See Photos of Living Conditions Where 102 Rabbits Were Rescued in Oneida County

The CNY SPCA rescued 102 rabbits and a pigeon from Eastern Oneida County earlier last week, and now pictures have been released to show the horrible living conditions.

Dee Schaefer, Humane Education of the CNY SPCA turned to us for help in acquiring small to medium-size litter pans, Oxbow adult Rabbit food, Timothy Hay (LOTS), and small fleece blankets for 102 bunnies that were recently rescued.

This weekend some people were stating the CNY SPCA were being accused of  "stealing the rabbits,"  so, in response, they pulled all the photos and videos down off their site and added photos of the living conditions the animals were subjected to. The CNY SPCA says:

This person needs help, and we don't want them getting the same treatment we did from people on the other side of the fence...Currently, we are good on supplies. We will be contacting area vets to see who is able to spay/neuter and then setting up payments through their offices. The going rate for rabbit spay/neuter in the Syracuse area is $200.

 

CNY SPCA Statement Regarding Rescued Rabbits:

There have been several spam comments on our page regarding the confiscation of 102 rabbits in Oneida County. We need to speak up and show those who donated exactly what the conditions were. We have chosen not to name the person, and when we began asking for donations (MATERIAL not monetary), we stated in the news that it was an unfortunate situation where a person became overwhelmed, especially after the death of the spouse.

It is physically impossible for one person to properly care for (clean and feed) 102 rabbits by themselves every day, especially after the death of a spouse. The person involved has commented on our page, and several others commented with the name, and those comments were hidden for the individual’s privacy.

Several visits were made to the property by officers, stating what needed to change according to the NYS Dept of Agriculture and Markets Law, yet no changes occurred. We do not know if the person(s) involved ever reached out to anyone for help. What we do know is this. After waiting to see if conditions improved, they did not, and a choice needed to be made for the sake of the rabbits. Several times we were told that the rabbits would be going to auction or had been sold.

We fully expected to bring back roughly only 40 to 45 rabbits because we HAD been told that some were sold or auctioned off. When we got there, there were 102. Several people have commented that conditions were not bad, so we are showing these pictures because people need to understand exactly what the conditions were.

These pictures were taken before any of the cages were moved. Please note how close together they all are...they should not be this close together, and they are not in the shelter. The nails on many of the rabbits were severely overgrown and curled into the bottoms of their feet, as well as there being caked feces and urine on their feet. While we understand that people breed rabbits to show, sell, and eat, it is expected that the conditions they are kept in are humane.

If someone is struggling, reach out to help them…rather than berate the organization that removes them from an unhealthy situation. For those that live in the area where this occurred and are condemning the SPCA, did you reach out to help, did you take rabbits from this person, did you help with feeding or cleaning? If not, then you are part of the problem as well.

These owners were given time to make changes that were never made (before the death of the spouse). According to NYS Agriculture and Markets law (which is antiquated and lacking, to say the least), this person could have been arrested and charged. However, because of the situation where a spouse was recently lost, we instead had them signed over and refused to tell anyone the location this happened in for their privacy.

Rather than be a keyboard warrior, find out the facts first. And if you genuinely believe that these conditions were humane, it is our sincere hope that you do not own an animal.

All the rabbits must be spayed/neutered prior to being adopted as New York State Senate has passed S. 4234-A, the New York Puppy Mill Pipeline Bill. This prohibits the sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits in pet stores across New York State. The CNY SPCA tells us the vet they normally use is backed up at least 3 months at this time, so they are reaching out to other offices this week.