Waiting list CLOSED. A sad day for the rescue. - 20/07/2005
Green Fields Rescue operates a waiting list for animals to come in to the rescue. Despite the fact that we do rehome well, to very good homes, the number of rabbits and guineas waiting to come in to the rescue consistantly outweighs those going out. All the while that local pet shops, breeders, garden centres and the local Pets at Home store continue to mass sell and wrongly market rabbits as "low cost, low maintanance, starter pets for children" this situation will continue.
The wider picture is that until the long awaited Animal Welfare Bill becomes law, very little can be done to change the way that these profit driven organisations sell animals. In addition, these animals, once purchased have no legal rights at all. Rescues and the RSPCA have to continually pick up the pieces of these animals broken lives once the "kids got bored", the owners "move house and werent expecting them to live this long..." or "have a baby and cant commit to them anymore." It wont stop until laws are brought into place to both prevent the sale of rabbits and guinea pigs without adequate eduaction at the point of sale and that, once purchased, the owners have a legal duty of care towards the animals they are responsible for.
Meanwhile, rescues such as ours drown in the sheer numbers and financial pressures we face. This is made even more unbearable by the fact that right now, breeders, pet shops and garden centres are making a profit from the sale of animals that will end up on our waiting list in 6 months to one years time unneutered, unspayed and unvaccinated for us to foot the bill.
Sadly, we have today for the first time since the rescue began, closed our waiting list. It is now so long that we anticipate it will be several months before we are able to reopen it again. Therefore, if you need to rehome your rabbits or guinea pigs and it is a NON-URGENT situation, where the rabbits and or guinea pigs are not in immediate distress or danger, you need to make alternative arrangement for rehoming them. You can find a list of rescue centres in your area by visiting www.rabbitrehome.org.uk
Reputable rescues in the south east (by which we mean those who are Rabbit Welfare Association Members and carry out strict home checks prior to rehoming) that we recommend are:
www.bobtailsrescue.org.uk
www.animalrescueandcare.org.uk
www.animal-lifeline.co.uk
www.dbarc.org.uk
You can also see
www.rspca.co.uk and find a local RSPCA centre via the site.
www.rabbitrehome.org.uk also has a facility for you to try and rehome your rabbit yourself via their pages. www.guineapigrehome.org.uk offers the same service for guinea pigs.
If your animal is already on our waiting list and we have not contacted you to the contrary, we will take your animal in due course.
Please help by being a part of the solution to the wider problem:
1) Dont shop in Pets at Home, even if you are not planning on buying a pet from them. Buying goods of any kind from them supports their policy of indescriminate selling of rabbits and guinea pigs for profit. Do you trust a company whose reciepts state "we do not guarantee the age or sex of our livestock"??
2)Dont shop in any pet stores or garden centres which stock animals for the same reasons as above. Choose a centre such as Moss End Garden Village just outside Bracknell who actively support rescues and do not stock any livestock for sale.
3) Spread the word. Tell anyone you know who is thinking of getting a rabbit or guinea pig to visit our website first.
4) Please donate to us via the Help Us page. We are desperately short of funds for routine neutering, spaying and vaccinations. Every penny helps.
5) Lobby your MP. Tell them how important it is that the Animal Welfare Bill be given priority in the next session of parliament. Ask specifically that the bill restricts the sale of rabbits through pet shops and that laws be put in place preventing pet shops selling them without giving adequate information about companionship, neutering and spaying and vaccinations. The MP for Bracknell, our Rescues area is Andrew MacKay. You can fax him for free via www.writetothem.com Please tell him the problems our rescue is facing.
