Sourcing a Rabbit
Having brought the book, read the internet pages, coo-ed over the many breed types and begun and adjourned several heated, near combatant, debates on names, we felt we had become wonderful (!) experts and having decided that the landlady would probably be fine about it all, we took the momentous decision. It was time for a rabbit. The old ‘can you keep a house plant alive for 6 months’ deadline had passed without the slightest hint of wilt and so we were ready. The rabbit market however, (I thought they bred like, well rabbits?) had other ideas. Several Saturdays in a row we went by our local town-centre pet shop to find it rabbit-free. We could have had a guinea pig, close but no cigar, and any number of hamsters but as to rabbits, there were none. Amidst much tooth sucking it was revealed that post-Christmas, they had become a rare commodity. Fevered rabbit procurement was taking place across the county to no avail. We had happened upon a January lull. After some deep thought and considerable...consideration we kept the faith. No, it wasn’t a sign that we wouldn’t make good owners, it was just a lull. During this time we wisely spent our time haunting rabbit web sites and re-reading the house rabbit book. We also went down the rescue rabbit route. There are several really good sites that try and link rescue rabbits with prospective new homes. Unfortunately many of the rabbits advertised at that time were bonded (officially inseparable) and although we were willing we thought hiding two rabbits would definitely be harder than hiding one. If you have had some experience with rabbits or have the room for two it seems a really great way to find a rabbit. We did see some pretty...unique looking individuals but beauty is in the eye of the beholder!
After a few weeks we dropped by said pet shop again and found they had a few rabbits in. One in particular more irritatingly cute than the rest. But by that time we had that dreaded prickling of doubt. Cold feet. To cut a long story short the next week he had been sold along with his siblings and again, the hutch was bare. But every cloud has a silver lining, right? It turns out, from a lot of hanging around in the back of the store, listening in and a good deal of Miss Marple like sleuthing that the store in question talked a good talk but really did not walk a good walk. I’m not to name names but it’s animal standards and housekeeping left a lot to be desired. Which I suppose is an important lesson. A retail outlet that cannot sex it’s stock and doesn’t have the faintest idea of age or knowledge on vital vaccinations such as myxamitosis is not a shop I want to buy a rabbit from.
Thankfully we decided to look up one day on our way home from the supermarket and realisation dawned, there’s only a pet shop on the corner of our road. No, really. They didn’t have any rabbits in but they could put us on the list. I felt like I was buying an exclusive hand bag and I loved it. But as with all good things we had to wait.
