From NY Daily News:

It wasn’t love at first sight for Phyllis and Irving, nor was there fur flying – a good sign when it comes to bunny speed-dating.

Irving, a New Zealand white, eagerly tried to sniff “Filli” as the lop-mix hopped around the exercise pen during their two-minute exchange. Four weeks later, the love bunnies started living together in a Manhattan apartment.

Rabbit Rescue & Rehab, the New York House Rabbit Society Chapter, holds “speed dating” sessions for single buns. Owners of solo rabbits who think their pet may like a companion can set up meetings in a neutral location with available rabbits up for adoption.  (Note: All the rabbits have been spayed or neutered!)  If the fur doesn’t fly, chances are there will be a suitable match.

Read the full article here: NY Daily News.

If you have a single, spayed/neutered bunny, you can set up “speed dating” sessions with a rabbit rescue near you.  Check out Petfinder.com to find local shelters.

At 21 years of age, Mandy Doyle, a vet assistant from Northford, CT, has already accomplished a great deal. She has rescued hundreds of rabbits over the past five years.

Her organization, CottonTail Rabbit Rescue, is a no-kill shelter dedicated to saving rabbits and finding them loving homes. Although Doyle has had a good adoption rate, placing bunnies in homes every few weeks, she ensures those who don’t find homes with other people will always have a place in her home or at other area rabbit rescues.

Learn more about CottonTail Rabbit Rescue:
CottonTail Rabbit Rescue Website
Courant.com

On Feb. 24 the Grayson County Humane Society in Kentucky was broken into. A cash box was taken during the break-in. What is truly horrifying is what else the culprits did. Dogs and cats were beaten and killed. Several weeks prior to this break-in, someone sneaked into the facility and released all of the dogs.

The shelter is looking for any information that may help catch these criminals. They ask that those with tips contact the Leitchfield Police at 207-259-3850.

In addition to information, the shelter is seeking donations and people willing to foster animals during this time.

To help and to read more, visit their website: http://www.graysonhumane.org/.

In our earlier post, we mentioned that February is Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month.  For those of you inspired to add a bunny to your family, here are a few basic tips before you bring your new furry friend home.

• Finances: Be prepared to spend money up front on the adoption fee, as well as housing/food/bunny proofing supplies.   Be sure you’ll be able to afford ongoing costs for your bunny on food, litter, and vet bills (including spay/neuter fees if your bunny didn’t get the surgery while at the shelter/rescue). So often I receive heartbreaking emails from people whose rabbit needs veterinary attention, but they cannot afford it. Please don’t let that happen to your bunny.  Check out Petfinder’s chart of estimated yearly costs of pet ownership to give you an idea.
• Bunny Housing: Rabbits are social animals.  The location of your rabbit’s housing area (which can take the form of a cage, puppy pen, bunny condo, or just an area with the food, litter boxes, and cardboard castles if your bunny is free reign) is an extremely important consideration.  Make sure your rabbit has a place to relax by himself, but make sure that he’s not completely secluded from your family.  Rabbits need social interaction, plenty of exercise, and a lot of enrichment activities.  Take a look at our Housing article to learn more.
• Bunny Proofing: If your bunny will have free reign in your house/apartment/room, you will absolutely need to bunny proof the area. Even if you keep your bunny in a cage, condo, or puppy pen, you still will need to safeguard your home when you let your rabbit out for supervised exercise. Rabbits are very curious and persistent creatures. They will find a way into your computer cables, wires, molding, couch piping, slightly frayed rug, etc.  They will eat your most important documents.  Check out our Bunny Proofing article for tips on protecting your bunny and your things.
• Enrichment: Rabbits will get into trouble if they’re bored.  They’ll make their own fun chewing your possessions if you don’t provide alternate forms of entertainment. A great diversion for rabbits is a cardboard castle filled with empty toilet paper rolls, old phone books, and other paper products you find around the house.
• Litterbox Training: Most rabbit rescues will start the process of litter training the bunnies they take in.  So your bunny should have the basics down, but sometimes rabbits forget their good habits once they move into their new home.  This is natural because the drastic change in environment can be very stressful.  Litter training can be frustrating at times, but the key is persistence and consistent reinforcement of good habits. Read our article about litter training to learn more.
• Nutrition: It’s important to have a good understanding of your rabbit’s nutritional needs throughout his/her life.  Proper nutrition (and in the correct amounts) is vital for your rabbit’s well-being.  The staple of a rabbit’s diet is fiber.  But for a more detailed explanation, see our article, What to Feed Your House Rabbit.  Another great link is the House Rabbit Society’s article about diet, which discusses the appropriate amounts  as well as types of food to give your rabbit from youth to old age.
• Bonding with Your Bunny: Give your rabbit time to adjust to his/her new setting before expecting him/her to be your new best friend.  Check out our article about building a relationship so you get off on the right foot. Rabbits can be quite affectionate animals, but personalities definitely vary from individual to individual.   Most rabbits don’t particularly like being held/picked up, and some bunnies are more aloof than others.  Talk with a volunteer at a local rabbit rescue to learn more about which rabbit (or pair of rabbits) has a personality that will be a good fit for you and your family.

Bottom line: Do your research first! Check out our articles under the Rabbit Care, Rabbit Behavior, Health, and General sections to learn more.  There are also many other websites devoted to rabbit care education. Go to our Resources page to find other useful websites.

