i have an appt soon, to put my bunny dowm please help before i do so

Question
Hi there-
I have a question, I have to put my bunny down today, and before i do, i want to make sure i am doing the right thing. Here is my story-
I rescued Oero (my dwarf rabbit) I am a strong believer in rescuing animals, all my pets have be saved! Anywayd Oreo is 6 or 7 yrs old. I rescued him from his owners, he was confined to this extremely small cage, living in his own feces. When i got him, my husband built a 7ft by 4 ft, 2 level cage for him. When i first got him, he had behavioral problems, he wouls chew everything, he wouldn't eat veggies, and he absolutely destroyed everything. BUT he was awesome, with the guinea pigs, and cats. After spending alot of time together, he stopped all of him bad habits.
A few months ago, i saved another bunny, from being dinner (seriously) he is a baby New Zealand bunny, when we introduced the rabbits, Oreo attacked Stewart, and humped him. (they are not fixed, it was a spare of the moment thing, getting Stewart, we didn't thing we just took him) and so we immediately separted him, and every niht we would sit in a nuetral room, and let them play together, pretty soon, they loved each other, the humping stopped, and they were insepartable. Oreo even started eating veggies, after watch Stewart eat them!
Then about 2 months ago, i got sick with the flu, and, didn;t want to play with them too much, i didn't want to get them sick too. So i would go in there, only to give them food.
A week later, i went in there, and went to pet Oreo, and he bite me hard. I thought maybe he was just mad. the next day i went in there, and he attached my ankle. (they have free range of the bedroom)I told my husband, that night, and my husband went in there, to see what was up, and Oreo jumped atleast 3 feet off the ground, and hung off my hubby's hand!!!!!!!!!
I talked to my vet, who said, that he is just acting out, and "becoming himself" and that, there is probably nothing i can do about it, he said i could nueter him, but that will not likely change anything and he's an older rabbit, so they didn't really like the idea of doing and operation.
I wanted to try and nueter him first, i want to try to anything before put him down.
Over the next few days, he was getting more and more aggressive, and now was attacking the other rabbit, so i had to seperate them.
I live in a small town, so i only have the one vet clinic, and they don't really want to nueter him, they say it won't change him, they said it would be different if he was only attacking the other bunny.
This morning i went into the bedroom, and Oreo has chewed the the cord that hold his door closed and attacked my other bunny, and my other bunny, (who is triple the size of him now" bit back, and took skin out right by his ear (which is scary) and out of his ear. and i went in the room, and Oreo attacked me. At this point i have to go in there, and feed him with a long shirt and gloves!
I also am worried that this is going to affect Stewart when he's older, and i don't want to have to go through this agin.
Am i doing the right thing????
Please relpy ASAP, i am leaving in and hr and a half

Answer
Hi Brittany

I honestly don't think that putting him down is the right thing to do.  A 6 year old rabbit can be neutered and it will make him less hormonal.  There are also House Rabbit Society people that can help you.  They will come to your home and try to figure out what the problem is.

I really think that it is important that you take him to a veterinarian that is very familiar with rabbits.  He may be acting out because he is sick.  He needs a thorough examination to make sure nothing is wrong with him.  These vet clinics are often 2 or 3 hours away but they are the best you can get and it is worth the drive.  

I would hold off on putting him down and try to contact a local HRS representative in your area.  I will give you a web-site that gives you e-mail and phone contacts.  Try this site and find your area and there should be a chapter near by

http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/index.html

The rabbit may feel rejected because you have not spent as much time with him as you used to.  That on top of bringing another rabbit home can cause extreme jealousy.

I would never put an animal to sleep just because it has behavioral issues.  These can be worked with and it may take extra time on your part.  The HRS can come to your home and show you the proper way to approach him.  I honestly think that he must have an underlying illness and it isn't a bad idea to get a second opinion.

I really hope that I got to you in time.  

Good luck

Pam