Meet the animal lover who ditched her day job and spent £50k to save over 200 bunnies - who live inside her home.
- last year
Meet the animal lover who ditched her day job and spent £50k to save over 200 bunnies - who live inside her home.
Paige Hadlow, 26, is celebrating the four-year anniversary of giving rabbits ''a second chance'' at her rescue centre this Easter.
After previously working in a high-street pet shop, she gave it all up in January 2019, after becoming disillusioned about the treatment of the animals they sold on.
Her charity, Clement Rabbit Rescue, is based at her home in Wrexham, North Wales, where she currently lives with 24 rabbits!
Paige, who lives alone besides her furry friends, offers a nationwide service, and regularly travels all over the UK to come to the aid of bunnies.
After making sure they're healthy, she tries to find each animal a suitable forever home with prospective owners going through a strict vetting process.
The rescue centre is entirely funded by Paige, who now works full time in the Veterinary industry in order to plough resources into her passion project.
She is also speaking out to warn consumers off impulse buying pet rabbits for Easter as she says they are so often not able to look after them properly and will often have to be rehomed.
Paige, who has spent up to £8k in one month alone on animal care, said: “Working in a pet shop was eye opening, I was really shocked.
“If I’m honest, I haven’t been obsessed with Rabbits my whole life, but the way I saw how irresponsibly they can be treated by Pet Shops and owners, I felt I had to step in, so my passion has stemmed from there.
''I just love them so much, they’re all so interesting in their own unique way and are a joy to watch
“Gaining a rabbit’s trust is just the best feeling in the world, they don’t naturally gravitate towards people so knowing that I have that sort of connection with them is really special.
''Contrary to people’s perception, they’re not actually that hectic and are really clean around the house so I’ve never had an issue with any mess.
''My mum is my biggest supporter, she just wants me to be happy
“I’m fortunate enough to be able to lean on her emotionally and financially whenever I need to and that reassurance is something that helps keep me going.”
Easter is a busy time of year for the rescue, but Paige does everything she can to spread the right message at this time
Paige said “I don’t tend to rehome any of the rabbits over Easter time just to avoid any impulse buys and anything like that.
“A lot of the time, I do try to educate people as to why I have declined them rather than a straight up no, because you can’t expect everybody to know everything and that’s what the rescue is all about.
“I spend a lot of Easter time on social media trying to spread the right message and educating people.”
Paige started working in a pet shop in January 2016 but quickly grew concerned about the welfare of the animals sold there, particularly the rabbits.
After becoming worried at the size of cages they were kept in, she then picked up on how poorly many of the animals were treated.
Paige Hadlow, 26, is celebrating the four-year anniversary of giving rabbits ''a second chance'' at her rescue centre this Easter.
After previously working in a high-street pet shop, she gave it all up in January 2019, after becoming disillusioned about the treatment of the animals they sold on.
Her charity, Clement Rabbit Rescue, is based at her home in Wrexham, North Wales, where she currently lives with 24 rabbits!
Paige, who lives alone besides her furry friends, offers a nationwide service, and regularly travels all over the UK to come to the aid of bunnies.
After making sure they're healthy, she tries to find each animal a suitable forever home with prospective owners going through a strict vetting process.
The rescue centre is entirely funded by Paige, who now works full time in the Veterinary industry in order to plough resources into her passion project.
She is also speaking out to warn consumers off impulse buying pet rabbits for Easter as she says they are so often not able to look after them properly and will often have to be rehomed.
Paige, who has spent up to £8k in one month alone on animal care, said: “Working in a pet shop was eye opening, I was really shocked.
“If I’m honest, I haven’t been obsessed with Rabbits my whole life, but the way I saw how irresponsibly they can be treated by Pet Shops and owners, I felt I had to step in, so my passion has stemmed from there.
''I just love them so much, they’re all so interesting in their own unique way and are a joy to watch
“Gaining a rabbit’s trust is just the best feeling in the world, they don’t naturally gravitate towards people so knowing that I have that sort of connection with them is really special.
''Contrary to people’s perception, they’re not actually that hectic and are really clean around the house so I’ve never had an issue with any mess.
''My mum is my biggest supporter, she just wants me to be happy
“I’m fortunate enough to be able to lean on her emotionally and financially whenever I need to and that reassurance is something that helps keep me going.”
Easter is a busy time of year for the rescue, but Paige does everything she can to spread the right message at this time
Paige said “I don’t tend to rehome any of the rabbits over Easter time just to avoid any impulse buys and anything like that.
“A lot of the time, I do try to educate people as to why I have declined them rather than a straight up no, because you can’t expect everybody to know everything and that’s what the rescue is all about.
“I spend a lot of Easter time on social media trying to spread the right message and educating people.”
Paige started working in a pet shop in January 2016 but quickly grew concerned about the welfare of the animals sold there, particularly the rabbits.
After becoming worried at the size of cages they were kept in, she then picked up on how poorly many of the animals were treated.