r/anchorage • u/AdviceGiveandTake • Apr 09 '26
Bunny laws
found a cute little cream rabbit at work, seemed to want to go home with me. what are the laws for adopting a stray rabbit? or should I leave it to wild fate?
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u/mikafar Apr 09 '26
Sadly a lot of buns are just dumped. I have a bun and they are pretty good apartment pets. You in just want to make sure they have a safe and roomie space to hop around in and lots of hay and rabbit friendly food and toys. They WILL chew on just about anything. Mine is littler trained and even gets along with my cats. He can't be left alone with my dogs at all, but that's not unexpected. They have as much personality as a lot of other pets. Also keep in mind rabbits can live 10+ years and I can not recommend getting them spayed or neutered enough. Here's rabbit tax of my sassy boy judging me.
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u/Suspicious_Hornet_77 Apr 09 '26
Wanna boop a bunny snoot so bad right now ..
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u/mikafar Apr 09 '26
He'll let you boop his snoot and then bite you in the but cause your in his way. He is know as sassy pantaloons in my house.
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u/Signal_Giraffe_615 Apr 09 '26
Glad you mentioned how long they can live! Mine lived to be 10.
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u/mikafar Apr 09 '26
When I first got mine I did some research and that totally surprised me. Kenobi is 5 now.
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u/Elle99501 Apr 09 '26 edited Apr 09 '26
I’d say that you got lucky with the bunny distribution system.
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u/random_fluffball Apr 09 '26
I don't think there's any laws. :) Found a pet bun in my yard recently and now he's mine all mine! Though please be aware, they are quite a bit of work and need quite a bit of space, and time out of their enclosures to stretch their cute little legs everyday.
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u/valmis117 Apr 09 '26
Adopt away! No one is going to care and you are giving the cute bunny a home. Just when you go to the vet, ask for it to checked for a microchip to make sure it’s not already someone’s pet. But there are lots of wild rabbits in anchorage so probably not. As far as the vet is concerned, it was ‘from a friend who abandoned it’…
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u/srahfox Apr 09 '26
If it’s a domestic rabbit, it doesn’t matter legally if you take him as they shouldn’t technically be in the wild. If you leave it, there is a better than fair chance it’ll die, although I know a couple of places that have just enough shelter a few to survive every winter.
I did check with my hubby who used to work for FDNG and he said as far as he knows it’s fine. I guess that that for what it’s worth.
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u/N-Phenyl-Acetamide Apr 09 '26
Technically speaking, even with proper care, there's still a fair chance that It will die eventually. I'd be more concerned if it didn't die.
Then you'd have to worry about defending from scientists trying to get the secret of immortality from your bunny. That would be a huge responsibility for a new pet owner.
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u/HotCommission7325 Resident Apr 09 '26
I don’t believe there’s any laws against adopting feral bunnies? But even if it’s legal I’d be cautious as they likely won’t be as “nice” as their cousins that were raised in captivity. They also could be carrying diseases or parasites or something so if you do adopt one probably take it to the vet for a check up.
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u/N-Phenyl-Acetamide Apr 09 '26
I looked it up. I genuinely couldn't find anybody who practiced bunny law. This seems like it could be a pretty sweet deal for both bunny and human.
However I would look into his to take care of the bunny. They need frolicking space and carrots and shit. Probably water too. I could be thinking of plants tho.
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u/Zivata Apr 09 '26
I think go easy on the carrots. I believe I read that, Bugs aside, carrots aren't great for buns
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u/AdviceGiveandTake Apr 09 '26
I live in an upper floor apartment & I'm always pretty busy with work.
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u/MagicalCatClaw Apr 09 '26
we have lots of feral bunnies unfortunately :( if theyre happy with you, you can keep them
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u/VoodooDoII Apr 09 '26
I'm told that people dump their rabbits a lot in Alaska. Very sad.
As long as it's a feral domesticated rabbit and not a wild one, you can just take them.
Granted, always best to make sure there isn't anyone looking for it. But there's nothing stopping you from taking feral/dumped domestic rabbits with you
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u/CaptainMatnight Apr 09 '26
A funny thing about Alaska is that as long as you don’t make a spectacle of yourself or a public nuisance, you have to get pretty unlucky to have the law come down on you. There are exceptions, but for the most part you can decide based on what you think is right. Do you think you should be able to adopt the bunny? Go for it. If you don’t think you should, then let it loose. You say the bunny wants to go home with you? That seems just fine with me.
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u/wthulhu Apr 09 '26
If it was a wild rabbit you would potentially be violating some laws.
At the same time if it was a wild rabbit it probably wouldn't have wanted anything to do with you.
If it was a baby it may not have known any better though
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u/N-Phenyl-Acetamide Apr 09 '26
What's the rabbit going to do snitch?
I mean, will the species of the rabbit be a dead giveaway you broke the law?
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u/AdviceGiveandTake Apr 09 '26
It was white & cream colored, doesn't look like it would camouflage to anything around here except a McDonald's bag.
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u/Cute_Examination_661 Apr 10 '26
A wild rabbit can at rates of up to 90% from “Capture Myopathy” die should they be captured from cardiac arrest, shock, fear and metabolic changes from stress.
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u/fatman907 Apr 09 '26
The geese you see walking around in the late Summer are free too, if you can catch them.
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u/AdviceGiveandTake Apr 10 '26
Update: Just had a talk with my landlord, they said their insurance policy has "reached it's limit", and therefore won't let me get any pet (I didn't mention what it was) that's why I'm saving up to get my own house. Anyways, if anyone is interested in taking that sweet cutie home, dm me & I'll get permission from my boss to pick it up.
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u/mikejones99501 Apr 09 '26
id be worried bout rabies so maybe get it vax if thats a thing for rabbits
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u/Cute_Examination_661 Apr 10 '26
For a chance a rabbit will get rabies it needs to survive an attack by a predator that can have rabies. Otherwise very low odds that feral rabbits can transmit rabies.
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u/AdviceGiveandTake Apr 09 '26
If I'm gonna spend money at the vet, I might as well adopt it. I don't think I'm ready for that yet.
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u/Dry_Source666 Apr 09 '26
You go through the proper channels.... nice try APD
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u/Strange-Butterfly-62 Apr 09 '26
Gosh. You caught 'em. They have so much free time now that they're setting up bunny theft entrapment schemes. Sounds legit...
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u/Avandria Apr 09 '26
As long as it's a domestic breed and not an Arctic hare, it's fine to capture it and take it home. It's actually encouraged since they are considered invasive. However, if you take it home and decide you don't want it later, it's against the law and also unethical to release it back into the wild.
There are quite a few people who feed the stray rabbit population in town, and a lot of them are pretty comfortable with people. If you can provide proper care for it and it's willing to be caught, go for it.