At Petra Thuringer’s it’s Easter all year round, she says. No matter where you look in her house in Schwabhausen, there are rabbits everywhere. In a vacant apartment on the first floor, she even runs a foster home for sick and neglected rabbits. In the hallway there are dozens of photos of their (former) rabbits, the red doormat is designed in a rabbit look, there is a lamp in the shape of a rabbit at the kitchen window and around 30 rabbit cuddly toys are stacked in a glass display case.
And then there are the real animals: “I’m currently looking after around 30 rabbits,” says the 56-year-old programmer, who wears brown bangs and a green T-shirt with the “Bayern rocks” logo, which also shows two rabbits, one holds up a heart-shaped balloon with Bavarian diamonds.
It’s the club logo Rabbit help “Bayern rocks”, Petra Thuringer is its chairwoman. The association was founded around four years ago, is based in Schwabhausen, and now has 45 members from all over Bavaria. On their website they explain: “The heart of the association is a group of highly committed rabbit friends who take over rabbits from poor husbandry – often neglected and sick. They are lovingly cared for in foster homes and given medical care. After that we find the rabbits in their dream home in species-appropriate Husbandry”, and further: “In addition, we are available to advise every animal lover in all areas of rabbit husbandry.”
Petra Thuringer has accumulated a display case full of cuddly bunnies over the course of her life. She bought some for herself, others were given as gifts.
(Photo: Niels P. Jørgensen)
Around 60 rabbits are currently in the care of the Bavaria-wide association with five foster homes, two of which are in the Dachau district with Petra Thuringer and Helga Zettl in Vierkirchen. She is a founding member and says with a firm voice: “You don’t get an animal from us that you give away at Easter.” Although many children wish for a real Easter bunny, the initial euphoria for the long-eared ears is usually followed by disillusionment. Because the animals need a lot of attention, says the 55-year-old bank employee with short gray hair and red glasses: “Dogs need masters, cats need servants and rabbits need slaves.” She laughs but means it.
The TV is on for shy animals
It is in the approximately 30 square meter main room of the Schwabhausen nursing home. Around ten rabbits scurry about in their enclosure: there are wooden benches and old shoe racks to climb on, drinking bowls and leftover lettuce on the carpets. Actually, everything is quiet, so there’s a television in the corner, says Thuringer: “Sometimes I turn it on so that shy animals get used to everyday noises and people.”
But currently rabbit Kulla is beeping anyway. Helga Zettl lovingly hugs the white rabbit: “She’s an old lady and has problems with her bladder and nasal septum. That’s why it’s difficult to find new owners for her.” She stays with the rabbit rescuers as a mercy animal.
Around ten animals are housed in the main room of the rabbit apartment, which is around 30 square meters in size. Some are old, sick, or given up for other reasons because they no longer want their owners.
(Photo: Niels P. Jørgensen)
The association has been rescuing sick and neglected rabbits since 2018: “Back then, the founding members networked via a Facebook group for animal emergencies,” says Zettl. They had previously discovered photos of rabbits that had been poorly kept and were being sold on eBay classifieds: “We bought the animals out at the time.” This euphoria at having done something good also gave rise to the name of the club: “We said to ourselves at the time: We Bavarians will rock it!”
Rabbits are rescued from poor husbandry – but also given up voluntarily
The rabbit protectors become active again and again when they sense bad housing conditions. Helga Zettl remembers an animal rescue in Passau, where the local veterinary office also got involved: “There was a rabbit weighing seven kilograms in such a small cage that it couldn’t even stretch out or turn around!” In addition, hard bread was fed and the cages were very dirty.
But breeders also volunteer with “Bayern rockt” to donate their rabbits – for example when they stop breeding them: “Sometimes relatives also come forward and say: Grandpa has rabbits for slaughter that are in bad shape and he wants them give it away,” says Petra Thuringer.
Even after a death, rabbit keepers sometimes separate from their rodents: “If the partner animal dies, for example, some want to give up the other rabbit as well.” In addition, rabbits can be expensive, says Zettl: “Many underestimate it when the animals get old or sick,” then they need medication or have to go to the vet – and that can be expensive. Most of the time, the rabbits end up in the animal shelter or in the foster homes of the association.
Rabbits are sometimes given away for free over the Internet – and then end up as snake food. The club Bayern rockt is also fighting against this.
(Photo: Niels P. Jørgensen)
Thuringer has been involved as a rabbit rescuer there for three years: “I got my first rabbit in elementary school, my cousin didn’t want the animal anymore because it bit,” she says and laughs. Since then she has only gone through life with rabbits. They are even allowed to walk around freely in their own apartment: “It’s just nice when you’re lying on the couch and a rabbit comes up to you and you can pet it. It calms you down when you’re sad.”
Your love for animals is immense. That’s why she converted the apartment on the first floor into a foster home or a rabbit domicile with five rooms: There are protective grilles on the doors, like those used for small children, so that the foster animals don’t run away. In the bathroom, a white rabbit is sitting under the sink: “He has a cataract and can’t see anything anymore,” in the bathtub next to it is a towel: “Sometimes he lies in there and sleeps.”
Petra Thuringer drove more than 4000 kilometers for the rabbit aid
It continues into the former kitchen, where a rabbit is also gnawing in the enclosure under the dining table, animal medicines are on it and next to it is a rabbit toilet, which of course makes a lot of work for the rabbit keeper Petra Thuringer. She estimates that she invests around three hours a day for her protégés – for feeding, cleaning out and buying food: “By the way, the association only covers the costs for the vet.”
In the past year she has also driven more than 4000 kilometers by car to buy pet food, have rabbits vaccinated by the vet or have them checked out. In addition, there are further visits to people who want to take care of animals: “We always take a close look at the new home before we give the rabbits further”, says Zettl, among other things, two rabbits should have an enclosure of at least six square meters.
She also grew up with rabbits as a child: “Back then we still ate them,” she says. But a roast rabbit at Easter is no longer an option for her today. Instead, she and her teammates scour the Internet for ads offering rabbits for free: “We then warn the providers that the animals end up as snake food.”
She cannot explain why she is so committed to the rodents: “They are just very cute, want to be petted and look cute”. She thinks for a moment: “It’s probably like with the riders: either you are infected with the rabbit virus or not.”