California Bans Impulse Easter Bunny Purchases to Protect Numerous Rabbits Abandoned Each Year
The pet bunnies of California can breathe a little easier this year.
Every Easter season, shelters across the United States prepare for an influx of rabbits as seasonal impulse bunny purchases turn sour.
“Every year, rabbits are purchased on a whim for Easter and then often discarded as soon as the ‘cute factor’ takes a backseat to the reality of all that’s required to care for them properly,” Daphna Nachminovitch, PETA‘s senior vice president for cruelty investigation, told PEOPLE. “Some are just dumped outside, where they can’t survive and will die from stress, starvation, dehydration, or attacks by predators, while others are abandoned at overburdened animal shelters or bounced around from one home to another, where their needs are often misunderstood — so they often end up being sentenced to solitary confinement in a cage and virtually forgotten.”
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In an effort to prevent these reckless animal purchases, and to crack down on puppy and kitten mills, California banned the sale of commercially bred cats, dogs and rabbits from pet stores. Any cat, dog or rabbit available at a California pet store now has to come from an animal shelter or rescue, reports The New York Times.
This ban was signed into law in October 2017, but didn’t go into effect until January 2019 so pet stores had time to prepare for the changes. April 21 will be the first Easter Sunday in the state where people looking to buy a bunny as a festive purchase, won’t be able to get the animal without being screened by an animal rescue or shelter first, or contacting a breeder themselves.
According to Reuters, shelters and rescues in the state are hopeful that this law will cut down on the number of impulse rabbit purchases, especially those made by individuals who don’t understand the amount of work required to care for a bunny.
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The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) advises that those who are serious about bringing a rabbit into their lives study up on the animal’s needs. Bunnies aren’t meant to sit in a cage all day munching on carrots. According to HSUS, a happy rabbit requires frequent socialization, at least an hour of exercise a day outside of their cages, a large amount of space and a steady (sometimes expensive) diet of fresh vegetables and other food.
Reuters points out that these pets also require “daily cleanings and specialized medical care.”
Basically, these animals aren’t low-maintenance Easter basket props.
It is likely that other states will join California in banning the sale of commercially bred cats, dogs and rabbits in pet stores. The New York Times reports several other states, including New York, are working on similar laws and that numerous cities across the country have put their own local ordinances into effect.
