How humane or inhumane is it to bury a dying rabbit alive?

Question

OK, this is sick. So my neighbors found a wild rabbit that had been hit by a car and its two back legs were broken. The rest of it looked fine; it wasn't bleeding or anything. I thought they should throw it in a bag and hook it up to the exhaust so it could at least get put down sort of humanely, but they insisted that burying it would be the best way. How long before it dies? It's not just going to starve in there painfully, is it?

It seems incredibly stupid to me to bury any still fully conscious creature alive.

I know it's going to suffocate in the dirt, but how quickly? Is it painful?

Ugh. Nobody could bring themselves to hit it.

I know. It's disgusting and upsetting me. But I can't call the cops on my neighbors over a rabbit, and there seriously *are* more rabbits around here than there naturally should be. It wouldn't have been worth saving him. And he would have suffered anyway if they left him lay there with broken legs. I guess they should have at least hit him to kill him first.

I hate when things have to suffer in this stupid miserable world.

Answer 1

the humane thing to do would have been to kill it before burying it alive. imagine the poor thing, not only being in pain from its injuries, but struggling to breathe and suffocating. if it couldn't be saved, eg, no wildlife havens or vets close by, and this sounds cruel, but sometimes you need to be cruel to be kind, a quick twist to break the neck , or as you said, would have been more preferable than burying the poor creature alive. i couldnt do it though, i would have driven to a vet or wildlife refuge. he wouldn't have survived in the wild with two broken legs, but to bury it alive! no way.

Answer 2

Very very sick indeed. It is utterly disgusting and 100% inhumane to bury a dead animal. How would you feel if someone shot you in the legs and arms and then started burying you alive? Talk some sense into your neighbors, they are bad people. You should consider moving or get them to move on the account of freaky neighbors. I agree with taking it to a vet and letting a veterinarian take care of it. Or you could have just made sure its death was quick and painless. You have to build up that courage to hit it, wouldn't you rather die instead of suffocate under the ground while paralyzed?

It depends on how deep they buried him and how much air he has to live off of. He may survive for a couple of hours at max. It seems that the rabbit will die from all the dirt and being buried rather than starving to death.

Answer 3

I would have taken it to the vet. It's quite possible that the rabbit may have been saved or at least it could have been euthanized in the most painless way possible. Those people just didn't want to spend a little bit of money. There's also a Wildlife Rescue organization that works in conjunction with P.E.T.A. just for special cases like this. I know because I used it to help an injured turtle once. I didn't have the funds on hand for a vet. So I went that route.

http://www.nwrawildlife.org/page.asp?ID=22

Answer 4

Contrary to popular belief, rabbits don't always make the best of mothers. It's common to hear of a rabbit abandoning her liter or simply killing them. The most common reason for a doe to abandon or kill her liter is she felt threatened or there was something wrong with the entire liter. If your other rabbit is feeding the additional kits, everything should be fine. 12 isn't too many. We had a doe several years ago that had a liter of 11, but sadly one died at birth. Liters that large are uncommon, but possible. As long as her health doesn't suffer and the kits are fine, I see no problem with her caring for that many. Once a rabbit is done wrong, it may hold a lifetime grudge.

Answer 5

In the future it might be better for them to leave this sort of thing alone. Many animals are scavengers that wait for this sort of opportunity, and so letting nature simply take its course would have been far better than picking up the rabbit and finding a way to kill it.
A hurt rabbit is sad, but its part of the circle of life. Burying a rabbit alive is even sadder.

Answer 6

That poor rabbit will probably suffer for days, until it runs out of air. You should have called the cops and reported them for animal cruelty. Putting it in a bag would only make it suffer more. Why not just shoot it quickly, and get it over with? Why not take it to a vet, and have it put down? There were many ways to take care of this poor animal.

Answer 7

You're right, it is sick. Next time one of your neighbors gets hurt, recommend burying them alive and see what they say. Sick. If it was a short time ago, it would be more humane to take it to a vet. But if you don't want to pay for it and don't have the stomach to do it yourself, I wouldn't know what to do. I'm sorry this happened. It was incredibly stupid. That's why I suggested the idea of burying them. Sick.

EDIT: if you attach a plastic bag to an exhaust pipe, it will melt the plastic because of the heat. Take it to a vet. And this is a sick joke if it isn't true. Sick.

Answer 8

That was a cruel thing to do as it would suffocate. My husband found a baby rabbit that had been attacked and we made it as comfortable as possible, even giving it food and water but it died. I wanted to take it to the vet but my husband said no. I would prefer to make it comfortable and for it to die on it's own rather than bury it and make it suffer even more.

Answer 9

what the fuc*!?!?!? why the hell would your neigbors do that! the rabbit is alreasy dead. i would cal the frickin cops on them, that is frickin ANIMAL CRUELTY! they just made it die the worst possible way! if it doesn't suffocate, then it will starve! that is the worst thing ever. all you have to do is take it to the vet and get it put to sleep! and the worst thing about that is that broken legs on rabbits are easily healed! your neighbors are terrible. But putting it ina bag and strapping it to the exhaust is not a good way to kill it, it is kind of bad. just have a vet put it down. your neighbors suck!

Answer 10

That's just barbaric and inhumane. Where I live it's probably a criminal offense because it actively involves deliberately putting an animal in a position where it suffers unnecessarily. Suffocation must be about the worst way to go: it's slow and agonising; it is a METHOD OF TORTURE where the prisoner is allowed to catch his breath, revived a little - and then again suffocated some more. The prisoner struggles for breath and life. It was an act of cruelty, albeit not a deliberate one. Even PASSIVELY ALLOWING an animal to suffer unnecessarily is a criminal offense where I live (and rightfully so).