** What's New? at House Rabbit Society - June 2005


** HRS Unveils New Chapter Grant Program

House Rabbit Society is excited to announce a new
program that will aid HRS chapters, who normally support
their activities entirely through local donations & chapter
memberships. The new HRS Chapter Grant program
involves a simple grant application that chapters can fill
out to help them with their mission of rabbit rescue or
education and outreach. HRS Chapter Grants can be
used to provide general operating expenses as well as to
fund specific projects with clear goals and objectives,
including capital projects.

Funds will come from the HRS general operating account,
which is funded by your donations. House Rabbit
Society anticipates giving out 6 grants per year, with a
maximum limit of $3,000 per grant. As we fund our
new grants, you'll be able to read about where the
funding has gone and what chapters have been able to
accomplish with these funds. - Margo DeMello


** Check Your Mailbox! The Summer Journal is Here!

The House Rabbit Society Journal has been published for
17 years! The latest issue is full of educational as well as
entertaining information as well. Included is a terrific article
about the health of rabbit ears and an insightful piece about
the significance of rabbits in dreams and art. Also, be
certain to read the cover story, A Clean Environment, tips
from HRS bunny-care experts. (Now who of us wouldn't
benefit from learning one more helpful cleaning tip?!) A
Day in the Life of Mr. Bunny is a must read also.

Thank you to all the wonderful and talented contributors
and, to Marinell Harriman, for 17 years of working on this
labor of love.

The Journal is available to members only. If you are not a
member, you don't know what you're are missing! Please
consider joining House Rabbit Society today.
http://rabbit.org/hrs-info/joining.html


** Animal Rights Groups Celebrate Rabbit Fur Ban!
By Maxine Frith, Social Affairs Correspondent,
Ezilon.com

Animal rights campaigners are claiming a victory after
Selfridges said that it had banned all fur products from its
shops.

The luxury English department store company has been
one of the main targets for anti-fur protesters, who have
staged weekly demonstrations outside shops and
bombarded managers with e-mails and phone calls.

Following a week of action earlier this month, Selfridges
sent an e-mail to campaign groups announcing the decision
to ban all fur products, including items in concession
ranges such as fashion designer Joseph.

The company was one of the last remaining department
chains in England to continue stocking fur and the ban is a
major triumph for the animal rights movement.

In the e-mail, Selfridges said: "Selfridges has reviewed its
policy on fur and will no longer be selling any fur products.
This will come into force with immediate effect. The policy
revision was made after customer feedback and a decline
in demand for fur-related products."

Selfridges closed its fur department in 1990 but continued
to sell items such as rabbit fur-trimmed gloves and clothes.

To read the entire article, go to:
http://www.ezilon.com/information/article_5028.shtml

** Viral Hemorrhagic Disease Confirmed in Indiana

On June 7, the 4th outbreak of Rabbit Hemorrhagic
Disease was identified in Indiana. To read more about
this case and about this deadly and highly contagious
disease, go to: http://www.rabbit.org/care/vhd.html


** Columbus HRS Assists Woman Deployed to Iraq
http://columbusrabbit.org/index.htm

Sunday evening, three days into my vacation, a Columbus
HRS volunteer was contacted by a woman about
temporary housing for her bunny. But this was no
ordinary bunny-sitting request.

The woman, Karen H., lives in Georgia and is being
deployed to Iraq to work as a contractor providing
electronic equipment support to the military. She could
be away up to one year. With short notice of her
assignment, she was desperate to find housing for her
beloved Emma, a white Netherland Dwarf with blue eyes.
She turned to us, after trying to find assistance in Georgia,
because her parents live in Ohio. The list of bunnysitters
on our website gave her contact names to begin her
search.

She contacted Kelly M., who directed her plea to CHRS
volunteers, Educators, and the Board of Directors. Our
network of caring volunteers sprang into action. Karen’s
situation was communicated to our members as well as to
Board members of the Buckeye chapter, in case they
could provide assistance.

Within minutes of our request, several members had
offered to house Emma while Karen was away. Over the
next 24 hours, the offers poured in - for long-term
temporary housing, for short-duration/emergency housing,
for monetary support, for moral support. Ultimately, we
provided Karen a list of volunteers - some of whom had
contacted her immediately - and allowed her to choose
where Emma would be housed. This was a far cry from
thinking she’d have to surrender Emma to a shelter
because no one could take her!

