Sorry; the url for the cute story didn't come through. Here it is:

https://www.examiner.com/x-7748-Dayton-Small-Pets-Examiner~y2009m5d19-Natural-Di\
saster-Strikes-Dayton-Home

or

http://tinyurl.com/kslljv



--- In hrs-announce@yahoogroups.com, "margobun" <margo@...> wrote:
>
> ** 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.
>

** 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.

Dear Friends,

In April 2009, the rabbit community as well as the animal community lost one of
its greatest advocates, Amy Espie.

As many of our members know, Amy has been with House Rabbit Society since before
we were even founded. She was featured in the first edition of the House Rabbit
Handbook, and was one of the seven people who initially formed the House Rabbit
Society along with Marinell and Bob Harriman back in 1988. Since that time,
she's been a fosterer, an educator, our first Education Director, a board
member, a sanctuary fosterer, and a House Rabbit Journal writer and editor.

Her work to save rabbits, and all animals, will continue to have an impact on
the world for years to come.

To read a memorial to Amy, and to see a beautiful video about her impact,
compiled by Marinell Harriman and using photos and videos of Amy's, please go to
http://www.rabbit.org/amy


Margo DeMello
President
House Rabbit Society

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.

** Easter is around the Corner

This month and next, we are focusing on one of our central messages: that
rabbits are neither toys, nor "starter pets," nor low maintenance children's
pets. They are complicated animals who can live ten or more years, and who
deserve the same treatment that we give to our beloved cats and dogs. House
Rabbit Society was founded on the premise that rabbits should be household
companion animals, sharing in the love and care that we give to our other
companion animals, and not confined to a hutch in the backyard or a small cage
in a child's room.

Here's what some of our chapters are doing to promote that message:

* Columbus:

We are thrilled to announce that the Make Mine Chocolate! campaign
now has a sister organization in the UK.   The website is:

http://www.makeminechocolate.co.uk/

Although our 2009 "Make Mine Chocolate™" campaign has been somewhat
limited in terms of the activities we have been able to support, we
intend to use this down time as an opportunity to think about the future of the
campaign. Rescue groups and other animal-related groups have been very receptive
to the campaign's goals and we have had some limited success in getting our
message out to the general public through newspaper articles and other media.
But we need a creative and
comprehensive strategy for distributing our message through other
channels that will reach the parents, grandparents, and other potential
purchasers of Easter rabbits. Although we have some ideas on how to accomplish
this, our hope is that our partners and supporters will share their ideas with
us so that our 2010 "Make Mine Chocolate™" campaign will be even more effective
than past campaigns.

http://www.columbusrabbit.org
http://www.makeminechocolate.org


* North Georgia:

Co-chapter manager  Nancy McConville is doing a live radio interview March 17th
with Radio Sandy Springs 1620 AM, on rabbit care, behavior and our local rescue.
And on April 11 and April 12, we will host our annual Easter event from 11-4:00.
We'll have Easter egg hunts, photos, and information on rabbit care and
adoption.  Also in April, we are having our first weekend Rabbit Summit at the
lake home co-chapter manager Edie Sayeg.  The purpose is to set new goals, and
define methods to achieve them, so that we can move from where we are now as a
shelter, to where what we want to be in the future.  We are inviting individuals
who are motivated and excited to be a part of our growing process to brainstorm
with us to make our dreams a reality.  Our other change is that our newsletter
is changing from a paper copy to email blasts.  As much as we love our
traditional newsletters, they are consuming too much time and postage, so we are
moving ahead with technology. We are thankful and appreciative of our volunteers
who have made this change a reality!

http://www.houserabbitga.org

* Vancouver:

Vancouver HRS/VRRA will be holding their first Annual 'Hop for Rabbits' on
Saturday April 4th, 2009, 12-4pm at Stanley Park Ceperley Meadow (off Beach
Avenue).  The Hop for Rabbits is a fund raising and educational Easter campaign
aimed at discouraging the purchase of rabbits as Easter gifts. Come support us
in our efforts to ban the sale of baby rabbits in pet stores as we 'hop' along a
leisurely path in Stanley Park. We will have rabbit info, face painting, treats.