February is Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month! So if you or someone you know is interested in becoming a rabbit owner, definitely look to shelters and rescues first.  There is an overwhelming number of shelter rabbits looking for a forever homes.  You can find a range of different personalities, breeds, and ages in shelters/rescues, and the dedicated volunteers will be able to find a good match for you and your family.

To learn more, check out our article about the Benefits of Adopting a Pet Rabbit.

Find homeless bunnies in your area on Petfinder.

This holiday season, there are several ways you can help support rabbit rescues without going broke.

1. Chase Community Giving (vote via Facebook)
Chase Community Giving is a program run by Chase that will allow Facebook users to vote for local charities and non-profits, and help direct Chase corporate philanthropy dollars to eligible organizations in the following focus areas: education, healthcare, housing, the environment, combating hunger, arts and culture, human services, and animal welfare.
Vote for rabbit rescues/House Rabbit Society chapters near you

2. iGive.com
Find a local rabbit rescue, register with iGive and shop at brand name online stores through the iGive Mall. A portion of each purchase is donated to your cause.
Start shopping

3. The Animal Rescue Site $100,000 Shelter+ Challenge
Help The Animal Rescue Site choose which eligible Petfinder.com animal rescue organizations will receive special funds to help animals! You can cast one vote every day for your favorite rescue organization.
Vote for your local rabbit rescue today

4. Purchase Broadway tickets through Givenik
Buy discounted Broadway tickets through Givenik.com/hrs and 5% of your purchase is donated to the House Rabbit Society.
Purchase tickets

Rabbit Haven reports that Copper, the rabbit saved from euthanasia, is settling in nicely at his new permanent home with the rescue. Experienced bunny volunteers are already making progress getting Copper socialized with humans. If all goes well, they hope that after he’s neutered, he will form a bond with a spayed female rabbit as well.

From their press release:

On Monday, November 23, 2009, Kathleen Olsen, Executive Director of the Tacoma Humane Society, agreed to allow Rabbit Haven of Gig Harbor, WA., to take Copper. Copper was picked up and brought to Rabbit Haven by Sue Brennan, the rescue’s founder. “We are thankful that we could work with the Tacoma Humane Society to find a solution for this very famous rabbit,” said Brennan. “The Tacoma Humane Society does wonderful work and has found homes for many bunnies and other animals, and we’re grateful for what they do. At Rabbit Haven, we have bunny specialists well-equipped to handle even the most terrified and anxious rabbits, who sometimes bite out of fear and because they’ve been so mistreated in the past. Copper is a healthy, rambunctious teenage rabbit who will get the love and care that he needs to turn into a good house bunny.”

“This was a potentially sad story that had a very happy ending,” said Brennan. “House rabbits are wonderful, intelligent pets with great senses of humor. They can be litter-trained, do tricks, and more and more families are finding out how fun it is to share their homes with a house rabbit. We hope that Copper’s story will inspire more people to learn about house rabbits, and to support the work of animal shelters.”

Copper has already started to show progress at Rabbit Haven. Under the care of highly experienced rabbit experts, he has even started to ‘purr’ when held (rabbits purr by chattering their teeth.) At Rabbit Haven, Copper will continue receive the attention and care he needs to recover and learn to trust and socialize with humans. He will be neutered and, if possible, he will eventually be ‘bonded’ with a spayed female rabbit, as rabbits are happiest when they live in pairs and groups. Rabbit Haven will continue to work with local rescues to find homes for abandoned and mistreated rabbits.

For more info, visit Rabbit Haven’s website.

Copper purring in the arms of Chris, one of Rabbit Haven’s most experienced volunteers.

A story about a rabbit scheduled to be put down after biting a shelter volunteer has gathered attention from around the world.  Copper the rabbit was living at the Pierce County Humane Society in Tacoma, Washington. A few days ago, he bit a volunteer so severely she needed to seek emergency medical care.

The shelter decided Copper must be euthanized.  Although scheduled for death yesterday (Sunday), the unavailability of a vet to perform the euthanasia procedure bought Copper one more day.  After an outpouring of protests and pleas from rabbit advocates worldwide, the shelter officials finally agreed today to let Rabbit Haven of Gig Harbor, WA take Copper in as an alternative.

For more info, see:
KATU.com
KomoNews.com
TacomaKomo
Rabbit Haven

Megan from Luv-A-Bun has kindly shared an update about the 34 rabbits they rescued in Lake Worth, Florida:

The babies are 4 weeks old in the pix and the adults are doing fabulously after everything they went through. Notice the bunny that has a heart on its side!

We have a pair traveling to a rescue in TN this weekend via the Bunderground Railroad and another pair going to a rescue in Tampa Thanksgiving weekend. It has been so heart warming to meet so many nice people who all share the same interest of helping the bunnies.

Thanks Megan and Luv-A-Bun for all your hard work!

A generous donor has agreed to match donations up to $5000  to the House Rabbit Society until Thanksgiving (November 26, 2009).  The money raised will go towards the Emergency Rescue Grant, a program that supports shelters involved in large rescues of many rabbits.

Recently the fund benefited the Luv-A-Bun Rescue in their rescue of 34 rabbits from a trailer in Lake Worth, FL.