Pet Rabbits: Separating a bonded pair?

Question
Hello! I have two pet Rabbits one I have had for about 4 years and another for about 3. They have become very close and you can tell they hate being separated. I have recently been debating finding a new home for the second rabbit I got, he is a Angora bunny. I just found that it is harder to find places to live with two bunnies, it gets costly to pay for both of them, and it would be much easier cleaning wise without two cages and grooming them. Also my boyfriend is allergic and the angora's fur just gets every where. As hard as it is for me to even consider it life would be much easier with only one rabbit. My question is will it be hard on my first rabbit without his friend? Will he eventually be okay or will he get depressed?

Answer
Dear Nicole,

Wait, let me get this straight.  You have had this bonded pair for *three years* and have suddenly found that it is too much trouble to take care of two of them?  I can tell from the way you ask this question that you already know the answer, and know the right thing to do.  I get the sense that you do not want to do this, and that perhaps are being pressured by someone else.  So I will certainly be happy to encourage you to do the right thing.  In short:

You must NEVER separate a bonded pair of rabbits.  It would be incredibly cruel, as these animals form lifelong bonds that can cause a bereaved one left behind to grieve to death.  I have seen this personally, and it is horrible.

PLEASE DO NOT SEPARATE THESE RABBITS.  If you feel you cannot care for both, then find a safe home for *both* of them, even if it is more difficult to do so.  I cannot stress to you how important this is.  It breaks my heart just to *think* of bonded rabbits being separated for the (seriously feeble) reason that "it's just too much trouble to take care of both of them."

Yes, life might be easier with one rabbit.  Or NOT.  You will have to live with the guilt of watching your remaining rabbit grieve for her lost mate, possibly never recovering.  It will affect her health and quality of life.  Rabbits may not be able to do calculus, but they do have emotions.  If you can relate to the horror of humans being separated from their loved ones forever, without even knowing why, then you can feel a shadow of what your rabbit would experience, except that she would not even know what *happened* to her mate.

I think I've made my point clear.  When you got two rabbits, you committed to their care for their natural lives.  If you cannot meet this commitment, then at least find a safe place for them where they can stay together.   But the best thing to do would be to keep BOTH bunnies with you, and realize that having loving animals share your life also requires some level of work.  (I may be reading more into this than there is, but *if* another person is pressuring you to separate the bonded pair, then I would question that person's ability to feel empathy, not to mention what other ultimata might be in store for you in the future...)

For more advice on caring for your rabbits, please visit:

http://www.rabbit.org/

and contact your local chapter for help, if you need to place the rabbits:

http://www.rabbit.org/chapters

Good luck.  Do the right thing.

Dana