This week, Emma moved in with CHRS member Kelly O.
for the next several months. She will be cared for and
loved while her mom is away. Karen can fulfill her duty
knowing that Emma is safe and awaiting her return.
- Karalee Curry Columbus HRS


** Delightful Coffee Mugs Support Rabbit Adoption

The colorful artwork on these terrific coffee mugs and tee
shirts was created by Tim Burns, an Oakland CA artist, to
help raise funds for the rabbit spay & neuter program at
the local shelter. The items carry the message about the
importance of adoption.

Brighten up your kitchen or your desk at work by
purchasing a mug today (One can never have too many
coffee mugs!) and help support this ongoing volunteer
program to help the rabbits in Oakland California.
http://www.cafepress.com/hoptoadopt



** Chapter Updates

* Alabama www.alabamaears.org

On May 1, Alabama EARS held a spring BYOBP (Bring
Your Own Bunny Photo) party. Members brought lots of
photos and stories to share with each other. Never
wanting to miss an opportunity to educate, the topics for
the event were spay, neuter, and bringing outside buns
inside.

On May 21, Alabama EARS participated in an
educational event as part of the Trussville Arts and Crafts
Fair in Trussville, AL. EARS' educators answered basic
questions about domestic rabbit care and behavior at the
all day event. CM Linda Howard says, "Although it was
our first time EARS has participated in the fair there was
a good amount of interest generated once people knew
we were there." Alabama EARS plans to attend this event
next year as well.

On May 28, EARS volunteers participated in a new
monthly event "Help at a Foster Home Day." Volunteers
groomed bunnies, changed litter boxes, and clipped nails
while learning how to properly pick up and hold rabbits.
"We are trying to have one time each month that our
volunteers can come in and see the bunnies. It helps get
them involved, and they can see where the items from our
website wish list goes," says Corresponding Secretary,
Paris Grey.


* Colorado www.coloradohrs.com

The Colorado HRS has completed its eight outdoor runs
built of cement and metal, so secure that the rabbits can
be left out without a "bunny sitter." The rabbits, who are
rotated out during the week, and taken out on the
weekends while their crates are being cleaned, love the
space. Besides the wonderful bunny dances (binkies) they
all do, they spend a great deal of time digging in the hard
clay--great exercise for them!

Our "Spring Fling" has slipped into summer--July 16th.
We're looking forward to a great time with many "stations,"
including ask-a-vet, vegan lunch, human massage, bunny
massage, nail clipping and bunny tune-up, a silent auction,
and fun contests. Plastic eggs containing numbers will be
sold and an hour before the end of the fling, a sign will be
posted, indicating what each number has "won": a bale of
hay, items in our shop, discounts on anything in our shop,
etc.

We have had some interesting interactions with one of the
shelters in Denver, and with the state government. The
shelter had confiscated 25 rabbits due to a zoning issue.
The rabbits had been very well cared for prior to the
confiscation. However, the shelter gave them no food or
water, left four 3-day old baby bunnies on the cold metal
floor of the cages, put males and females together, and put
the carriers the rabbits had come in into roomy cages, but
left the rabbits in the carriers. Twenty four hours later, we
provided food and water, and took 20 of them the day
after that (five having been placed with someone else). I
filed a complaint with the state. They issued a warning to
the shelter. A few weeks later, there was an incident
involving dogs, and the state fined the shelter.

Meanwhile, an organization called "LaVoyagers" got
involved. Their mission is to make government entities
follow their own laws, and they sometimes sue the entity
for failing to do so. To avoid a suit, the director of the
shelter has agreed to sit down with me and one of the
LaVoyager people to create appropriate standards for
care. Of course, my concern is whether these will be
enforced.


* Rhode Island www.rirabbits.org

Sweet Binks Rabbit Rescue in Rhode Island has been quite
busy with shelter modifications such as a new quarantine
set-up, resurfaced flooring and more. Sweet Binks has
already taken in 125 rabbits so far this year from area
shelters and we continue our efforts to decrease these
numbers through education and awareness.

Sweet Binks is also conducting a yard sale on July 10th
with all proceeds going to our organization. The yard sale
will be held at a member's home and we are looking for
donations of sale items, so clean out those closets and
garages!

