'Rabbits are wonderful': Glasgow rescue charity in line for share of £20k funding boost

“Carrots are incredibly bad for rabbits – so is lettuce,” he frowns. “Everything you see rabbits eating in cartoons and pictures, most of the stuff sold as ‘rabbit food’ in pet shops – none of it is good.

“The one thing you SHOULD feed a rabbit is hay and lots of it.”

David and his wife Feona run the rescue and rehoming charity Beloved Rabbits, which, along with fellow Glasgow charities Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland and Maggie’s cancer centre, has been selected for our November campaign, Cash for Charities.

The Glasgow Times is giving eight good causes in total the chance to share in a £20,000 cash pot. How it is divided is up to you – our readers – to decide.

Our parent company’s charitable arm, The Gannett Foundation, is providing the cash. To determine how it is allocated readers are invited to collect tokens which appear in our newspapers every day during November until the closing date.

You can then drop your tokens at collection points across our region, including supermarkets and restaurants, or post them to Glasgow Times Readers’ Choice Cash for Charities Nominations, 125 Fullarton Drive, Glasgow G32 8FG. You can also drop them in to our offices at 194 Bath Street.

Tokens must arrive by the closing date of Sunday, November 28. Each token collected will then be used to allocate cash to the nominated charity – so if your favourite charity collects 50 percent of all tokens collected, it will receive £10,000.

All eight charities are guaranteed a share of the cash pot. The other Scottish charities in the running are Ardgowan Hospice, Man On Inverclyde, Erskine, Calum’s Cabin and Autism Rocks.

David is delighted Beloved Rabbits was selected for the campaign.

“Fundraising is always a challenge as we rely on private donations and occasional grants, but this past year has been incredibly hard,” he explains.

“It’s fantastic to be included in Cash for Charities.”

David, who runs an IT consultancy business, is a self-confessed ‘rabbit nut’.

“When I was in my late teens, my girlfriend at the time got a rabbit and at first I just could not understand why,” he says, with a laugh. “I was a dog person, and rabbits, to me, were just dull animals who did very little.

“However, within days, I was smitten – and that has never changed. Rabbits are far from dull – with the right space and care, they are wonderful, sociable animals. The problem is the widespread ignorance about these animals and how to look after them.

“The more I looked into the welfare and care of rabbits, the more horrified I felt. Rabbits are the third most common pet in the UK – and the most abandoned.”

He adds: “Even vets do not have study them as part of their basic training – they are still considered exotic pets.

“The more I learned, the more I wanted to help, so I decided to set up a rescue service.”

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David and Feona set up Beloved Rabbits (initially called Fairly Beloved Rabbit Care) in 2010. They expected to help around 10 rabbits a year – they got 10 in the first week.

Now they rescue between 250 and 300 rabbits a year, and provide foster care services, which help rabbits bond with each other and settle in a home environment.

“Rabbits need company – you should never have just one,” explains David. “On its own, a rabbit becomes terrified and can seem aggressive, which scares owners. And yet 60 per cent of owners in the UK just have one rabbit.”

The charity is based in Kirkintilloch and is on the hunt for more foster carers.

“We have about 40 but desperately need more,” he says. “All you have to do is be over 16, have a bit of space at home and some time to spare. We will provide all the equipment, set you up with a vet and pay all the vet bills, and our volunteers can help with support and advice.”

David’s favourites are the Giant Rabbits, of which two new arrivals (affectionately called Thing 1 and Thing 2 after the Dr Seuss characters) are currently looking for homes.

“The Giant Rabbits are laid back, gentle animals – they are huge, about the size of small dogs,” he smiles. “I’m not supposed to have a favourite but I do – Mufasa is a fantastic ginger bunny, who loves nose rubs and strawberries.

“The most common rabbits we see are cross-breeds, bred for pet shops and usually riddled with health problems because they have not been cared for properly.”

He pauses.

“We see rabbits which are overweight, underweight, who have dental issues and ear mites - I don’t think people are being deliberately cruel, they just don’t know enough,” he says.

“It is really sad, because when rabbits are properly cared for, they turn from nervous, aggressive animals into loveable pets who interact intelligently with humans. They are fantastic.”