Haviva Lush, founder of Rabbit Rescue, Inc. and daughter Anika help Pipkin with his new prosthetic bucket. Photo by Graham Paine/Canadian Champion.

Special needs bunny Pipkin was taken in by Haviva Lush,  founder of the Canadian charity Rabbit Rescue, five years ago.  Pipkin was born with several issues: his front legs were splayed, he was missing a hip joint, and one hind leg was shorter than the other (and was later amputated).

Yet despite all this, Pipkin’s temperament remained surprisingly happy.  So when the opportunity arose to be fitted with a prosthetic bucket to help stabilize him and keep him upright, Pipkin was a great candidate.

The device was created by Dr. Joyce Olynich, a Toronto-based vet who specializes in prostheses. It was the first prosthetic bucket made for a rabbit in Canada.

To learn more about Pipkin’s story, see InsideHalton.

(Note: The video contains images of animal testing.)

Watch the Public Service Announcement above featuring Bob Barker and his bunny pal Benny, which discusses the importance of using personal care and household products that are not tested on animals.

To view a list of cruelty-free companies (and a list of companies that DO test on animals that you should avoid), see PETA’s searchable database of companies.

The British government is considering replacing current lab animal regulations with a new EU directive that offers less protection.  Adopting the EU law could result in reduced inspections in labs, less oversight by ethical committees, inhumane methods of killing,  and an increase in suffering by lab animals in the UK.

Every year approximately 10,138 rabbits are used in experiments in the UK.  These animals need your help.  If 10,000 people raise their voices by September 5th and urge the British government to say no to the EU law,  this could prevent a huge step back in animal welfare in the UK.  If you live in the UK, you can say no to the consultation by clicking here.

To learn more about the campaign, visit Give Animals a Voice.

The Guardian enlisted comic book creator Simone Lia to teach their readers how to draw bunnies. It’s cute and informative.

Check it out at The Guardian.

"Garden Party" by Laurie Musser. Sponsored by Key Bank. Photo by Tony Barchock.

In honor of the Chinese Year of the Rabbit, the St Clair Superior Development Corporation put together a public art campaign in the city of Cleveland, OH. Local artists decorated 25 fiberglass rabbit sculptures which were installed in key locations throughout the city.

For more information and photos of these stunning works of art, see:

• Year of the Rabbit Public Art Project website
• Tony Barchock’s Cleveland Art Rabbits Facebook photo album

Three rabbits from the Manitoulin Island mass rescue. Photo: Henry Stancu/Toronto Star

Over 200 rabbits were rescued from a home on Manitoulin Island, an island in Lake Huron in the province of Ontario. The Ontario SPCA, Rabbit Rescue, and other animal organizations rushed in to provide medical attention and find new homes for the bunnies.

The mass rescue is an enormous undertaking, and there are several ways you can help these organizations help the rabbits:

• Donate financially  – Costs from medical attention, food, housing, and other supplies quickly add up.

If you live in Ontario,

• Volunteer to foster- Finding temporary homes for this many rabbits can be challenging.
• Donate supplies – Donations of carriers, x-pens, neat idea cubes, food and other supplies are appreciated.
• Adopt – Consider adoption if you can provide a forever home for any of these rabbits.

To learn more, see:

• Rabbit Rescue website
• Ontario SPCA
• Guelph Mercury
• The Star

An earless bunny in Japan is sparking up debate about whether we are seeing signs of mutation as a result of the Fukushima nuclear site’s meltdown back in March. I wasn’t going to post since I felt like the sample size of one rabbit wasn’t sufficient to back up these claims, especially since we’ve posted in the past about another earless rabbit named Vincent Van Gogh.

But the video of the white bunny was cute, so here it is:

For more information, see:
AOL Weird News
MSNBC’s Cosmic Log

For all the bunny lovers in the UK, this week is a wonderful time to learn more about proper rabbit care and get free health checkups. 

It’s Rabbit Awareness Week (RAW) from May 23 – May 29, 2011!

Here are a few facts about pet bunnies:

• Rabbits can be litterbox trained.
• Rabbits need space to run and play everyday. In fact, many rabbit owners opt to let their bunnies have free reign all the time in a bunny-proofed room or entire home. They don’t actually need to be caged.
• Rabbits’ main diet should be hay (not pellets!). Hay should be available to rabbits at all times so they can graze when they want.
• Most rabbits don’t like being held. They prefer that you sit down with them at their level.
• Spaying/neutering your rabbit is essential. When spayed/neutered, rabbits become less aggressive and territorial, males stop spraying, litterbox habits improve, there are no accidental babies, and cancer risk decreases significantly.

Watch an adorable video from the RSPCA of how rabbits act when they’re not stuck in a hutch all day:

To find out which places are offering free health checkups and other rabbit-related events, go to the event locator on the Rabbit Awareness Week website.

To learn more about rabbit care, see:

• Rabbit Awareness Week website
• RSPCA RAW page
• House Rabbit Society
• My House Rabbit’s rabbit care section

After a Florida rabbit breeder appeared on the news saying she was broke and would be forced to sell all 79 of her rabbits to a zoo as snake food, first euthanizing them with a homemade gas chamber, several rabbit rescues came together to help. The rescues raised money to provide the woman with the $8/bunny that was promised by the zoo and picked the bunnies up yesterday to be transported to various foster homes and shelters throughout the eastern US.

See the original news story of the breeder and a followup story.

Although the rescues have raised enough money for the “bailout”, they still need donations to reimburse costs for transportation, spay and neuter, and general care of these rabbits. Learn more about this rescue mission and donate to their cause at BunnyTransport.com.

Organizations involved with this mass rescue are:

• Little Miracles Rabbit Rescue
• Gainesville Rabbit Rescue
• Magic Happens Rabbit Rescue
• Clover Patch Rabbit Sanctuary
• Little Furries Rescue & Referral
• Animal Welfare Association
• Humane Society Naples
• Luv-A-Bun Rabbit Rescue

Marie Mead’s Rabbits: Gentle Hearts, Valiant Spirits, a beautiful book filled with uplifting stories about rescued rabbits, has gotten even better!  A revised edition, being released this month, contains five new stories and two new articles.

From the author:

The impetus behind the revision is the excellent article titled “Modeling Love and Respect for a Classroom Rabbit,” written by elementary teacher Cheryl Rosemary Abbott. It provides interesting, down-to-earth guidance for teachers—and parents—about introducing children to a rabbit, bunny-proofing, rules for everyone’s safety, and the all-important issue of role-modeling love, respect, and responsibility.

You can purchase the book from the publisher or from Amazon.

To learn more about the book, visit:

Nova Maris Press
Celebrating Rabbits