There is a crisis in Ontario of rabbits being bred, purchased and dumped into the system faster than they can be saved. A huge contributor to this is pet stores selling rabbits without any screening or education about the realities of having a pet rabbit.

Big Al’s Pet Stores in Scarborough, Hamilton and Brampton are selling young, domestic rabbits at their locations. The rabbits are housed in glass boxes in poor condition, including but not limited to:

·         Lack of access to fresh, clean water

·         Improper bedding that can cause respiratory issues or slivers in their feet

·         Little to no hay, which is 80% of a rabbit’s diet

·         Irregular access to pellets, vital for a baby rabbit’s growth

·         Given dangerous foods, including high sugar treats like carrots, in massive quantities that they cannot properly digest, which can cause lethal GI issues

The rabbits will often be taken from their mothers so young that when they arrive at Big Al’s, signs will be put up saying the rabbits are “too young to go home” yet they are still available for sale. They are apparently too young to go home, but not too young to be forcibly removed from their mother before being fully weaned and then neglected in a glass box until being purchased.

The staff have little to no education on rabbits, willingly selling them in pairs without properly gendering them, resulting in unwanted, accidental litters. If Big Al’s is contacted about this after the babies are born, the messaging is clear – they do not care, the rabbits are not their problem, and they don’t guarantee the genders. No accountability for the harm they are causing.

Shelters and rescues in Ontario are struggling to keep up with the demand for help. There are more rabbits that need placement than there are available foster homes and adoptive homes. Pet stores like Big Al’s sell the rabbits for a profit and do not care that they are adding to the overpopulation problem, as profit is their driving motivator. Rescues are asked to take in thousands of rabbits a year in Ontario, and every one of them has had Big Al’s mentioned to them as one of the sources for where people are getting the rabbits they are looking to surrender. People who wished that they had been told how much work rabbits are, how expensive rabbits are, how big they can get, that they need to be spayed/neutered etc. Instead they were sold a baby rabbit in a tiny cage that grew up into a big rabbit that quickly outgrew the cage and is now displaying behavioural problems from not being spayed/neutered.

And what happens when they no longer want the rabbit?

The same thing that happens to over 80% of rabbits purchased as gifts or on impulse. They die due to neglect, they get dumped outside, they end up at overcrowded shelters, etc … these rabbits meet horrible fates because they are seen as “starter pets” that are “good for children” when that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

When asked where the rabbits come from, Big Al's admitted they purchase them from random people in the community who breed them. There is no such thing as ethical breeding, but backyard breeders have absolutely no health or housing standards. They breed the rabbits until they can no longer produce babies and then dump them or kill them. They are inbred and often have health issues.

Until pet stores and breeders take accountability, rabbits will continue to die. Whether it’s due to neglect in homes that were not prepared for the level of care that a rabbit requires, or in a shelter due to overcrowding, or because they were dumped outside when their owner no longer wanted them and the succumb to the elements, starve, get hit by a car, attacked by a prey animal etc.

We are calling on Big Al’s to stop selling rabbits in their stores. They are the third most abandoned pet, and Big Al’s a responsibility to stop their contribution to this problem. Everyone is encouraged to boycott Big Al’s until they agree to cease selling rabbits in their stores and commit to that long term.

Please sign this petition to let Big Al’s know that as long as they sell rabbits in store, you will not shop there.

Thank you,

Brittany