Sammy is a rescue from the shelter, who was deemed to be medical rescue only.  He is an older foreclosure rabbit, who was left in an outdoor hutch to starve to death. He looked like a dog’s chew toy, with fur coming out in clumps, bald spots and urine scalding on his feet and belly.  I was out of money and low on space, when a shelter staff asked me to look at the rabbit for rescue.  She suggested that “maybe” I foster, just to see if the rabbit could recover.

So I did.  I fostered him and realized that Sammy is one of the nicest rabbits that I have met.  He had never had hay or greens, so he had overgrown teeth and drooled alot.  I called upon the pet communicator, Cathy Malkin to see if he wanted to live or if he was in pain.  The answer was yes, he wanted to live and no, he wasn’t in pain.  I contacted my vet to evaluate Sammy to see if we were looking at expensive long terms bills with a negative outcome, or short term bills with a positive outcome – or something in between.

The vet felt that with TLC, Sammy would be a healthy boy, who would be a great pet for the right person.  So, I rescued Sammy and placed him with a baby Frankie, who is another rescue, and not the nicest rabbit.  Frankie taught Sammy how to eat greens and hay, while Sammy, the old soul that he is, taught her to be nice.  A perfect pair!  She keeps his ears clean and gives him her piece of banana, his very favorite treat!

Sammy has been to the vet on several occasions and been neutered, had his teeth trimmed, been treated for fleas and mites and been allowed to heal from the urine scalding.  While he is available for adoption, he must go to a special home, as he is a special guy.  He is not an outdoor rabbit and LOVES to set in the couch for hours, to be petted.

At the heart of every rescue, are stories like Sammy’s and the funds needed to rescue him.  For us, it means $30 to adopt a rabbit from the shelter who is out of time.  This includes the surgery necessary to spay or neuter the rabbit.  We believe that all of the rabbits must be spayed or neutered, to avoid more litters of unwanted rabbits.  It also means the extra care needed to turn a fabulous creature around and make them healthy and happy.

Should the rabbit be deemed “medical”, he or she then has to go to a private vet to be spayed or neutered.  This is a minimal $80 visit, which includes a rabbit physical, checking teeth and nails as well as overall condition.  Medical rabbits are those who cannot be adopted to the general public and include babies, severe neglect rabbits, those who have been abused, aggressive rabbits due to poor care and new litters with Mama.

While we do not want to base our decisions of rescue on money alone, sometimes that is the reality.  We look to SaveABunny, Rabbit Ears, House Rabbit Society and Harvest Home for assistance, but they are often overwhelmed as well.  They all help as they can, whether it is a discount on supplies, rescuing a rabbit, free or low cost surgery, or funds to assist with surgeries.

In addition to rescue, the rabbits need to be fed (surprise!) and housed.  Our rabbits get a variety of greens every day, unlimited hay and water and treats daily (I eat cookies every day, why can’t they have a piece of papaya every day?)
We are not non-profit.  We are a small rescue that cares for our local shelter and Contra Costa County.  We leave it to SaveABunny and House Rabbit Society to address the major issues throughout the Bay area and beyond.  Marcy at SaveABunny is an invaluable resource and rescuer and any donations to her rescue (http://saveabunny.org/?q=donate) to benefit our area, will be tax deductible and will help us.

So, we ask for donations.  Any donations are welcome, including your time.

We have a network of homes, which foster out of their own pocket.  We have people that spend time with the rabbits, to keep them social.

Keep this in mind:

• $30 will save a rabbit from the shelter.
• $35 a week, feeds 20 rabbits greens for the week.  That means 6 types of greens, as well as organic spring greens and carrots from Costco.
• A $15 bag of Rabbit Chow, feeds the babies and older rabbits, and gives “treats” to the rest of the crew.
• We like to use wood pellets as they are cheaper, for litter, but sometimes we have to buy Country Critter and at $15 a bag, it will cover 42 boxes.
• We use good hay from Lafayette Pet Shoppe.  We tried the bale of hay however, many of the rabbits “threw the hay out”, selecting only some of it for eating.  The hay from Lafayette, which is Oxbow hay, seems to be much better hay as they eat all of it and like it better.  I believe that sometimes, the best things in life are food related and since I like what I like, I figure the rabbits like what they like!
• We use toilet paper rolls with hay and apple sticks, but the favorite, by far, is the willow baskets from BusyBunny.com.  My Mom’s husband used to make me willow toys, from his willow tree which never saw a chemical, but he passed 2 years ago and the toys are long since eaten.  As I tell people, you either provide the rabbit with things to chew on, or they will find something!

Frankie and Sammy

Sammy

I know that times are tough – more than tough.  We do this out of love for the animals, while working full time jobs.  So, if you cannot afford to donate money, we totally understand. 

Maybe you have some young people that can stuff toilet paper rolls with hay and a treat? 

Do you have an untreated apple tree or willow tree, which we can use some of the branches from? 

Is your garden overrun with untreated herbs and greens? 

Can you transport to and/or from a spay/neuter clinic?

All of that helps.  With that said, I have to take the opportunity to thank Chris for putting together the website, a job that I could not do on my own.  Additionally, I thank all of the fosterers, adopters and people that have donated items, time or money for the rabbits.