"Nice place, please"

Pair of rabbits abandoned in tiny metal box

The rabbits crammed into the box are recovering at the animal shelter.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Tierschutzverein St. Pölten)

A tiny box with neglected long-eared animals was left outside a house in Lower Austria - with a "friendly" message from their former owner.

Unfortunately, small animals that are no longer wanted all too often meet a similar fate in this country: they are packed into boxes and simply abandoned. The owners of the animals usually remain unknown, so the heartless act has no consequences.

Animals totally neglected
The two rabbits that were left to fend for themselves in a tiny metal box in Sieghartskirchen in the district of Tulln fared no better. The uncastrated male rabbit and the presumably pregnant female rabbit had probably hardly been looked after before. Both have claws and teeth that are far too long, and one has an eye injury.

From the police to the animal shelter
The box had been left in front of a detached house. A "request" for a nice place was attached to it. The resident of the house took it to the police, who eventually brought the two rabbits to the animal shelter in St. Pölten.

"We almost always have a place available for small animals straight away. We appeal to people not to simply hand over responsibility for an animal and not to leave it to fend for itself," says director Victoria Bischof. The two long-eared animals are now being nursed back to health at the animal shelter before we hope to find them a suitable new home in a few weeks' time.