Hillsborough County commissioners hold off on rabbit sales ban

TAMPA, Fla. - A ban on retails sales of pet rabbits will not happen in Hillsborough County anytime soon.

Hillsborough County commissioners heard from concerned residents and animal rescue groups Wednesday morning, pushing for a ban on the sale of rabbits.

"The benefit of this ban is not just to rabbits, it’s to children, it’s to families who are well-meaning, well-intentioned, love animals. They want to do the right thing and they find themselves impossibly overwhelmed with care of the rabbit," one resident said.

Several speakers noted an increase in rabbits taken to shelters or rescues last year. Activists attribute a lot of that to ‘impulse buying’ that happens around Easter. A staff report found over 200 rabbits have been taken in by local humane societies, although not all those rabbits were purchased locally. 

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This creates other issues, as many local shelters don’t accept rabbits.

"My call of action to you is, I believe this problem could be greatly reduced by banning the retail sale of domestic rabbits in our county," one speaker said.

A staff report suggested commissioners launch a public education campaign and a voluntary moratorium for feed stores around Easter.

"We have yet to find any actual pet store that sells rabbits, so any type of legislation related to a ban would be more preemptive," Scott Trebatoski said in a presentation to commissioners.

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Commissioners disagreed on the idea of a voluntary moratorium without additional research. 

They did pass a motion 7-0 for the educational campaign, instead.

"I think a robust education campaign is a good start, for now. We can look into what other steps we might want to take as we move forward with this," Commissioner Pat Kemp said.

They also requested another report on sales at flea markets and feed stores.

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