Woman Had 47 Rabbits in Hotel Room

Early last year, a woman living in a long-stay hotel in a Chicago suburb had three rabbits, one neutered and an unneutered male and female, animal rescue workers say. What happened next was entirely predictable. Some 47 rabbits, some of them pregnant, were removed from the room after the woman finally decided she could no longer cope with the bunny population explosion, WGN reports. With cleaning services suspended because of the pandemic—and a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door at all times—the hotel was not aware that the number of rabbit residents was steadily increasing.

The rescue was orchestrated by the Red Door no-kill shelter, one of several Chicago-area shelters now seeking new homes for the rabbits, Block Club Chicago reports. The woman "wanted help," says Marcia Coburn at Red Door. "She was afraid to give the rabbits up. She didn’t want them to be euthanized." Shelter workers say the woman apparently did her best to care for the rabbits, but as in other bunny hoarding situations, she ended up being overwhelmed. She was allowed to keep the one neutered rabbit. "Rabbits reproduce just like they say they do," the One Tail at a Time shelter said in a Facebook post. "So well meaning people can end up in a really scary mess in a really short amount of time. We're not here to judge, but we are here to help." (More rabbits stories.)