This story is shared with the owner’s permission.
In April this year, this pair of 3-year-old girls found themselves in the adoption section of a Pets at Home store, after being dropped off by their owner as no longer wanted.
They sat in the store for over a month, in a small glass tank, with very little space to move about, until a kind-hearted person noticed them and decided to adopt them. Luckily for the girls, their adopter was an experienced rabbit owner so she asked questions about their teeth and general health. The store staff confirmed that they were perfectly healthy, spayed, vaccinated and that they had been checked by the vet. The staff also gave them a health-check before bringing them to the check-out.
Once home, the new owner had a closer look at the rabbits and noticed that they both had overgrown teeth and overgrown nails that curled over. They both had diarrhoea and their fur was matted.
The owner called PaH to speak to the store manager only to receive an abrupt answer from the staff and be told not to handle the animals for 48 hours.
She then called the in-store vet to ask if there was any medical history and was advised to bring the bunnies in at the next available appointment.
72 hours after the animals left the store, the vet confirmed that both rabbits had teeth spurs and were grossly overweight. This had caused drooling and one of the rabbits (Toffee) had a white discharge in her eyes.
The vet said the store should pay for the treatment since the issues could not have emerged in the last 3 days. The store manager was called to discuss the issue but went on to blame the new owner for lack of care. After further discussion with the vet the store manager came back to the customer and said they had 3 options, in this order: 1. Euthanasia. 2. Trying the treatment. 3. Returning the rabbits to the store.
Fortunately for the rabbits, the new owner cared about them and decided to go ahead with the treatment. Dental surgery was booked within the week.
The store manager said they would pay for the first lot of treatment but kept stressing that it would come from the Support Adoption Charity money.
The vet was booked and treatment was given for eyes, teeth, nails etc. However, the owner was told that the issue with Toffee’s teeth would be reoccurring.
A few days later during the post op check, Toffee’s eyes were very weepy. Her teeth needed trimming again so she was booked in for another appointment a week later. A lump was also discovered on her stomach.
During the next visit that growth had increased but the cause was still unknown. Her eyes were still weepy. The vet recommended an X-rays to check the teeth and the root situation.
After a long battle with Pets at Home the owner got agreement that they would pay for it. The plan was to remove the teeth that were badly damaged.
Unfortunately, a couple of days later, it became clear that Toffee’s offset jaw and teeth were causing her too much pain and she was struggling to eat. She was rushed to the vet out of hours and given medications, gut stimulants and pain killers to keep her going until emergency surgery could be arranged at the day vet. The owner monitored through the night and provided fluids and care.
Toffee perked up in the early hours of the morning but very sadly when her owner went to check again less than 2 hours later, Toffee had passed away, leaving her heartbroken. After being neglected, Toffee had received love and care for 3 and a half months, but it was too late.
Below is an extract from the response sent by Pets at Home customer service, further to the adopter’s complaint:
‘Support Adoption are a charity and their funds are limited. It is not financially viable for every pet to have a health check with a vet because of the high cost involved in checking large volumes of pets.’
‘The highly trained and experienced store colleagues health check as fully and well as they are able to but do not hold a veterinary degree – we would love to be able to health-check every pet but as explained prior are limited by funding’.
Toffee had been let down by her first owner and let down by Pets at Home.
Sadly, this is not an isolated case. Rabbits are regularly ‘rescued’ from Pets at Home adoption centres, when it is clear that they are not looked after properly, left untreated and kept in an unsuitable environment, sitting in small glass tanks, sometimes for months.
The rabbits in the adoption areas of Pets at Home stores often are the ones that they cannot sell, the injured ones or so-called aggressive due to being kept with other rabbits in cramped conditions in the store, the sick ones that developed infections from similar cramped and unhealthy conditions at the breeders and the ones that were returned by uncommitted owners who bought them on a whim from Pets at Home!
Those rabbits should all be rehomed with experienced owners and a home-check should be provided. Instead, those already vulnerable rabbits are discounted, sold half-price, like faulty items and they are likely to end up in the wrong hands again.
Pets at Home shouldn’t deal with animals at all. Their adoption centres only exist because they sell pets in the first place, but they cannot be trusted with the animals in their care.
Please tell Pets at Home to STOP selling rabbits altogether.
No rabbit should be bred and sold for profit to be neglected and abandoned… and resold again in a bargain basement!
Please sign the petition and share.
Thank you!
Isabelle Rineau
@BaBBACampaign
info@babba.org
https://www.facebook.com/BabbaCampaign
Watch the Video on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/G8_vjBOcX0w