What's New? at House Rabbit Society - January 2004

** February is National Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month

House Rabbit Society is proud to announce that we have
once again partnered with the American Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to sponsor the third
annual Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month, to be celebrated
in February. This year's theme is "Warm Your Heart,
Warm Your Home - Adopt a Rescued Rabbit."

House Rabbit Society is offering a beautiful four-color
poster free to shelter and rescue groups wishing to promote
Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month. The poster is 18" x 24"
and was created by Hareline Graphics and printed with the
assistance of Oxbow Hay. The poster features wonderful
photos by Ken Mark and Mary Cotter. To receive your
free poster, email margo@... including the address.

HRS and ASPCA have produced educational materials,
including articles, a sample press release, sample PSA's,
fact sheets and more, about adoption of shelter rabbits and
proper house rabbit care. To obtain these items and for
more information about Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month,
please go to:

http://www.rabbit.org/adopt-a-rabbit-month/press-release-04.html
http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=rabbitmonth

Join us in making Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month a
success. Write a letter to your local newspaper! Send a
PSA to your favorite radio station! Go to your local animal
shelter and educate the visitors about house rabbits. And,
of course, always adopt a rescued rabbit!


** San Francisco/Marin HRS Chapter Has a New Home!

Nestled, creek side in the woods of Mill Valley, about 15
minutes north of San Francisco, the facility functions as both
a private home, for Chapter manager Marcy Schaaf and her
husband Rob, as well as the Chapter headquarters and foster
center.

The two-story home was renovated using the ancient art of
Feng Shui, generously donated by a talented bunny adopter
and volunteer. Colors and decoration were specifically
chosen to facilitate harmony and balance the needs of the
rabbits and the people who care for them.

Volunteers enjoy mingling with bunnies in a serene creek
side setting with an organic vegetable garden coming in the
spring. The new facility also offers deluxe bunny boarding,
energy healing work and matchmaking services for the
discriminating rabbit.

The San Francisco/Marin Chapter became an official
House Rabbit Society Chapter in 2003. They have worked
with HRS for four years and have rescued close to 200
rabbits. Please visit them at their wonderful new website:

http://www.SaveABunny.com


** Rabbits in the News in Scotland

The Scottish SPCA advises parents to reconsider getting
a pet rabbit for their children. To read the full BBC News
article, go to:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/3403693.stm

Please send a note of thanks to the Scottish SPCA for
their efforts to educate the public about the plight of the
domestic rabbit: enquiries@...


** San Diego, California - Feature Chapter of the Month

The San Diego House Rabbit Society, founded in 1990,
was the first official chapter of House Rabbit Society. San
Diego has a solid membership base, with over 650
members! In addition, they have a dedicated group of
volunteers including:
* 6-7 foster homes that care for an average of 35 foster
buns plus a handful of sanctuary buns
* 7 Educators volunteering in various capacities
* 10 volunteers in local shelters
* Another 12+ volunteers that make everything else the
chapter does possible!

Their dedicated volunteer force is able to provide regular
volunteers to six of the nine area shelters, which has a great
impact on the rabbits in those shelters! San Diego House
Rabbit Society volunteers make the difference for these
shelter rabbits by continuously providing toys, carpet to
lay on and hay as well as educational information for
adopters. Their regular presence also helps the shelters to
learn more about rabbit behavior and care, while
simultaneously building a positive relationship between the
shelter and San Diego HRS.

The San Diego chapter is fortunate to have an official
office, which is open to the public the 1st and 3rd Saturday
of each month so people can buy supplies. The office also
functions as a meeting place for volunteers and members.
For anyone in the area, San Diego will be having an Open
House at their office on March 27, 2004. Details on this
and other chapter events are available on the on the San
Diego House Rabbit Society website at:

http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/aboutus/events.html

Their big annual event is Bunnyfest held in late September.
This one-day event has grown to attract more than 500
people - providing the chapter a great fundraising
opportunity while bunny lovers get an opportunity to shop
for items for their rabbits and themselves, learn about
rabbit care, meet other rabbit lovers and bid on nearly 100
auctions items to help support the chapter.

Michelle Wilhelms, Chapter Manager, is proud to share
that the San Diego chapter was able to help sterilize over
250 rabbits in 2003! That's an average of five rabbits
every week. Wow!

Looking forward to 2004, San Diego chapter hopes to
further expand the number of volunteers working in area
shelters. Wilhelm says, "It helps in so many ways - helps
socialize the rabbits there, helps educate the staff and
public, places an importance on the rabbits in the shelters
and helps them get adopted before they need to come into
HRS foster care." If you are in the area and this interests
you, contact 619-718-7777. If you are not in the San
Diego area, shelters (and rabbits) all over the country
could benefit from having rabbit volunteers - contact your
local HRS chapter, if available, or simply go to a nearby
shelter and tell them you want to work with the rabbits.

Anyone interested in keeping up with the activities of the
San Diego chapter can join for just $10 per year and will
receive a quarterly newsletter which includes chapter
activities, heartwarming rabbit stories and general
information and news about rabbits.

