🐰 Stop Inhumane Rabbit Sales — Protect Rabbits in South Carolina!

🐰By Hoppy Hearts SC Rabbit Rescue

 
Rabbits in South Carolina need your voice.

Every year, countless rabbits are impulsively bought from pet stores and flea markets, only to end up neglected, abandoned, or worse—because people don’t realize how much care rabbits really need. At Hoppy Hearts SC Rabbit Rescue, we've seen the heartbreaking results up close.

 

 

 

 

 

In just over two years, we’ve rescued 42 rabbits, adopted out 19—but we’ve had to turn away 312 due to lack of space and resources. We’re one of only five rabbit-specific rescues in the entire state. We’re stretched beyond our limit. And we know we’re not alone.

For just the first quarter of 2025, fellow SC rescue Wayward Rabbits SC was asked to take in 80 rabbits. Sixty of those had to be turned away and died due to having been dumped. This large rescue has taken in hundreds over the years.

Another rabbit welfare organization, The Rabbit Sanctuary, has 31 rabbits in care and estimates they have had to turn away over 505 in the past year and a quarter.

Paisley's Bunny Rescue currently cares for approximately 304 rabbits. So far this year, they have taken in 57 rabbits, following an estimated 239 rescues in the previous year. Most of these rabbits come from cases of cruelty, hoarding, abandonment, and animal testing facilities. 

Based on these numbers, as well as numbers from other SC rescues not listed here, rabbit dumping and neglect is an epidemic in South Carolina. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

🛑 It’s time for South Carolina to step up.
We’re asking our lawmakers to support legislation that will:

✅ Place restrictions on the sale of rabbits in pet stores and flea markets
✅ Create stronger welfare protections and legal standards for how rabbits are treated as pets

 💔 Why This Matters:
Rabbits are one of the most abandoned and mistreated pets in South Carolina and across the U.S.

They're often seen as “starter pets,” but they require specialized care, proper housing, and vet attention.

Without laws in place, rabbits are easily discarded, abused, or allowed to breed unchecked—creating even more suffering.

There is no meaningful legal protection for rabbits under current animal cruelty or companion animal laws.

 

 

 

 

 

 

💡 What This Law Would Do:

*Place necessary restrictions on rabbit sales in retail and flea market settings

*Help prevent impulse purchases that lead to neglect and abandonment

*Set clear welfare standards so abuse and cruelty have real legal consequences

*Raise public awareness on proper rabbit care

*Relieve pressure on rescues and shelters, like ours, that are doing   everything we can with limited resources

Counties and states such as Florida and New Jersey have already passed similar legislation—and it’s working. It’s time for South Carolina to follow their lead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

🐇 You Can Help Save Lives
Sign this petition to support:

✔️ Placing restrictions on the sale of rabbits in pet stores and flea markets
✔️ Creating better laws to protect rabbits from abuse and neglect

With enough signatures, we can show lawmakers that the people of South Carolina care about animals—and we demand change. Together, we can stop the suffering and build a better future for these vulnerable pets.

We are better together.
— Hoppy Hearts SC Rabbit Rescue

Zip's Story:

 

 

 

 

 

 

He is an example of what we see daily, and his story inspired us to take action. If not for a couple of caring humans, he would most likely not be alive right now.

A couple in the Greenville area went to a local tire shop. When the shop owner took them in the back, they saw a bunny in a box with no food or water. His two front legs and two back legs had been tightly zip-tied together. The people said something to the owner who told them he was going to chop the bunny’s head off and eat it, and that he had zip-tied the legs so the rabbit could not get away. This couple grabbed the bunny and box and drove away from the tire shop. They removed the zip ties and called the police. The police met them and told them they had basically stolen the bunny from the shop owner. Even when the police saw/knew about the cruel zip-tied legs, they said there was nothing they could do about it as far as bringing charges against the shop owner. However, they said the couple could potentially go to jail for stealing the rabbit! The couple ended up paying the shop owner $50 for the rabbit to get the bunny away from him and avoid any accusation of stealing. The couple even had a video of the shop owner admitting to his treatment of the bunny, as well as photos of the zip-tied legs. The couple was punished for helping a rabbit while the person committing the cruelty was paid for it.

 

 

 

 

Zip is one example, but there are many we take in as a rescue.  Most of them have been dumped, due to being easily accessible impulse purchases.  This results in rabbits going to homes with no knowledge of proper care, which in turn results  in the rabbit no longer being wanted once the realization of the amount of care required sinks in and the novelty is gone.