I’m looking for a rabbit
Great to hear you are looking for a new rabbit friend! Our rabbits are anxious to meet you! You can check out our bunnies below, and let us know when you'd like to have your first date!
5 benefits of adopting a DOA rabbit
Great to hear you are willing to give a homeless rabbit a second chance! Did you know that adopting a DOA rabbit also has benefits for you as a future owner?
- You receive professional and personalised guidance so that you can find a rabbit that fits your lifestyle.
- We can pair rabbits for you so that you do not have to do this on your own.
- All our rabbits are checked by our vet.
- All our rabbits are vaccinated, chipped and sterilised/neutered.
- Even after the adoption, you are welcome to visit us for guidance and support*
* Our misfits often receive lifelong support.
How does adoption work?
Before the adoption of a rabbit, we must follow a number of steps to see if you and your rabbit are a good match.
Because we work rather carefully--you are signing up for a lifetime commitment after all!--we book introductory meetings by appointment only. This way there is enough time to really take all your wishes into account.
If you are currently looking for a buddy for your rabbit, then do bring him or her along! Your rabbit must be vaccinated and castrated/sterilised. For more information on speed dates and bonding, please read below.
Read more on speed dates and bonding
During our introductory meeting, we'll get to know what you are looking for in a rabbit. Are you looking for an indoor or outdoor rabbit? An enthusiastic adventurer or someone a bit more chill? A fluffy Angora rabbit or an adorable floppy-eared one? Are you looking for a buddy for your rabbit or is this your first time having one?
Please keep in mind that if you do not currently have any rabbits, you will go home with two. Because rabbits are social animals, we never place a rabbit on its own.
Tips on choosing a rabbit
Based on the information you provide us, we'll arrange for you to meet rabbits that fit your requirements. If you already have a rabbit, it is also important for us to know his/her preferences.
Unfortunately, it is possible that at the time we cannot find rabbits that suit your lifestyle, or that you don’t end up liking any of the rabbits that we have. There’s also always a chance that a rabbit you had seen on our website has just been adopted by someone else. While heartbreaking, there’s nothing we can do to prevent this. You are always welcome to come back at a later time!
You simply cannot put two rabbits that don’t know each other together ‘just like that’, as it can often lead to trouble. Rabbits want to get to know their partners before they live together, a process which we call matchmaking or bonding. We have tons of experience doing so at DOA and can do so for you as well! Please read more on our speed dating and bonding page. If you have already selected two rabbits that have bonded already, then you can skip this step.
Our care does not stop at the adoption. You can come to our behaviour specialist and/or veterinarian with any question or concern up to three months after the adoption.
We strive to have happy pets and pet parents!
Lifelong support for misfits
Misfits are dogs, cats and rabbits with 'baggage' that require more attention. Unfortunately, they usually have to wait a long time to find a new home. Paradoxically, these are the very animals that would benefit most from being given a second chance in a loving home, surrounded by the attention they need. Are you an animal lover and have enough time and energy for one of our Misfits? You will usually receive extra guidance, and oftentimes lifelong support.
Read more about our Misfits
And they lived happily ever after
Every year, dozens of DOA rabbits are adopted by loving owners. We love receiving feedback about how overjoyed people and animals are to have found one another. And, naturally, we are more than happy to share these heart-warming success stories with other prospective owners!
FAQ
Rabbits are social animals and, as such, they need the company of their own kind. There are, of course, also rabbits that thrive on human attention. A rabbit that receives a lot of attention, has plenty of space to walk around freely in and the freedom to play will have little reason to complain. But, when push comes to shove, it cannot be denied that he’ll still be by himself for long periods and will therefore get bored. Being with another rabbit provides something that you cannot. Rabbits preen one another, play and run together and enjoy physical contact. Being with their own kind often makes the difference between an unhappy and a happy bunny.
Rabbits need the company of other rabbits. Given that rabbits are typically prey animals and dogs/cats are predators, generally speaking it will not be a good combination. What a rabbit needs is a companion of the same species. Rabbits and guinea pigs, meanwhile, cannot communicate with one another; they have different day/night rhythms, different nutritional needs, etc. Above all, a rabbit is much stronger than a guinea pig, so the latter will suffer if it should come to a conflict..
From May to August, indoor rabbits can go outside, and vice versa. If you want your rabbit to stay outdoors during the winter, let him “acclimatise” from September so that his winter fur can grow. Letting rabbits come inside or go outside for the odd hour is, of course, not a problem, unless the temperature difference is more than 10 degrees Celsius.
Check the speed-dating and bonding page.
Yes, that's possible.
Yes, that's possible. You can simply drop by at our vet with your rabbit during the walk-in surgery, which is between 10.00 and 10.30 from Monday up to and including Saturday. However, for shelter rabbits there must be at least a week between being vaccinated and the speed-dating and bonding process.
Thanks to what you pay when you adopt an animal, we can partially recoup some of the costs we incur for taking them in, treating them, training them and keeping them occupied. If we were to give away all our animals, we’d be bankrupt in no time. It’s mainly thanks to your contribution that we can keep helping homeless animals in future.
Incidentally, some of our misfits can be adopted without having to pay an adoption fee. These are usually animals with a serious chronic condition or who are not expected to live very long. It’s because you are giving another chance to an animal in need of additional TLC that we help with the costs.
Unfortunately, that’s not possible because we simply don’t have enough people to supervise it all properly.
However, you will be more than welcome to participate in one of our guided tours every first and third Saturday of the month. The tour also includes a visit to the kennels. However, it’s not possible to select an animal for adoption during one of these tours. This is because we find it very important that there’s a good match between an animal and its new owner, and this can only be established by appointment.
Unfortunately, it’s not possible to reserve an animal in advance.
Given that we want you both to enjoy a long and happy time together, we can only reserve an animal for you after you have both gotten to know one another, and providing you are a good match of course! So if you see an animal that you’d like to adopt, we recommend that you make an appointment as soon as you can! These things can sometimes move quite quickly, which is why, unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that the animal you want will still be available when you arrive. However, the website is a good indication. If an animal is online, it means that he or she is still looking for an owner.
The best combination is a neutered male with a sterilised female.