Our Story

Hello, my name is Leah and I am the founder and owner of Yorkshire Rabbit Retreat (YRR); thank you for taking an interest in our story!

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Yorkshire Rabbit Retreat was born in 2013.

I have always been an animal lover, when I was young I was very shy which is why I think I found comfort from animals. My grandma always had pets too so I like to think some of her empathy towards them was passed to me. My parents weren't keen on adding a dog into the family, I wanted one so badly. I used to befriend anyone walking their dogs on the field near our home. We settled on getting a pair of rabbits (which I would not advise doing unless you have done plenty of research!) I'll admit they weren't cared for in the right way, they weren't neutered or vaccinated I was 9 years old after all but rabbit care wasn't the same as it is now, veterinary medicine and our knowledge on rabbits has come a long way in the last 2 decades. We had Mopsey and Flopsey for around 6 years. When Flopsey passed away first that's when I started doing major research as I was worried about Mopsey being alone. After 13 years caring for rabbits I had built up an extensive knowledge about rabbit care, behaviour etc. During this time I realised there were, and still are, so many mistruths around rabbits; the larger percentage of them living alone and in squalor, I decided I should share what I had learnt by setting up a Facebook Page. My aim in doing this was to try to help the plight of rabbits.

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The page wasn't up long before I started to get messages from

people who no longer wanted their rabbits or couldn't care for

them. This resulted in our first official intakes in September 2013,

Dandelion and Burdock, who remained with me. Earlier that year

three other rabbits had joined me after I learnt they were living in

storage boxes placed on shelves in a conservatory. Two of the

three were found homes for but sadly the third contracted

E.Cuniculi and we cared for her until it was her time to say

goodbye. Her name was Harriet. 

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From there the rescue has grown into what it is today.

A registered charity with a small dedicated team who cares for around 30 rabbits at any one time.