While their greatest need is for more volunteers, you can
make a donation to SD HRS right now by going to:

http://www.rabbit.org/hrs-info/donation.html

Click on the
link for online credit card payments and BE SURE to
include 'San Diego HRS' in the destination field. We will
make sure to send the chapter all of your donations. You
can also contribute via mail by sending donations to:

House Rabbit Society
San Diego Chapter
P.O. Box 2628
Spring Valley, CA 91979

To find out more about San Diego's efforts, please visit
their website at:

http://rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/index.html

Here you'll find information about recent and upcoming
events, photos of all of their adoptable rabbits, information
on volunteering, and much, much more.


** HRS Chapter Item of the Month

The Monterey Peninsula Chapter sells the most useful towel
for your kitchen, The Bunny Towel! They dry dishes like
magic; they are great for polishing. They are meant to be
used! The towel measures 29" x 28" with the delightful
design on one end. The towels are lightweight and easy to
mail. The cost is $6.95 and will gladly be shipped as gifts
(remember to provide addresses), perfect for Easter! For
an additional $2, a special bunny-shaped writing pen,
complete with fuzzy tail, will be included.

Every towel you purchase helps support the dedicated
rescue, foster and adoption work of the Monterey
Peninsula Chapter. "Thank you for helping support our
rescue rabbits. Sincerely, Susan Harrow, Chapter
Manager/Educator." Please go to:

http://tinyurl.com/26ga2

** House Rabbit Society Chapter Updates

The New York City chapter is very excited to announce
that they have become a part of the Mayor's Alliance for
NYC Animals. This will allow volunteers to participate in
any and all animal events sponsored through the Parks
Department, additionally, NYC HRS will be able to list
their adoptable rabbits on the "Pet Ark" kiosks through-
out the city. In Rhode Island, our newest New England
chapter celebrates adopting a house rabbit to Annie of
Annie's Homegrown, a continuing happy relationship
between both organizations.

Indiana HRS made the news as a participant in the Central
Indiana Home for the Holidays Initiative (the first time that
rabbits were included) which resulted in the adoption of 17
rabbits in the Indianapolis area. This was in addition to 45
educational events that they participated in statewide, with
the HRS message reaching approximately 70,000 people
in Indiana.

Our most recently added chapter, Alabama EARS, held
their first BYOB (bring your own bunny) event in
December, and made almost $800 through the sale of
fundraising goodies. Alabama volunteers also wrapped
gifts for donations at Barnes and Noble, generating over
$1200 in extra income. Also in the South, Georgia HRS
made $2000 at their holiday silent auction, an especially
amazing figure since it was their first.

Some of our chapters are starting to look at their 2003
numbers, and report some very exciting statistics. For
instance, St. Louis HRS adopted 170 rabbits in 2003.
Rhode Island rescued 173 rabbits last year. Indiana saw
their adoption figures increase by 42% over 2002 levels,
and San Diego HRS spayed or neutered 275 rabbits, both
from HRS foster homes and in shelters in the San Diego
area. Also, becoming a chapter in training was a huge step
for Sweet Binks of Rhode Island and an excellent decision
on our part.

In the Bay Area, the director of our biggest local shelter,
Peninsula Humane Society, visited the San Francisco/
Peninsula chapter to see the rabbits and interview the
chapter manager for a newspaper article. San Francisco/
Marin chapter reports that they will be working extensively
with children and teachers in Marin County during January
and throughout Spring 2004; specifically, they will
participate for the second year in the Children's Garden
Program and other local educational efforts aimed at
teaching special needs and high risk children compassion
and loving guardianship of animals. At the end of the month,
they will be co-exhibitor with the Marin Humane Society at
the BAEER Festival, which is the largest environmental
education event designed for the teaching community.

At our headquarters and adoption/education center, we
will soon be receiving a visit from Evening Magazine, a
local news magazine show, which will be shooting their
February 5th show at our shelter. On the 14th, the shelter
will host a day of bunny matchmaking in celebration of
Valentine's Day. Guests are invited to bring their bunnies
to be photographed in a holiday-themed setting. On the
28th of February, we will have an Open House, offering
shelter tours, bunny counseling and a rabbit-themed art
show.

http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/index.html
http://www.rabbit.org/rabbit-center/index.html

** Valentine's Day Special at House Rabbit Society Store!

House Rabbit Society has many items bearing the charming
HRS logo which would make great Valentine's gifts for
yourself and the rabbit lovers in your life. A few items,
including hooded sweatshirts and long sleeved tee shirts, are
discounted for a short time only. Additionally, receive $5
off when you spend $45 or more by using coupon code
CPLUVSU at checkout. This offer expires 2/4 (also the
deadline for Valentine's Day delivery via ground shipping).
100% of all profits go directly to support the rescue and
educational work of House Rabbit Society. Please go to:

http://www.cafeshops.com/hrs,hrs2,hrs3


** Join House Rabbit Society Today!

If you are not a member of House Rabbit Society, please
take this opportunity to join us. A yearly tax-deductible
membership costs only $18, or $25 for international
memberships. All members receive the Society's newsletter,
The House Rabbit Journal. Please go to:

http://rabbit.org/hrs-info/joining.html


* On behalf of the rabbits, thank you. *

--
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Paige K. Parsons House Rabbit Society
Director of Technology http://www.rabbit.org
volunteering since '93

Do you like our site or find our advice useful?
Please show your support by making a secure online donation:

http://www.guidestar.org/helping/donate.adp?ein=94-3061685

HRS, 148 Broadway Richmond, CA 94804
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*