OAR - Otautahi Animal Refuge and Education Trust

OAR - Otautahi Animal Refuge and Education Trust Ōtautahi Animal Refuge and Education Trust Ltd - OAR, an exotic pet refuge and educational charity, based in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Please help by donating, adopting, fostering, or even sharing our info. For even one it can mean everything. RABBITS

Ōtautahi Animal Refuge (OAR) only adopt our rescues out to the most loving forever homes, therefore our rabbits are conditioned to live indoors*, alongside you and your family, much like your cat and dog**

If you are interested in adopting from OAR, please message us and we will s

end you an Adoption Application. If you are interested in a particular rabbit please organise with us to see them. Please contact us for an update on available rabbits for adoption. Please note that this page is run by volunteers, and while we try our best we all have commitments outside of this. If you wish to surrender a rabbit to us, please note that there maybe a wait time before we can take them. You can speed this wait time up if you have your pet desex and vaccinated before surrendering them. We are always in need of donations. Though we appreciate anything you can give, we prefer you to give a smaller sustainable amount, over a long time, so that we can create long term lasting change in these animals lives. If you have items to donate, please see our list of much needed items.


*We train our rabbits with litter trays, but do expect some territorial messing when you initially have them becoming comfortable in your home, this should stop fairly quickly, if you find it becoming a problem, please contact us.

**Unfortunately in some cases the family dog maybe not be suitable to live alongside a rabbit, this may be due to a high prey drive. If you would like some help introducing your new bun to your existing pets, just let us know.

It's such a shame that baby bunnies can't stay with each other forever. They make adorable cuddle piles with their sibli...
04/09/2026

It's such a shame that baby bunnies can't stay with each other forever. They make adorable cuddle piles with their sibling, and spend their hours snuggling and grooming each other, it truly is the cutest sight. Sadly, nature has other plans, and sibling bonds tend to break when puberty hits. They stop seeing each other as cuddly friends and start seeing them as competition for resources and potential mates, and soon start fights that can quite easily cause injuries. Or the opposite happens, where they stop seeing each other as siblings and start seeing them AS potential mates, which leads to a whole slew of other problems. They even turn on their own dear mother! Right now, Moo and all four of her kits happily live in one run at a foster home, but the day is fast approaching when it simply won't be possible to keep them all in the same space. We need individual placements for Moo's babies, where they can recover from their desexing and get ready for adoption. We do not have any available runs at the refuge, all of our foster homes are full, and we have a waitlist of bunnies waiting for a placement. If you're considering fostering or adopting, now is the time to get in touch! We have so many adoption-ready buns waiting for a new home, and as well as these little babies, we also have a slew of other buns that would love to stay in a foster home. Please email us at [email protected] or private message us, we would love to hear from you. If you're not in a position to foster, we are raising donations to get Moo and her babies desexed. Our account number is below, any amount helps and would mean the world to us and this little family. If you can't donate, share this post so we can reach people who might be able to, your interaction with our social media posts help more than you know!

OAR Bank TSB
15-3976-0186947-00

erabbitsofinstagram

03/09/2026

If there's one thing bunnies are great at, it's eating. This is especially true for growing babies, as they need lots of energy to help them grow (especially Clover, she never stops munching). It also applies to their poor mums, who need to eat LOTS to keep her milk supply strong, and need access to unlimited hay and pellets. Thankfully for Moo, her babies (who are now almost as big as she is!) are nearing the age when they are fully weaned. Unfortunately for us, that means we need to give them lots of food to fuel their growing bodies. We're raising funds not just to get all five bunnies desexee, but to pay for the daily hay supply they need to thrive (which is a lot), as well as other necessities like litter and pellets. We also need foster homes for each individual baby, as they will have to be split up from their littermates and cannot be adopted until they are old enough to be desexed. If you're interested in adopting or fostering, please email us at [email protected] or private message us. If you can't foster, please donate to our appeal (bank details below), any amount helps. Please like and share this post so we can reach as many people as possible to give this little family a new start in life.

OAR Bank TSB
15-3976-0186947-00

uerabbitsofinstagram

Our Bunnies of the Week, consist of a little family of 5 that we need to raise funds for! The matriarch is Moo, a little...
02/09/2026

Our Bunnies of the Week, consist of a little family of 5 that we need to raise funds for! The matriarch is Moo, a little Netherland Dwarf who is a friendly young mum who isn't that much older than her babies. Her mini-me is a girl named Minion, an energetic wee thing who loves zooming around the run and doing binkies. Her sister, Clover, also takes after Moo, and is a delicate wee lady with a curious mind. Her brother Mouse is aptly named, a shy little man who is always found snuggled up with one of his siblings. And last but not least is everyone's favourite, Boss! Boss is a brave wee chap who is the first to explore, meet new people and try new things. He was the first to leave the nest, and is a very social boy with people and other buns. They've grown from tiny, palm-sized babies into kits that are getting almost as big as their mum. All too soon we will have to separate them, and get all 5 desexed and ready for forever homes, and to do that, we need money. Any amount is appreciated, and it all goes towards helping these 5 critters who have already been through a tough time. If you're interested in fostering or adopting, please reach out to us at [email protected] or private message us. All 4 babies will need a place to stay once they are split up from one another, and right now we don't have 4 spare runs available. Our bank account is below, please use your name or your organization's name as a reference.

