There has been an increase to the number of rabbit hoarding cases throughout Utah, according to a press release sent out by the Humane Society of Utah.

On Wednesday, HSU announced that it witnessed an abundance of rabbit hoarding cases in 2022. According to the release, HSU has taken in 783 rabbits since 2020, with the average family surrendering four rabbits at a time.

HSU’s director of marketing Guinn Shuster said rabbit and pet hoarding has always been an issue, but in 2022 they saw a large increase, creating additional problems.

“We’ve always taken in rabbits,” Shuster said, “but this is the first year it’s gotten pretty concerning for us trying to keep up with getting the rabbits out and adopted in a timely manner.”

According to the release, hoarding begins with just a few unsterilized animals. Since rabbits can start reproducing as young as four to five months of age, and can have anywhere from one to 12 offspring, rabbit hoarders often can’t keep up. Because of this, hoarding often leads to the over-breeding of animals, animal starvation, illness and death.

Shuster has witnessed this cycle many times this year. One hoarder brought in 22 rabbits when breeding got out of hand.

“Most of the time people have good intentions with breeding them, or what they think are good intentions, but then they can’t keep up with it,” Shuster said.

When dealing with this many pets, animal hoarders cannot provide minimal standards of care, such as nutrition, sanitation, shelter and veterinary care, according to the release. In the case with 22 rabbits, many of them fell ill when they arrived at HSU.

HSU will work with pet owners who choose to surrender some of their animals and help them adequately care for the remaining pets. HSU offers assistance through spaying, neutering and sharing information about community resources.

According to the release, some of the families surrendering their rabbits stated they wanted their children to experience the “joys of raising baby animals, and then the breeding got out of hand.” Because of this, HSU suggests those interested in having pet rabbits to foster them instead.

“We often have mothers and babies in all species looking for a loving home to raise their young. Fostering is incredibly rewarding as well as lifesaving for these companion animals,” said HSU volunteer manager Jolie Gordon in the release.

According to Shuster, fostering is a great way to determine if rabbits are a good fit for your lifestyle, or even to get to know what owning a rabbit would be like.

HSU discouraged the public from purchasing unaltered rabbits from pet stores or fairs.

“Rabbits in pet stores are often separated too young from their mother, which puts them at a greater risk for health issues,” said Juli Ulvestad, Pet Resource Center Director at HSU, in the release.

These rabbits are frequently not sexed accurately and do not come spayed, neutered, microchipped or vaccinated, according to Ulvestad.

“We have even had members of the public unknowingly purchase single pregnant rabbits from pet stores,” Ulvestad said.

One foster network, True Hearts for Healing Paws, is attempting to improve the situation in Utah for rabbits. According to its website, rabbits still have a long way to go before they are seen by the general public for the “amazing, sensitive, intelligent housemates they really are.”

Founded in 2021, True Hearts fosters and re-homes rabbits from Orem to Logan. According to the rescue, bunnies are the third most common animal that ends up in shelters, but the rescues and resources available to help them are much more limited, compared to cats and dogs.

Most northern Utah animal shelters are full and are turning away rabbits, according to the rescue. Some of the shelters euthanize when there is no room, while others send them to auction.

According to Shuster, overpopulation of rabbits isn’t the only reason they are harder to home, but also a lack of education.

According to her, rabbits make great apartment pets, and are similar to cats and dogs. Many people don’t realize you can litter box train rabbits, and they don’t have to be housed outside, Shuster said.

Rabbits enjoy being cuddled, playing and being trained, according to Shuster. Some rabbits go on to compete in agility competitions.

“Like with all pets you need to understand and meet the animal where they’re at,” Shuster said.