The Edmonton Humane Society is looking for donations from the public after they received more than 100 rabbits at the shelter Friday.

Education co-ordinator Jessica Crossley said the shelter responded to a plea for help from a homeowner to pick up the animals after the rabbits reproduced multiple times and became an overwhelming amount of mouths to feed.

"Often this can happen in hoarding cases where it just gets to be too much," Crossley said.

The shelter still doesn't know how many rabbits they will receive. The owner guesses it is somewhere between 100 and 150 animals.

Normally with any animal surrender, the society requires the owner to pay a small fee to cover the initial costs of caring for the animal.

Crossely said the society is waiving the fee for this pet owner because there is no way she can afford it.

"This hasn't been an easy decision for her," Crossely said. "She's pretty much put everything she can into taking care of the rabbits."

But the surrender has placed an enormous strain onto the shelter.

The average cost to take care of one rabbit in its first year of life is $734. That price doesn't include vaccinations or any emergency medical costs.

"We are grasping at straws, we've never had 150 in the shelter before," Crossley said.

The shelter said the biggest mistake a rabbit owner can do is not get the animal spayed or neutered.

Rabbits can live up to 12 years and can reproduce as many as six times per year.

The shelter is requesting monetary donations, Canadian Tire money to help offet the monumental costs. Any donations of hay cubes, rabbit pellets, toys or rabbit cages are also needed.

The animals will be reviewed to determine whether they are adoptable. All animals deemed suitable will then be put up for adoption.

Crossley said the worst thing about receiving the animals is that rabbits tend to sit for a long time in a shelter before they are adopted.

In January, the shelter took on 30 rabbits after the owner allowed them to reproduce out of control. It took four months for 29 of those animals to get adopted.

"They tend to sit for a long time," Crossley said.