http://www.vrra.org

* San Diego:

Saturday, March 21, Kicks off our Monthly Speaker Series!  Scheduled the third
Saturday of each month from 4 to 6 p.m., our speaker series features a variety
of presentations from behavior, to medical, to fun ways to enrich your rabbit's
life.  These get-togethers offer our community the opportunity to learn more
about the care of their rabbit companions, and a chance to socialize with other
bunny slaves. Refreshments are provided and most events are BYOB (bring your own
bunny).

Coming up in the next three months are:

March 21:  Bunny Bonding Basics, presented by chapter manager, Judith Pierce

April 18: Common Rabbit Health Issues, presented by Todd Cecil, DVM

May 16: VOM: Veterinary Orthopedic Manipulation for Rabbits, presented by John
Harrison, DC, CVCP

SDHRS Educators will conduct a pre-Easter education event at one of San Diego
County's largest family-oriented shopping malls, Westfield Parkway Plaza in El
Cajon.  Saturday, April 4, volunteers will be on hand with some of our Big White
Spokesbunnies, to discuss the `reality' of Easter and rabbits.  We'll have lots
of great educational information, including items from the `Make Mine Chocolate"
campaign, and help parents to choose a stuffed or chocolate bunny as a wise
alternative to a live rabbit for Easter.

Our annual Open House is scheduled for Saturday, May 30, Noon to 4 p.m.  
Visitors will enjoy bidding on fun gifts in the Raffle, great refreshments,
visiting with adoptable rabbits, and socializing with fellow bunny slaves.  The
weather is always beautiful for this event and it's a great day to bring your
bunny with you and to visit with your bunny friends.  We'll also have some great
shopping for your rabbits and your bunny-loving friends.  There will be great
willow toys, treats, and fun t-shirts for the humans.

http://www.sandiegorabbits.org

* Alabama:

Alabama EARS just attended Cottontail's Village Arts & Crafts Show in Birmingham
March 2-8. This craft show, with over 500 vendors, is a great opportunity to
educate the bunny-friendly public about what it is really like to live with a
rabbit before the Easter-bunny season is in full swing. This central theme is
rabbits and Easter so it is an ideal opportunity to spread the MMC message--and
we know from our immediate feedback as well as the follow-up correspondence that
we are quite successful each year.  Our volunteers answer questions, hand out
both fliers and in-depth rabbit care packages to people with rabbits and those
consider bringing home a rabbit for spring. The craft fair, which is
well-promoted, has customers from five states with the average range of paying
customers between 25-70. Volunteers constantly pass out chocolate donated by
area stores while promoting the "Make Mine Chocolate" campaign.

http://www.alabamaears.org

* North Carolina:

We kicked off our Make Mine Chocolate campaign at North Carolina Rabbit Day on
February 28.  We had about 200 people come out for our event.  For MMC we got
volunteers together and attached chocolates tied with blue ribbons to the make
mine chocolate postcards.  Those were handed out as freebies when people came
in.  We had some handouts, and we also ordered a batch of MMC pins from the
Columbus HRS and sold them at the event.  Our volunteers also put together some
plush pet packets and we had them on display, and will be selling these through
April as part of our  MMC/Easter education efforts.  All proceeds are split
between the SPCA and AllCreatures Rescue.

