Animal rights activists save 32 rabbits in Ankara

ANKARA

In a heartwarming act of compassion, animal rights activists have rescued 32 rabbits out of nearly 100 rabbits abandoned along the side of the highway in the capital Ankara.

On Jan. 19, the Patikara Animal Protection Association received a report that nearly 100 rabbits had been dumped on the side of a highway in the Temelli area.

In response, members of several small animal rights NGOs, including the Patikara Association, went to the site. The volunteers were surprised to see so many rabbits in the area.

They worked day and night in difficult weather and terrain conditions with the equipment they could find such as nets, traps and flashlights to catch the rabbits. In one week, 32 rabbits were caught and one pregnant rabbit had two babies.

"We think that an illegal breeder who was about to be raided dumped the rabbits in the area, because the rabbits are very well-groomed. They are very difficult to catch. We continue to work. We were able to take 32 rabbits under protection. There are also rabbits that died. All the captured rabbits were taken to private clinics by volunteers," Yağmur Hasdemir, president of Patikara Animal Protection Association, explained.

Stating that animal associations were in dire need of volunteers and equipment support, Hasdemir said, "There is an animal disaster that is beyond us as volunteer associations. We will sterilize and put the rabbits up for adoption. We will give them to secure farms. One of the rabbits we caught two days ago gave birth. The mother and her babies are in an incubator. They were born safely in a clinical environment."