Video: More than 160 rabbits rescued after being found in overcrowded garage near Harborough

More than 160 rabbits have been rescued from a garage near Market Harborough.

Last September RSPCA found the animals in overcrowded conditions at the property in Great Easton.

The charity said all the pets were unneutered and most were in cages stacked on top of each other. Some rabbits were also running free on the garage floor.

A pet-sitter contacted the charity when she found a dead rabbit and another trying to eat her own litter.

RSPCA Inspectors Herchy Boal and Richard Durant conducted health checks on the pets and then sexed each, before separating them into different hutches.

The rabbits were removed by Inspector Helen Smith over a three-month period, with staff and volunteers collecting 20 animals at a time for vet checks and vaccinations.

They rehomed the rabbits to RSPCA branches in Berkshire, Gloucestershire, Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and Hampshire along with three private boarding establishments.

The charity says it does not believe the rabbits were being bred for commercial reasons, but the owners had failed to neuter their pets and separate different sexes.

Inspector Durant said: “This is a very good example of the problems that can be encountered by rabbit owners who fail to neuter their rabbits and then end up becoming totally overwhelmed.

“The owners said they tried separating them, but they weren’t quick enough and the rabbits bred again and again. They told us that the sad situation had all got out of hand.

“It was an astonishing discovery to make and although most of the rabbits were in a healthy condition, their environment clearly wasn’t suitable. The smell in the garage was pretty overpowering and we found the rabbits in basic cages stacked up - some of them contained six rabbits.”

The RSPCA has now found the majority of the rabbits their forever homes, but there are still a small number waiting for new owners.

Their former owners cooperated with the RSPCA and have not faced any prosecution.

Inspector Smith said: “Apparently, the owners started with four rabbits about 15 years ago, but they didn’t do anything to prevent them from breeding.

“The sheer scale of the exercise was unusual as the numbers of rabbits we found meant we had to move quickly as they were multiplying. They were living in overcrowded conditions which is not good for rabbits who become stressed in unsuitable environments.

“It was a big job to get them sexed, health checked, vaccinated and neutered, but I had some great help from five of our volunteers. They helped me remove the rabbits and transfer them to the vets and then the centres. Initially, we’d found around 160 rabbits, but the number did drop nearer to 150 as some had health issues and there were several who were sadly put to sleep.”

The Leicestershire rabbits contributed to a shocking 48 per cent increase in the numbers of rabbits arriving at RSPCA animal centres last year compared to 2021. The charity’s branches also dealt with a large volume of unwanted rabbits during 2022.