LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — "In the past, we would hit over capacity a few times a year. But I would say for the last year, it's just been consistently over capacity, said Emma Ripka."
At Blue Chip Animal Refuge near Dallas volunteers like Ripka have been seeing more animals coming in than going out.
This time of year, she says the biggest victims are rabbits.
"People buy rabbits as gifts because they think it's the same as a goldfish, that they just need the minimum amount of care when it's the complete opposite, said Ripka."
At Blue Chip, the rabbitat cages are filled with bunnies that have been there for years. With the upcoming Easter holiday, volunteers at the refuge expect to see more; they just don't know how many.
"We have roughly 35 it will definitely grow," said Ripka. "The amount of rabbits being dumped already is absolutely insane and it's only going to get worse with the Easter holiday or a few weeks after the Easter holiday when people decide they don't want them anymore and they just let them loose."
According to the National Humane Education Society, Retailers usually sell rabbits at low prices during the spring.
This leads to pets landing in the homes of people Ripka says are unaware of just how much care the animal really needs.
"Nobody does proper research before they get a rabbit, and then they all end up in shelters," said Ripka. "They end up dumping them outside a domesticated rabbit cannot care for itself in the wild. That's why they're domesticated."