OAR Bank TSB
15-3976-0186947-00

abbitsofinstagram

01/09/2026

Meet our Bunnies of the Week, Moo and her calves! Moo is a beautiful wee Netherland Dwarf, who was dumped out in the middle of Winter. It took us a month to catch her, and when we did, she very unexpectedly popped out four babies. What we thought was just going to be one more bunny to desex and rehome turned into 5, literally overnight! Like most rescues at the moment, we are already stretched very thin in terms of resources and space, so we're appealing to the public for help. We need to raise money to get all 5 desexed, plus vaccinations and vet checks. We are also in dire need of space! The babies are now 6 weeks old, and will soon have to be separated from Moo and each other when they are completely weaned and hit puberty. If you've ever thought of fostering or adopting, please get in touch! We have so many adoption-ready buns waiting for forever homes, as well as others in need of a foster home. Please email us at [email protected] to get involved or private message us. To donate, please use the bank account number below and use your name/organization's name as a reference. Please share this far and wide so we can get as much help as possible for this little family unit!

OAR Bank TSB
15-3976-0186947-00

rabbitsofinstagram

It's adorable Anehara's last day as Bunny of the Week! This wee cutie is still uo for adoption, and would love to finall...
28/08/2026

It's adorable Anehara's last day as Bunny of the Week! This wee cutie is still uo for adoption, and would love to finally have a hime of her own. If you think that home could be with you, please email us at [email protected] or private message us. We'll be back soon with more bunny cuteness, but for now, please enjoy Anehara in all he glory.

uerabbitsofinstagram

For every photo we post on our social media, there are 10 or so that don't make the cut. Primarily because bunnies are s...
27/08/2026

For every photo we post on our social media, there are 10 or so that don't make the cut. Primarily because bunnies are such energetic creatures, that most of the photos are blurry. They also refuse to hold still, and turn away from the camera at the very last second. Sometimes we have to sit with them for the better part of an hour just to get some useable snaps. Our Bunny of the Week, Anehara, is a curious wee girl, who loves to explore and doesn't particularly like to sit still. She's always on the move, which makes her a tough subject to photograph. We tried our best, but here are just a few of the dozens of pictures we have of Anehara that show the reality of bunny photography. We think they show her personality but that might just be a personal bias. If you're interested in adopting Anehara, please email us at [email protected] or private message us.

bbitsofinstagram

Our Bunny of the Week, Anehara, has some fun genetics. She is a stunning 'chocolate' brown, which is an uncommon colour...
26/08/2026

Our Bunny of the Week, Anehara, has some fun genetics. She is a stunning 'chocolate' brown, which is an uncommon colour for bunnies, due to the colouring being a recessive gene. Photos simply do not do her justice, and fail to really capture the depth of her rich colour (especially when she's sunbathing). She's the only 'chocolate' bunny we've ever had, even her 3 babies didn't inherit the uncommon trait! Anehara is also a "false dwarf", which is a Netherland Dwarf that did not get a copy of the dwarfism gene, so she has some cute proportions without all of the horrible health implications. 'False dwarves' are also known as 'big uglies' in the breeding circuit, but we think there is nothing ugly about our wonderful girl. If you're interested in adopting our unique Anehara, please email us at [email protected] or private message us.

erabbitsofinstagram

Our Bunny of the Week, Anehara, is only 2 years old and has already been rehomed twice. We don't know much about her fir...
24/08/2026

Our Bunny of the Week, Anehara, is only 2 years old and has already been rehomed twice. We don't know much about her first home, other than she was living with another bunny, Wiremu. Her second home took in both bunnies, and was already finding the upkeep difficult, when all of a sudden Anehara started displaying some odd behaviors. Low and behold, the 2 bunnies they were assured had been desexed were expecting triplets. The two were separated immediately, and Anehara gave birth in peace and quiet without energetic Wiremu to add to the chaos. The family, already overwhelmed, were then dealt a personal blow, and simply couldn't keep up with the needs of all 5 bunnies. That's where we came in! We took on all 5 bunnies, paid for all their vaccinations, vet checks, food, and (most importantly) got all 5 bunnies desexed. Anehara is the only one left at our refuge, and we would love for the saying "third time's the charm" to ring true for her, all she needs now is a home. If you think that home could be woth you, please email us at [email protected] or private message us.

erabbitsofinstagram

Meet our Bunny of the Week, Anehara! This chocolate cutie is a sassy wee critter, who will keep you on your toes with a ...
23/08/2026

Meet our Bunny of the Week, Anehara! This chocolate cutie is a sassy wee critter, who will keep you on your toes with a spot of mischeif. She is strategic in her chaos, and she is as smart as she is adorable. She is roughly 2 years old, desexed, vaccinated and ready for a new adventure. If you're interested in adopting this pretty girl, please message us or email us at [email protected]

abbitsofinstagram

Address

60 Sandyford Street
Christchurch

Telephone

+64277722248

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when OAR - Otautahi Animal Refuge and Education Trust posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share