** Crisis in New Mexico

This past month, HRS New Mexico discovered a serious crisis brewing right under
our noses. An independent rabbit rescuer had rescued a large group of lops from
a breeder, but did not have the resources to properly care for them. HRS had
been helping with spay/neuters and placing individual rabbits into our adoption
network. However, we did not realize how severe the situation was until it had
spiraled out of control and Animal Control was called in.

Our volunteers visited the home last weekend and spent the day catching rabbits,
sexing them, separating them, and creating temporary housing for them.

We captured approximately:
• 36 adult females
• 24 adult males
• 75 babies and juveniles

We've sexed and separated all of the rabbits we caught, and they are living in
safe conditions for now. However, there are still many more that must be caught,
and the situation is very very dire. We are in a time crunch because Animal
Control wants the rabbits out, and because many of the females are pregnant.

We are trying to get local veterinarians to help us with spays, but we need
homes and housing and supplies and other help. Our volunteers have donated all
of our own carriers, cages, and ex-pens, but we still need more temporary
housing, especially for the new rabbits that we will be catching next weekend.

We are extremely grateful to the rabbit rescue groups that have so far come to
our aid. Dreampower Rescue in Colorado Springs took 16 of these rabbits already;
to see some of those rabbits, go to http://www.dreampower.org/SmallCaged.cfm and
look for Deputy, Commissioner, Boss, Detective, Foreman, Marshall, Ruler,
Sheriff, Supervisor and Warden. Wild Rescue of Plano, Texas took in an
additional ten rabbits. Those rabbits are now featured on Wild Rescue's website
here: http://rescuedrabbits.org/.

In addition, another 16 rabbits will be heading to the Midwest in a couple of
weeks, where most of them will end up at Tiny Paws Rescue
http://www.tinypaws.org/. And finally, later in June, we will be driving a few
dozen rabbits to California, where they will be transported to Washington State,
where 20 adults plus a cageful of babies will go to Rabbit Meadows Sanctuary in
Redmond
http://www.rabbitrodentferret.org/rabbitrodentferret.org/rabbitmeadowssanctuary.\
asp and another 5 will go to Rivers Wish Animal Sanctuary in Spokane
http://www.riverswishanimalsanctuary.org/.

We are unbelievably grateful to the above groups for helping, and to
Bunderground Railroad, Red Barn Rescue, Bunspace, St. Louis House Rabbit
Society, Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary, Portland Rabbit Advocates, and lots of
individuals both local and national who have offered help with driving or other
needs.

If you can help at all, by donating cages, ex-pens, food, or litter, by helping
with spay/neuters, by taking rabbits, or by driving rabbits, please contact
bill@... or margo@.... Thank you. We are also seeking corporate
donations!

http://www.rabbit.org/newmexico/

** Toilet Crisis at Headquarters

Two weeks ago, we lost operation of both toilets at our shelter and headquarters
in California. After the plumber came out, he found quite a large problem
indeed. It turns out that we do not have an outside access point to the sewer
line, called a clean out drain. Our plumbing system is not up to code because
we don't have this. There was a backup in the sewer that caused both of our
toilets to fail. They had to pull up a toilet to gain access to the sewer line
because we don't have a clean out drain. They do not go through the vents in
the roof to gain access because they have had at least three plumbers fall off
of roofs while accessing drains through a vent.

We have working toilets again on a temporary basis, but they were not able to
clear the blockage in the sewer line. They believe that the pipes are
misaligned and that debris are getting caught on the edges and caking together
to form a blockage. They tried to puncture the blockage three separate times
and were able to make a small hole, but that's it. They couldn't give us an
estimate of how long we will have before the toilets fail again.