The SPCA of Wake County will be selling our plush pet packets, MMC pins and have
dedicated the next two months to educating the public on rabbit care.  We are
planning to have educational boards displayed at their facility, an educational
class for the public on rabbit care/things to consider before adopting and
youtube videos highlighting the joys of having a rabbit as a pet.

http://www.capefearrabbits.org/

* Miami:

We had an outreach table at the Fairchild Tropical Gardens annual Chocolate
Festival, which fit right in with the theme.  It was fantastic. We had hundreds
of well-educated visitors come by the table and visit our fosters, and the
parents definitely got the message.

http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/hrs.html

* South Carolina:

We are doing a massive children's educational program this year. Thus far we
have 11 elementary and middle schools signed up for our Children's House Rabbit
Education Classes.  Each class is scheduled to last about 45 minutes, though
most teachers encourage us to stay longer—usually a bit over an hour.  Most
classes are 3rd, 4th and 5th grades; we do have one school that also has us
teach the 6th graders.

The class is highly interactive and includes games and other activities to keep
the kids interested.  The teachers also require that the children complete
homework based on our class to ensure that they are paying attention and
learning the material while we're there.  Most teachers ask the children to
write a paper covering much of what they learned.  The 6th grade students
usually have to also visit rabbit.org as part of the homework and learn
something new in addition to the material we have covered in the class and
incorporate that into their papers. We also hand out basic rabbit care pamphlets
and "9 Myths" sheets to each student, and the younger children also receive a
copy of the HRS coloring book.  We became involved with this program in
partnership with our local shelter, and the shelter's education director has
noticed an increase in rabbit adoptions from the shelter following our classes. 
She believes that those who do decide to adopt after participating in the
program are doing so from a more educated point of view, and that the parents
have also read the basic information and researched the proper care involved
with a house rabbit.

http://www.lowcountrybunny.com

* Wisconsin:

WHRS is doing its annual education events, held over 3 Saturdays, at the Mounds
Pet Food Warehouses in the Madison area and south-central Wisconsin; we feature
adoptable rabbits and educate visitors about rabbit care. We also will have our
annual Easter letter to all newspapers across the State. Our local humane
society is featuring photos of families taken with adoptable shelter rabbits;
WHRS is partnering to provide participating families with rabbit care
information.

http://www.wisconsinhrs.org

* Sacramento:

Sacramento HRS is hosting their annual Run for the Buns! This fun event will be
held on Sunday, March 29, from 8-11:00am. Participants can choose the 1 mile,
5K, or 10K lengths and can walk, run, or a bit of both.

http://www.allearssac.org

* National:

We are hosting our annual Spring Photo Day on Saturday, April 11, from
12:30-4:30. This event will feature our famous furry friend photographer, Ken
Mark! Ken will once again be volunteering his skills as a professional
photographer to bunny owners wanting a high-quality portrait of their pet
rabbit(s).

We're also hosting a toy making workshop on Sunday, March 29, from 1:00-4:00. At
this fun class, participants will be making an Easter basket full of fun things
for your bunny and to share with shelter bunnies and bunnies of friends.

http://www.rabbit.org/rabbit-center

** In other news:

We are helping psychologists at the University of Edinburgh (UK) who are
studying animal personality and human personality, in light of the relationship
between caregivers and their pet. To do this, they need pairs of people to fill
out their online survey, which should take no more than 15-20 minutes (on
average).

The pairs should be made up of a primary caregiver (e.g., the pet-owner) and
another person who is familiar with that same pet (e.g., another caregiver or
friend who knows the pet). If you are interested in participating and/or would
like to know more about this study, please go to the following link:

http://socpsy.psy.ed.ac.uk/ex/pets/client/

** House Rabbit Journal is mailed!

Finally, the House Rabbit Journal has gone out! If you haven't received your
issue in the next two weeks, please contact us to find out if your membership is
current and that we have your correct address. (Remember, the Post Office does
not forward Journals if you move.)

** 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. Right now, our funds are completely depleted, 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.

