What's New at House Rabbit Society April 2009

** Vote for House Rabbit Society!

The Animal Rescue Site is awarding $100,000 to the animal shelter with the most
votes! Vote for House Rabbit Society every day between now and July 26!

http://tiny.cc/WpAzq

** Use your new HRS Visa Card and benefit HRS when you shop!

We're excited to announce a brand new way that you can support House Rabbit
Society!

When you apply for the new House Rabbit Society platinum Visa Card, our issuing
bank (UMB) will donate $50 to House Rabbit Society the very first time you use
it! And UMB will donate a percentage of all your future purchases on the card to
House Rabbit Society as well! All of this is done at no cost to you, and no cost
to House Rabbit Society!

The more of us who participate, the bigger the impact we can make.

All the benefits of a platinum Visa card will be yours, along with the
satisfaction of showing your support of House Rabbit Society's mission every
time you use your card.

Each of the 3 custom House Rabbit Society card choices makes a statement about
our mission and about you.

So join me in applying for the House Rabbit Society Visa card today.

http://www.cardpartner.com/app/hrs

p.s. click on the "share this" link at the bottom of the application page to
share it with all your friends and to post it on your social networking sites!

** Every Rabbit Counts! Help House Rabbit Society spread the word around the
world!

Americans own 6.2 million pet rabbits according to the 2007 AVMA U.S. Pet
Ownership & Demographics Sourcebook. Yet it's difficult finding good statistics
on rabbits who are surrendered to animal shelters, adopted from animal shelters,
or who are euthanized at shelters.

If you represent an animal shelter, or work with a shelter, we can use your
help. Please fill out this confidential, five minute survey to help us make
Every rabbit count!

http://www.rabbit.org/rescue/sheltersurvey.html

** Cute story of the month

Three teeny bunnies, orphaned by a dog attack, were barely clinging to life in
an animal rehab center when they were "adopted" by a homing pigeon in a
neighboring cage.

To see the amazing photos and read the story, go to:

http://tiny.cc/t4stP


** Chapter Updates

* Vancouver

VRRA held a "Hop for Rabbits" walk to raise awareness of rabbits at Easter. It
was successful for all us bunny people but unfortunately the general public was
kept away by the very cold wind that day. We did raise about $1000 in donations
though!

Don't forget to submit your photos for the 2010 VRRA calendar. We are looking
for natural rabbit behaviours. See more about it on our website.

http://www.vrra.org

* Rhode Island

Sweet Binks conducted BunnyU, an educational class at The Potter League in
Middletown, RI on April 22nd. This event also had special guest speaker, Dr.
Cyndi Brown from Ocean State Veterinary Specialist, who gave a lecture on
emergency protocol. It was well attended and we are grateful to have Dr. Brown
on the team!

Sweet Binks was awarded the Shelter of the Week by SPCA International in
recognition of our work and for our continued efforts to improve the lives of
animals in our communities. Sweet Binks will be featured on www.spca.com and
received a $1000 grant check. Thank you, SPCA International!

Sweet Binks also welcomes members of Facebook to join us on Facebook Causes!

http://www.rirabbits.org

* St. Louis, Missouri

Missouri HRS has been up to its ears in ears. On March 19 we were called in by
the state humane rescue and investigation unit to help with a confiscation of 91
rabbits that soon turned into 127 rabbits. MO HRS jumped into action on very
short notice with 12 volunteers driving between 60 and 100 miles to help with
triage going taking from 7:00pm til 2:00am. MO HRS volunteers assisted with
daily cleaning while the majority of New Zealand Whites, taken from a terrible
breeding place, where kept at a humane society farm facility. The mama bunnies
that arrived with babies were housed at Hope Animal Hospital. Dr. Linda
Beisswenger and staff took them back with them from triage so they didn't have
to stay in a cold barn. Other pregnant females began giving birth very shortly
thereafter and were mostly housed at the chapter's main foster home. As
quickly as possible, foster families were found for all of the remaining
rabbits and moved into foster care. They are quickly being spayed/neutered and
prepared for adoption as well as transport to some of the other HRS chapters
around the country. Dispersing this many of one breed type is an enormous help
besides alleviating the burden of so many bunnies descending on one chapter at
one time. Our website at www.hrsmostl.org will shortly have a page devoted to
this rescue.

In addition to the confiscation, MO HRS volunteers attended or visited the
following places to provide some fun and education for the public: Missouri
Botanical Gardens Eggstravaganza, two presentations for young children on
bunnies at the Eureka Public Library, visits to two nursing homes prior to
Easter where elderly residents were able to hold and pet bunnies, monthly
Petsmart adoption days at 4 different locations, monthly meetings with a
veterinarian presentation on emergency care, Town & Country Easter Egg Hunt, and
4 segments on the Tim Ezel T.V. show on Fox 2 about not getting bunnies, chicks,
or ducks for children at Easter. We've been busy with adoptions, too, and
orientations for adopters on good rabbit care. It's certainly been a busy time
for MO HRS in St. Louis.

