I've been volunteering at my local animal shelter for a while now. In the past few weeks, we've had a lot of rabbit available for adoption that have white fur and red eyes. This has lead to the same conversation over and over again:
Adopter: "Is there something wrong with that rabbit?"
Me: "Which one?"
Adopter: "The one with the red eyes, I'm guessing that it's sick. It's eyes shouldn't be that color."
When I started at the shelter I was told that rabbits with red eyes always seemed to be adopted last. They said that people typically think the rabbit is sick or evil. I couldn't believe that anyone would think this. But the more and more questions I got about the eye color, I figured I should talk about it a little bit.
Rabbits have different eye colors- just like your or I can have brown, blue or green eyes. Rabbit can have either brown/black, blue or red eyes. Their eye color is based on their genetics, not their health or "evilness". Typically, white (or mostly white) rabbits will have red eyes.
It's as simple as that. Don't shy away from these lovable bunnies! Kids are typically the most worried about the rabbit's eye color, but once you explain the facts, they usually will be convinced that everything is OK.
Peggy
Adopter: "Is there something wrong with that rabbit?"
Me: "Which one?"
Adopter: "The one with the red eyes, I'm guessing that it's sick. It's eyes shouldn't be that color."
When I started at the shelter I was told that rabbits with red eyes always seemed to be adopted last. They said that people typically think the rabbit is sick or evil. I couldn't believe that anyone would think this. But the more and more questions I got about the eye color, I figured I should talk about it a little bit.
Rabbits have different eye colors- just like your or I can have brown, blue or green eyes. Rabbit can have either brown/black, blue or red eyes. Their eye color is based on their genetics, not their health or "evilness". Typically, white (or mostly white) rabbits will have red eyes.
It's as simple as that. Don't shy away from these lovable bunnies! Kids are typically the most worried about the rabbit's eye color, but once you explain the facts, they usually will be convinced that everything is OK.
Peggy