** February is Adopt A Rescued Rabbit Month

This month House Rabbit Society celebrates Adopt a Rescued Rabbit
Month! To find out more about adopting a rabbit, please start with
our FAQ pages and then visit our adoption page to find an HRS chapter
or foster home near you. Shelters, to find out about how to promote
rabbit adoptions at your own shelter, please visit our Rescue pages.
http://www.rabbit.org/adopt-a-rabbit-month/adopt.html

** Help for Shelters and Rescue Groups

House Rabbit Society has put together a comprehensive set of
materials for shelters and rescue groups to use to help them to
improve their rabbit care and adoption programs. At
http://www.rabbit.org/rescue/, you'll find information about the HRS
Emergency Rescue Fund, working with pet stores to promote rabbit
adoptions, lots of educational materials, and links to pages where
you can find adoption forms, shelter forms, posters, flyers, and more.
http://www.rabbit.org/rescue/

** Jewelry to remember a beloved Rabbit

Memorial Gallery Pets, a company that makes memorial jewelry for pet
owners, has just created two new rabbit memorial necklaces. With the
purchase of an up eared rabbit or lop eared cremation jewelry
pendant, a percentage of profits are donated to HRS. Be sure to enter
HRS in the order notes so that HRS gets a donation from your
purchase.
http://www.memorialgallerypets.com/pet-cremation-jewelry.aspx

** Other Businesses that benefit HRS or Rabbit Rescue When You Buy

Did you know that there are all kinds of ways that you can benefit
HRS when shopping for you or your rabbit? We've organized the links
to all of the companies that currently donate to HRS or to other
rabbit rescue groups when you make a purchase. Visit these great
companies here:
http://www.rabbit.org/links/shopforhrs.html

** Google Search

Did you know that if you use HRS's Google page, every time you use
Google to search for something, a you'll be supporting HRS?
http://www.rabbit.org/fun/google-search.html

** Searching for Rabbit Superstars!

Amy Spintman, HRS Educator, volunteer with San Diego HRS, and founder
of Cats & Rabbits & More, is looking for photos of rabbits playing in
Cottontail Cottages and Hopper Hideaways to post on these pages:

http://www.catsandrabbitsandmore.com/cottontail_cottages
http://www.catsandrabbitsandmore.com/hopperhideaway

If you're interested in your rabbit being a star, please contact Amy
at amy@....

** Hoarding Case in Florida

The following newspaper article tells the story of a man in Tampa who
had over 150 rabbits in poor conditions at his property. Since the
story was written, Animal Control removed the rabbits from the man's
home and most went to an animal rehabber in St. Petersburg for
temporary care. Tampa Bay HRS will be assisting with spay/neuters and
adoptions for these rabbits.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/article971454.ece

** Rabbit Networking

Check out eThump, the new email list for rabbit lovers
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/eThump/
Rabbit rescuers are invited to join the Rabbit Rehoming Alliance, a
new support system for rabbit rescuers:
http://www.meetupalliance.com/RabbitRehomingAlliance
And don't forget Bunspace: the "in" place to be for rabbits from
around the world:
http://www.bunspace.com

** Chapter Updates

* Colorado

Colorado HRS has had a large jar (one of those multi-gallon drinking-
water bottles) in the shop, inviting people to drop their change in.
We recently counted it.  It contained $1499.38!!  This paid for three
sky lights in one of the rooms of our shelter.
http://www.coloradohrs.com/

* Italy

AAE Coniglio, the Italian chapter of HRS, was recently in the news
again! To see the most recent coverage, go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJRijVUrQt0&feature=channel_page
http://www.aaeconigli.it/

* Wisconsin

The Wisconsin HRS Chapter has had a busy fall and early winter. Our
September Bunny Day in Madison brought a large crowd, two- and four-
legged, to hear about rabbit dental and digestive problems with guest
speaker Kurt Sladky, DVM, of the UW-Madison's Veterinary Teaching
Hospital. Early December saw successful fund-raising with our holiday
bazaars, despite the unusually heavy snowfall.

In November WHRS assisted the Animal Rescue League of Iowa (Des Moines) with
back-to-back confiscations of a large number of dwarfs
and lionheads. Over half of the 34 rabbits came back to Madison for
rehoming, with the remainder being rehomed our good friends at
Minnesota Rabbit Rescue. We thank Chicago HRS, Indiana HRS, and Red
Door Shelter of Chicago for taking several rabbits as well. Currently
there is no HRS chapter in Iowa - if you live in Iowa and would like
to be involved in helping shelter rabbits, we could use your energy!
Please contact us at WiHRS (info@...) if you would like
to help.