We need to have a clean out drain installed. They will need to jackhammer the
asphalt near the exit driveway (the side of the shelter near the dumpster) to
gain access to the sewer and add the clean out drain. This will also have a
one-way valve which will allow water flowing from the shelter out to the street,
but will prevent back flow from the street into the shelter. Once this is
installed they will need to come out yearly and clean out the drain to prevent
future blockages. After they install the drain, they will replace the asphalt.
The cost for the entire repair is estimated at $5,800 and includes the permits
required by the city of Richmond, tearing up the asphalt, and replacing it.
We are looking to raise $5,800 in a very short time! If you can help with the
"toilet fund," our volunteers and staff will be forever grateful. You can donate
online here: http://www.rabbit.org/hrs-info/joining.html. Just put "toilet fund"
in the comments field.

** Funny Story: Angry Rabbit Destroys Home

View the utter devastation in the photo below. Was it a tsunami? An F5
hurricane? A mob of angry Republicans? No! It was seven pounds of enraged
rabbit!

http://tiny.cc/mXZ4D

** Chapter and Educator Updates

* North Georgia

The North Georgia House Rabbit Society has been extremely busy for the last two
years reorganizing our chapter with three new chapter managers and a newly
reorganized board that includes both executive and committee chairs. During the
weekend of March 27th-29 we held a strategic retreat that was attended by about
15 of our members. From there these members have committed to being committee
heads and also to helping with shelter operations! We have just recently added
five new educators-in-training and have several more who are filling out the
application and committing to doing work for the buns. Part of our long range
plan is to find a way to get a property for a permanent shelter for the foster
rabbits. We have some ambitious plans and feel we have a very committed board
and group of volunteers now that can help us achieve our goals.

June 7th will be our 5th annual BunnyFest and we are excited about celebrating
this milestone in our chapter history.

http://www.houserabbitga.org/

* Boston

From HRS educator Mary Lampert:
Rabbits in Boston are doing pretty well these days. The MSPCA has recognized me
as their rabbit resource, which means they've allowed me to contribute more
profoundly.

Last weekend, the Volunteer Director. Bryn Conklin, and I did the Small Animal
Orientation for new volunteers at the Boston MSPCA. Around 40 people showed up,
all with specific interests in volunteering with the smalls. Bryn did the
general overview of the shelter and I did a section on rabbit care during the
presentation and did a tour as well. This weekend and next I am doing some
on-the-job training for the new volunteers and today sent the Volunteer Director
an 11 page document of Rabbit FAQs. This FAQ sheet will be given to volunteers
new and old; educating the MSPCA's volunteers is a great way to make a larger
impact, as they will be able to pass that knowledge on to multitude of adopters.
I believe the FAQ doc will even be given to shelter staff.

Earlier this year I alerted the Volunteer Director that the rabbit information
on the MSPCA's website was outdated and incorrect (make sure to hold your rabbit
for half an hour every day, feed them unlimited pellets, etc.) I helped them
update it and now it's got good info.


* Louisiana
From educator June Booth:
Last year a man who has been questionable with animals for years had close to
60 some rabbits and maybe 200 in pigeons in his garage. The live rabbits were
mixed in with the dead rabbits. Through a family friend, all of the rabbits were
taken from him, with most going to the St Tammany Parish Shelter. Dr Rich and I
took the six worse case ones and worked with them until they were cleared of
illness and adoptable. Nattie, the last one, had months of drug therapy and was
finally pronounced a healthy rabbit. We are very happy the six did respond to
treatment, it cost us a lot but they are now in a place to enjoy life.

A week ago we adopted out the last of the "Hoarder Case" rabbits. It was a long
haul for Nattie as he was e-cunniculi positive and had to be treated for months
but now is negative and well. He has a forever home with new friends and a life
he richly deserves.

http://www.la-spca.org/education/rabbits/june_booth.htm
http://www.la-spca.org/education/rabbits/home.htm

* Colorado

The Colorado House Rabbit Society is having its Spring Fling on June 20th, from
11 AM to 4 PM at its Broomfield Headquarters.

