B.C. rescue group urges people not to adopt rabbits for Lunar New Year

While a rabbit may be one of the luckiest animals in the Chinese zodiac — a local rabbit rescue is urging people not to adopt them as pets just because of Lunar New Year.

The Year of the Rabbit is being marked this weekend, and with that comes some concerns for the founder of Rabbitats.

Sorelle Saidman sat down for an interview on CTV Morning Live Friday to discuss why people shouldn't adopt one of these furry critters on a whim.

"Most of the time, people just don't do the research. They end up with cute little baby rabbits that become hormonal when they hit six months and become little terrors, and then people dump them in the park," Saidman said during the interview.

"They're great pets once they get over that hormonal phase and the most important thing is they have to be spayed and neutered because they breed like rabbits."

Saidman added that the charity saw an influx of rabbits during the last Year of the Rabbit in 2011, which is the same year the rescue opened its doors. She anticipates a similar trend this year.

"It will probably escalate," she said. "And we're already having a huge problem with the post-COVID dumps."

Throughout the pandemic, Saidman said a lot of people adopted rabbits and now they're trying to drop them off.

"We're totally full. We have like 500 rabbits under our roof right now," Saidman said, adding that they hope to open another sanctuary in Langley in the future.

But it's not just the Year of the Rabbit that the organization sees an increase in rescues coming in.

"There's always a bump at Easter. So those issues plus the post-COVID…it’s insane," said Saidman.

For those looking to get their rabbit-fix without actually adopting one, Saidman suggests checking out their Lunar New Year event at the International Village Mall in Chinatown this weekend.

"We’ll have a pen of probably 50 rabbits and we have little treat cups where people can come into the enclosure and feed the bunnies…and interact with them," she said. "And then we can educate them at the same time."

Saidman said if someone has done the research and really wants to adopt a rabbit, then they should get an older one that is already spayed or neutered.

"They're almost always missexed when you get them and you'll have two cute little baby rabbits and within the year you could have 40," she said.