista's horrendous 500+ rabbit hoarding/breeding operation in 2019 and 2022 by the same offender. In 2022, BWF assisted LAAS by finding homes for approximately 300 rabbits confiscated from the Mar Vista operation.
"This is not our first rodeo. BWF assisted LASS with multiple breeding/hoarding incidents in the past, but thanks to dedicated LAAS Officer X, this was the first time that we were officially invited to the scene as a New Hope Partner to collaborate on mitigating the circumstances so that the City of LA doesn't end up with another Mar Vista-like situation. What we accomplished in just TWO hours that day with an extraordinary LAAS Officer Y, with the help of multi-tasking and diligent LAAS ACT Supervisor was nothing short of a miracle. The family who was cited willingly surrendered all the rabbits and promised to demolish ALL the makeshift hutches located in their backyard.
Still, this impound comes during a particularly challenging time, as local shelters and parks are overrun with bunnies who have no place to go after the spring breeding and post-Easter dumping season. We're desperately looking for foster homes for these rabbits and many more!
~Lejla Hadzimuratovic, Founder & President of Bunny World Foundation
Bunny World Foundation is struggling to find foster homes for all confiscated rabbits from this breeding operation; LAAS does not have space to house so many animals and provide safe spay/neuter services promptly. Due to overcrowding, many, especially male rabbits, are getting injured from in-cage fighting. Each hormonal male requires one dedicated space for himself before neuter surgery and 30 days post-surgery. The hormones in males rage for a month after, during which time they can STILL impregnate a female rabbit. Neutered males are neither adoptable nor bondable for at least a month post-surgery. They need safe foster homes to help with their journey.
If you are able to FOSTER or ADOPT, please email BWF with the subject "I WILL FOSTER A LAAS BUNNY" at info@bunnyworldfoundation.org
We know times are tough, but will you help us with these babies' medical bills? "Coffee Money" is more than welcome; it all adds up.
Donation links:
In the meantme, we're doing our best to deal with so many emergencies in the background...
About Bunny World Foundation
Bunny World Foundation (BWF) is an ALL-Volunteer, non-profit 501(c)3 animal welfare organization founded in 2008 in Los Angeles, California. Set up to promote (Shelter) Equity and Equality for Rabbits, BWF's mission is to combat animal cruelty, illegal animal sales, exploitation, and neglect of all animals, through rescue efforts, public education, investigations, legislation, events, and media attention. In addition, BWF works to reduce rabbit overpopulation and establish rabbits as companion animals that deserve the same individual rights, level of care, and opportunity for longevity as cats and dogs that live as human companions. BWF manages a complex Foster & Adoption Program that requires constant strengthening and expansion to accommodate new rescues and provide for their intensive care, medication, supplies, and spay/neuter funds. BWF has 250 volunteers/fosters and rescues approximately 1,000-1500 abandoned and abused domestic rabbits a year. BWF rescued over 15,000 rabbits in the City of Los Angeles to date, ranging from un-weaned baby bunnies from Santee Alley to adult bunnies from the over-inundated city shelters.
More information about BWF can be found on our website and our Facebook page. The foundation welcomes any and all donations from the public. All proceeds go toward spay and neuter surgeries, vet bills, food, and other supplies needed to sustain the animals until they can find their forever homes at one of our weekly adoption events.
For more information about Bunny World Foundation, visit bunnyworldfoundation.org.
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FOUR Main Reasons WHY so many rabbits end up in shelters and on death row:
PEOPLE WHO BUY BUNNIES: When you buy a bunny, no matter where you buy that bunny from, you are supporting the breeders and the bunny mill owners. Please, never buy, always adopt; we promise you that whatever bunny you want, there is one waiting for you in a shelter or rescue today. If you have never adopted a bunny, then you have missed out on the most fantastic feeling; it's that feeling of saving a life. Ask anyone who has done it, and they will tell you the same. That bunny will repay you with a lifetime of love and affection.
BREEDERS & BUNNY MILLS: Despite the massive overpopulation of rabbits in the US and worldwide, the breeders and the bunny mills churn out bunnies 24 hours a day to make a buck -- or, in many cases, a LOT of bucks. The way to shut down the breeders and the bunny mills is simple—Adopt from your local shelter or rescue instead of buying from a pet store or breeder. BWF alone has every size, age, color, breed, and personality of bunny you can ever imagine. "RESPONSIBLE BREEDER" IS AN OXYMORON. What the world needs now is a MORATORIUM for breeders! PERIOD!
PEOPLE WHO SURRENDER BUNNIES: If you have kids, you make plans for them in case something happens to you. If you have companion animals, you must do the same thing; otherwise, they end up at the shelter with a kill date. If you cannot afford to keep a companion animal, then do not get one in the first place. Being a caregiver to a helpless animal is a lifetime commitment, not a disposable fashion accessory.
PEOPLE WHO FAIL TO SPAY/NEUTER BUNNIES: Failing to Spay/Neuter rabbits factors HUGELY into the overpopulation problem. Rabbits left unfixed will breed! Get your bunnies fixed because if you do not, you are on the path to leaving bunnies at the shelter with a kill date. Please don't breed or buy while shelter pets die.