New this year will be displays of a variety of Rabbit Habitats (Rabbitats) and
special "furnishings," such as a "non-litter litter box" (it has it's own
"septic system."). Two of our former shelter bunnies will show off their
clicker training abilities (we hope--they're great at home, but may be too
distracted at the Fling to perform). In any case, their "dad," Brandon Stokes
will talk to interested people about clicker training their rabbits.

Also new is a display of rabbit-proofing techniques; a booth of "gently used"
bunny items to help bunny folks get through this period of financial squeeze;
and Dr. Bill Guerrera will speak on the topic of "Your Aging Rabbit."

A constantly running video will show just how to make a bunny condo using the
"NIC panels" (inexpensive, and easy to do!); the clever design of Jennifer
Parisi's indoor-outdoor setup connected by a tunnel from the house to a fully
enclosed outdoor area; and possibly other items of interest.

There will be a variety of fun contests--your bunny may win an award for "best
ears" or "cutest butt" or some other category yet to be determined by the
contest committee. You could win a whole bale of grass hay just by never saying
"bunny" or "rabbit" and catching others who do. And there are a variety of
other contests, too.

Of course, we'll have our old standbys: massages for rabbits (and their people);
nail-clipping for bunnies; ask-a-vet booth; photgraphs of bunnies (with or
without their people); Dave and Lynn's yummy vegan food; all of the contests we
all enjoy so much, etc.

And the silent auction will feature an incredible number of highly desirable
items, as well as the Bunny Hideaways made by several of our members--your
bunnies will love them, if you're lucky enough to be the winning bidder!

So mark your calendars and don't miss the most-fun bunny event of the year!

http://www.coloradohrs.com/

* Upstate New York

The Upstate NY chapter just participated in the Pet Expo for CNY area, in New
Hartford on May 16. We sold beautiful cards by Liilie Ruby, and had handmade,
homemade bunny-chocolates from Ann Hildebrandt, who fosters for us in Albany.

Our chapter works actively with the Mohawk Hudson shelter in Albany - Jude
Raphael goes in several times a week and is the guardian angel for the buns
there. Meg Brown is going to be doing classes soon at Scotia APF, with Joanne
Shay. Davida Kobler will be concentrating on classes this year at Syracuse
CNYSPCA. Bob Graham has been a wonderful asset as a volunteer there. TCSPCA in
Ithaca continues to be a good connection. We work also with Rochester's Lollypop
Farms and Erie County SPCA when in need - Craig weekly and Kris as needed.
Annie-Laurie Hunter is doing a lot of outreach and fostering in Syracuse now
too.

In Southern Tier, we have a volunteer named Mike Brown who is, among his other
talents, a photographer and is very active with Boy Scouts. Mike has designed
new display boards for us for events and classes. Mike and his troops have also
done projects and put together homemade bunny toys for enrichment at area
shelters. Mike also takes his bun, Scone MacBunny, to the boy scout meetings.

http://www.therabbitresource.org/

* San Diego

San Diego HRS just held their annual open house on May 30. They had a number of
door prize drawings, kids' story time, refreshments, and a raffle drawing, as
well as foster bunnies for adoption, a store to buy gifts and bunny supplies,
and much, much more. It was a great time for everyone—human and rabbit!

On June 14, San Diego HRS will be holding a Bunny 101 Class, which will teach
new adopters and other members of the public the basics of rabbit care, diet,
behavior, and more.

Then on June 20, the chapter will be hosting their monthly speaker series, with
this month's topic "Enriching your rabbit's life." We'll talk about fun ways to
help your bunny stay active and provide mental stimulation; games, toys, play
areas, etc. We'll have some fun activities that kids can do at home to decorate
their rabbit's living area. Socialize with your fellow bunny slaves, enjoy our
informative presentation, and share yummy refreshments. We'll also update you
on upcoming events and volunteer needs.

http://www.sandiegorabbits.org/

** 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.

Goodbye, sweet Praline. Nigel and I will miss you.