Sick rabbits sold at local pet store
One rabbit was too ill and was put down. Warning: Images not suitable for sensitive readers.
A pet shop in Randgate has come under scrutiny after selling two sickly rabbits without any qualms. One was so ill, it had to be put down.
Noelien du Plooy, a resident from Krugersdorp wanted to buy rabbits and only could find a pet shop in Randgate that stocked them.
At the pet shop she was taken to the back where the rabbits were held in two separate cages. In the first cage, she said, were rabbits “that looked like they had sores on them. When I asked the employee what was wrong with them, he said ‘sometimes they bite each other’.”
In the next cage she noticed that one of the rabbits could not walk. “It also had strange head movements. When I asked what was wrong with it, the employee said it was fine. I told him one could see something was wrong. He employee then picked up the bunny up by its ears, inspected it and threw it back in the cage. He said it needed to go for treatment.”
She told the employee she would take one of the rabbits in the first cage and also the one that could not walk.
“I couldn’t just leave it there and let it suffer. I had to rescue it. A family member told me that bunnies like that one are fed to snakes if they are not sold.”
Du Plooy stated that the pet shop had no qualms about selling her the diseased rabbits. After she had bought the rabbits, she took them to the vet for treatment. The one rabbit that was unable to walk has to be put down. The other is being treated for the mange on its skin.
Du Plooy bought the rabbits for R80 and since has spent hundreds of rands on vet bills for them.
The SPCA was notified and said they are investigating the matter.
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