The bunny “so terrifying” that the owner is forced to give it up

A woman who bought an ‘aggressive’ dwarf rabbit on Gumtree has been forced to give it away because she became terrified of the animal.

She bought the 14-month-old Dutch dwarf rabbit – one of the smallest breeds – after seeing an ad on the popular website.

The woman had the rabbit, called Midge, for six months but eventually contacted Croydon Animal Samaritans to say she was “scared to interact” with him because he was “very aggressive”.

Rachel Parsons, who works at the animal welfare charity in south London, is now warning others about buying pets on sites such as Gumtree.

She says it is difficult to know what conditions the animals were kept in and how they were treated.

Speaking about Midge’s case, she said: “The owner said the rabbit was very aggressive and biting, so I asked him if maybe he was nervous and if he had been neutered and she said he was.

“They contacted the breeder but he was very unhelpful and said he didn’t want the rabbit back.

“Basically, he told her that he doesn’t breed rabbits that have such a default characteristic.”

Rachel decided to contact the breeder herself, who told her the same thing, brutally adding that “if they’re not right, they’ll just go to the bin.”

“Then I told him I was from a rescue and he said all his rabbits are trained to be incredibly tidy and use their litter trays and not spray.

“The way he talked about them was in a very disciplinary way. It wasn’t that he was talking about his beloved animals.

Rachel said it was essential that rabbits have a friend and Midge could have been aggressive because he was alone.

She added: “We don’t know if the rabbit was abused, the breeder obviously said he wasn’t, but when I asked him what kind of space the rabbits were kept in, he said they were in hatches in a shed.

“When the owner went to get Midge, she was on the doorstep when the alarm bells would have gone off.”

She said the breeder is part of the British Rabbit Council, an organization that organizes rabbit “shows” that are “unbelievably cruel”.

“It’s a very outdated hobby where rabbits are kept in cages and the judges take them out and put them in and poke them and score them like a cake.

“If this rabbit was used for that, it would be even more terrified.”

She said she denied Midge was used in the shows.

Rachel has now reported the breeder – who is based in Gravesend, Kent, to the British Rabbit Council.

Midge, meanwhile, is with a foster carer who is part of the national rabbit rescue group Bunny Angels.

“He didn’t show any signs of aggression,” Rachel said.

“He can lunge for food, but he’s nervous, but she can already see some improvement.”

A Gumtree spokesperson said: “At Gumtree, we take the welfare of the animals listed on our site very seriously.

“We have extensive information for both sellers and buyers on how to safely rehome pets, including specific guidance for bringing small furry pets such as a rabbit into your home.

“Our guides have been informed by our work with leading animal welfare organisations, including the Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund and the Pets Advertising Advisory Group (PAAG) – the UK trade body covering online pet sales, made up of 25 welfare, including the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Dogs Trust and the RSPCA, among others.’

They urged potential rabbit owners to read the guides before buying and asked anyone with doubts or suspicions about a seller to contact Gumtree immediately via its help desk.

The spokesperson added: “Our dedicated safety team will always investigate and take the necessary action, such as removing the ad, blocking the offender from the site or assisting law enforcement investigations.”

According to Croydon Animal Samaritans, there are currently over 100,000 rabbits in UK rescue centres.

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