Finally, St. Louis HAS has a lot of members and adopters from southern Illinois.
Four of our Illinois members (MO HRS Educators) have started holding meetings in
O'Fallon, IL to pass along good bunny info and sell good bunny supplies. In
just three meetings it's grown quite large drawing many who are not able or
willing to drive to the Missouri side for the monthly meetings here. For some,
it's a long drive just to get to the O'Fallon, IL meeting. Way to go to our MO
HRS members Pat Daly, Bobbie Shewmaker, Thelma Miller, and Maggie Perez for all
of their work in getting more education available to bunny parents.

http://www.hrsmostl.org

* Seattle, Washington

Rabbit Meadows/House Rabbit Society of Washington will be holding our only
yearly fund raiser. On Saturday May 2nd our 3rd annual Dinner & Silent Auction
will again be hosted by The Rusty Pelican (owned by Marilyn and her two house
rabbits ;-) ) We have some great auction items. Many Microsoft Products
including a couple of Zunes; Teeth Whitening; Chewable Bunny Sofa and Chair. See
our web page www.rabbitrodentferret.org if you'd like to attend or donate items.

http://www.rabbitrodentferret.org

* Maryland/DC/Northern VA

We had a very successful booth at CVC East Veterinary Conference at the
Baltimore Convention Center April 25-27. We were able to attend two lectures by
Dr. Avery Brooks from the University of Illinois, one on neutering exotics and
one on jaw abcesses in rabbits. The printed literature; handouts for clients
and health articles from the House Rabbit Journal were very popular. Some vets
were quite generous putting money in our donation jar, saying, they find the
information that HRS provides very valuable to them and their clients. "Keep up
the good work." was a comment heard many times. We also gave out many forms for
the HRS Rabbit Health Database. An interesting trend we noticed, more and more
vets seem to have their own pet rabbits for whom they bought toys as a gift for
when they returned home.

http://www.rabbitsinthehouse.org

* San Diego

San Diego HRS is supporting "Bowling for Animals," an annual fundraising event
in San Diego County. This year's event benefits a standalone spay/neuter clinic
with SNAP (Spay Neuter Action Project of San Diego), which will also accommodate
rabbits. Our team, BUN CITY BOWLERS, hopes to raise the most funds for the
clinic and beat out all the dog & cat rescues. GO BUNNIES!

Our monthly Speakers Series is getting rave reviews and excellent support for
our community. March and April's presentations were given to a "standing room
only" crowd. These fun, monthly events offer fellow bunny slaves an opportunity
to listen to experts on various `bunny' topics, and enjoy refreshments and
socializing with other rabbit lovers.

Next month's presentation is set for Saturday, May 16, from 4 to 6 p.m. and
features "Veterinary Orthopedic Manipulation (VOM) for Rabbits," with speaker
John Harrison, DC, CVCP. Get all the details at
www.sandiegorabbits.org/aboutus/events.html

With a grant from the Beal Family Foundation, San Diego HRS is stepping up its
children's education events to bring the message of responsible rabbit care to
families in our community. Our program offers volunteer and fun opportunities
for kids, such as our February 14 "Luv a Bunny" event where children made toys
and treat bags for shelter rabbits, and our pre-Easter event at a local
family-oriented shopping mall. Our educators also did a bunny-care
presentation to a church group with 100 children, the day before Easter.

Additional programs are planned for this year, including a "Tots and Tales"
program where we read fun and educational `rabbit' books to kids, and more
volunteer projects for kids that will benefit rescued rabbits.

Our annual Open House is coming up on Saturday, May 30, from Noon to 4 p.m.
This event invites our community to come spend a fun day interacting with fellow
bunny slaves, learning about rabbit care and adoption, meeting adoptable foster
rabbits, and enjoying refreshments. The day also includes door prizes, a great
fundraising raffle, and excellent shopping for your bunny and yourself!

http://www.sandiegorabbits.org


* New Mexico

While New Mexico HRS is not yet a chapter, we have an active and passionate
group of volunteers who have been working with our three local shelters to place
their adoptable rabbits. Our volunteers have adopted out 68 rabbits since we
began working together in 2006, and have helped countless New Mexico residents
with their rabbit care issues.

We are also proud of the work that we have done to help our shelter with their
care and adoption programs. Since beginning our work, we have seen rabbits go
from being adopted out for $5 apiece to being spayed and neutered prior to
adoption and being adopted out for anywhere from $39 to $59 apiece.

Just last month, our volunteers held a garage sale and raised $1500 in two days;
we used those funds to purchase new cages for the off-site adoption facility of
Albuquerque Animal Services.

And just this past weekend, we tabled at the city's Fetchapalooza event, which
brought together dozens of New Mexico animal rescue groups and placed over 600
animals into new homes.

Photos of our volunteers at Fetchapalooza, and our new cages at the Lucky Paws
adoption facility, can be seen at our Bunspace page
http://www.bunspace.com/view_bunny?bunid=3360.

http://www.rabbit.org/newmexico

** Join, Donate or Renew Your Membership!

Remember, your donations don't just pay for the Journal. They support the
world's first international rabbit rescue, education, and advocacy organization,
which includes producing the Journal, running the website, producing our
educational materials and outreach events, paying for our chapter grant and
emergency rescue grant programs, and running our shelter in California. These
last few months have been especially hard on us, and we need your help.

To renew, make a donation, or join, go to
http://www.rabbit.org/hrs-info/joining.html


** Thank you on behalf of the rabbits.