Starting Tuesday, the Idaho Humane Society will no longer accept stray rabbits for its trap, neuter and release program.
The rabbits, affectionately called "Bench Bunnies," aren’t really bench bunnies anymore.
Kristine Schellhaas from the Idaho Humane Society said the feral rabbits are seen all across the Treasure Valley and their population boom has become a prevalent issue all across Ada County.
“We've taken 68% more rabbits this year, when compared to the same last year,” she said. “We were on track to have over a thousand free-roaming rabbits come through our doors, which would be about 10% of our total intake.”
In 2025, they accepted 700 of the rabbits, but the organization’s catch- and -release program has not slowed down the population.
In a Facebook statement, the IHS said the stray rabbits have been taking over their foster program and they have been struggling to house them, creating an “ongoing imbalance.”
“Continuing to maintain this imbalance does not ultimately serve a humane purpose,” the statement reads.
“We generally have about 10,000 animals coming into our shelter and so this was a huge uptick of something that is really not part of our mission,” Schellhaas added. “Our mission is to help domestic animals that are adoptable.”
Unlike pet rabbits that can be held and loved on, these free-roaming guys can’t be adopted.
“They're wild in essence even though they're a domesticated breed,” Schellhaas said, adding they are scared of people and usually run away when approached. “They're not interested really in a lot of human contact.”
The organization will no longer accept feral rabbits but will continue to receive pet bunnies surrendered by their owners.
It’s unclear what’s behind the more recent population boom, or really where the first bench bunny came from, but warmer winters paired with growing suburban landscapes are ideal for rabbits to thrive.
