Animal Rescue with Marion Garnett
TOUCHING George is like touching a marshmallow. He is so soft. And so is his (neutered) girlfriend, Kafka.
I wish you were sitting here with me by their run, the air is filled with the sweet-smell of hay and you can hear the rabbits shuffling through their bedding and crunching their evening vegetables. If your children won’t eat their veg, these two are shining examples of how delicious broccoli, kale and carrot can be. Friendly George and Kafka are used to being around children and can be rehomed with children over five years. They were living as house rabbits but came into the care of the National Animal Welfare Trust (NAWT) as their owners were going abroad. If you’re wondering what keeping a house rabbit entails both the RSPCA (rspca.org.uk) and Rabbit Welfare Association and Fund (RWAF) (rabbitwelfare. co.uk) have lots of information on rabbit housing including for house rabbits. RWAF suggest they can be kept either in a particular room or have a large run or enclosure in part of a room.
For safety’s sake, the area must be rabbit-proofed, for example, electric cables and wires must be out of reach so they cannot be chewed. The RWAF also recommend that, wherever you keep your rabbit, indoors or outdoors, accommodation for a pair of average-sized rabbits should never be less than 10 feet by six feet and three feet high. A hutch is not enough. They need room to hop, run, jump, dig and stand fully upright on their back legs. What’s the point of keeping rabbits as pets if you don’t give them enough space to be happy.
At present, at the NAWT rehoming centre, George and Kafka live in a warm indoor enclosure. They’ve got lots of bedding to keep them cosy, different levels to explore, places to hide, toys to play with and a litter tray.
They live as a pair – the strong bond between them being evident when I met them. Rabbits are highly social animals and, unless a vet advises otherwise, they should be kept in compatible neutered pairs. Like George and Kafka, a good combination is a male and female, both neutered.
If you are interested in homing these two beautiful rabbits you can meet them at the NAWT rehoming centre, Tylers Way, Watford. The centre is now open from 11am-4pm daily for viewing of the animals – cats and dogs as well as rabbits.