Sweet Binks will also be holding our 2nd Annual "Bun-efit"
Fundraiser on August 13th at VASA Park in Foster.
There will be live music, great raffle prizes, food and more.
Tickets are $20 per person (kids under 12 free). For more
information, visit our web site at: www.sweetbinks.org

Our primary veterinarian, "Dr. Dan" Cardosa Jr. has been
called to duty from inactive reserve and has been deployed
to Iraq as a veterinarian. Sweet Binks is working hard to
support Dr. Dan's practice and to train his new vet,
Dr. Chang, in the ways of lagomorphs. Dr. Chang's
enthusiasm to learn about rabbit veterinary care is very
refreshing and we thank her for that as well. We all wish
Dr. Dan a safe tour of duty and hope he returns home
soon. We would also like to thank Dr. Simpson for
stepping up to assist Sweet Binks during this critical time.

Sweet Binks celebrated our 400th adoption recently and
we would like to thank all the wonderful supporters of our
organization and the HRS. (Congratulations Sweet Binks!)


* MD/DC/NoVa www.rabbitsinthehouse.org

The MD/DC/NoVa Chapter has had a busy first half of
2005. In addition to the usual fostering and adoption
activities, in February we had a booth at the World of Pets
Expo in Timonium, Maryland. In March we tried
something new -- a rabbit photo shoot fundraiser, where
a local photographer donated her time and skills to provide
some of our members with professional photos of their
bunnies. It was a big success, and we're hoping to have
another photo shoot in November.

April found us manning our booth at the Super Pet Expo
in Chantilly, VA, as well as working on pre-Easter press
releases and interviews. May/June saw us at the
Greenbelt, MD Pet Expo and the Frederick Humane
Walk and Wag.

Now, we're looking forward to several more events in the
coming months, including a booth at the Taking Action for
Animals conference in our nation's capitol, Washington,
DC in July. Also in July, a local veterinarian will be doing
a talk on the use of alternative medicine, including
acupuncture, chiropractic and Chinese herbs.


* Indiana www.indianahrs.org

As announced in January, the Carmel Petco store honored
Petco's commitment to "Adoption First." Since January
12th, Petco has ceased the sale of rabbits at the Carmel
location and Indiana HRS has had adoptable rabbits
fostered in the store.

The program has been a resounding success! The success
of this program is due to continued positive public
interaction by our hard-working Carmel Petco volunteers.

Program Summary:

* Fourteen rabbits have been taken into Indiana HRS
foster care that we would have had no open slots for

* Nine rabbits fostered in the Carmel store have found
forever homes (2 bonded pairs, 5 single rabbits)

* Indiana HRS volunteers have a minimum 16 contact
hours with the public each week. Our volunteers exercise
rabbits in the store, model values for appropriate indoor
living enclosures, and answer questions for the general
public.

* Indiana HRS displays, loaded with information such as
living with a companion rabbit, appropriate indoor housing,
rabbit care and diet, enrichment (e.g. toys and treats), and
veterinary care, need to be restocked every week or so.

* Our binder of Central Indiana adoptable small animals
(Indiana HRS and Humane Society of Indianapolis) is
heavily utilized - the Humane Society of Indianapolis has
gone from 54 rabbits at the shelter to 20 rabbits or less
over the last 2 months.

Working collaboratively with Petco Carmel and the
Humane Society of Indianapolis, we have been able to
*stop* the euthanasia of healthy companion rabbits in
Central Indiana. We look forward to continuing our
partnership with the Carmel store and expanding our
Petco partnership with other stores in the metro
Indianapolis area and around the state. One of our
members in Northwest Indiana reported, "I would say
that your campaign has extended beyond central Indiana.
The last time I was in Petco in Hobart on U.S. 30, I
noticed they had a rabbit available for adoption from the
Humane Society Calumet. They did not have any rabbits
for sale, just one adoptable bunny.."

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge all of
our volunteers who have worked with rabbits in the store -
Amy Deitchley, Amanda Lenz, Chelsea & Gabe Meyers,
Becky Tharp, Kirstie Anderson & Aaron Schmoll,
Laura Krieg, Anne Sailer, Karen Woznick, and
Dana Bookman.

- Dawn Sailer-Fleeger on Behalf of the Indiana HRS
Leadership Team



** In Remembrance of Jeani Lopez

This newsletter is dedicated to the memory of Jeani Lopez,
who passed away in March 2005. Jeani was a strong
supporter of HRS and loved rabbits throughout her life.
Her kindness and generosity will be missed.


** On behalf of the rabbits, thank you. **