Chapter Manager George Flentke has been invited to Des Moines ARL
this spring to train shelter staff in rabbit care and behavior. We
are pleased to be associated with this fine shelter! Easter sees our
annual education events with the Mounds Pet Food Warehouses in south-
central Wisconsin (March 22, 29, Apr 5). April 18 is the Burlington
Pet Fair, and Milwaukee Bunny Day is April 26. August sees the AAV
Conference in Milwaukee Aug 8-15 and we will be sponsoring a rabbit
education table there. We are always seeking volunteers to help with
these events. Contact us at (608) 232-7044 or info@....
http://www.wisconsinhrs.org/

* Chicago

HRS Chicago mobilized its core volunteers to help DuPage County Animal Care and
Control in Wheaton, IL that had rescued over 69 Dutch rabbits during an eviction
on December 4, 2008.   The rabbits, while well socialized, were living in
deplorable conditions.   The rabbits were free roaming in a one bedroom
apartment that was saturated with urine and fecal matter.   The amount of dead
and live flies was indescribable and unbearable for the officers on the scene. 
The rabbits were able to multiply freely. Reproduction occurs every 4 weeks with
litter ranging from 3 to 6 babies. The rescue effort was swift and dog kennels
soon became rabbit haven.

The shelter veterinarian immediately evaluated all the incoming rabbits. They
were amazed at the level of adaptability the rabbits displayed.  They did not
appear to suffer any stress with the transition and the veterinarian was able to
begin spaying the rabbits immediately upon intake.The shelter vet spayed 15
female rabbits the next day and 13 of them were pregnant.

Dr. Susan Brown donated her time and neutered an additional 14 of the
rabbits and she and Dr. Nye performed a dental surgery on one that
HRS Chicago had taken into our foster system.

HRS Chicago volunteers worked 5 days a week to help clean, medicate
and screen adoptive homes for the rabbits.  Various local rabbit
rescue groups, including HRS Chicago, were utilized to reduce the
population as the spay/neuter surgeries happened and the Associate
Press release resulted in 27 shelter adoptions so far.  Now we are
happy to say that there are only 6 rabbits left.
http://www.hrschicago.org/index1.html

* St. Louis

Missouri HRS in St. Louis had its biggest challenges ever in 2008. Starting in
late 2007 and rolling through 2008 we had 20 litters of
babies come to us from various shelters; some with moms and some
not.  That and the normal rabbits coming into us from shelters were
more than enough to handle, but in early August 2008 the Humane
Society of Missouri notified the House Rabbit Society of Missouri
about a major confiscation soon to occur of over 360 creatures of
fin, fur, and feather.  The confiscation would include around 50
rabbits, over 20 guinea pigs, and other potential small animals. Would our
organization be able to help?  The shelter would give up
its employee dining room for the duration as the animals would
require housing on premises until the case went to court for final
disposition.

A rush meeting with our governing group and a rush grant request to
Petsmart Charities was made plus a grant from HRS and a donation from
IND HRS covered the medical needs we anticipated.  An appeal to our
members brought in a group of volunteers who met the night before the
confiscation and turned the dining room into both a housing and
exercise area plus medical triage center.  We were able to utilize
dog crates on tables for aisles of bunny housing and used small
animal housing for the guinea pigs and degus. Dr. Linda Beisswenger
of Hope Animal Hospital in Fenton, MO stayed until the small hours of
the morning to help the Humane Society veterinary staff with
diagnosis and recommended treatment of the incoming small animals. She followed
up by coming to the shelter many times for continuing
care and handled the legal write-ups for the small animals that would
be presented to the judge for disposition.

Rallying to the call for daily volunteers, members of MO HRS took on
the daily care duties of feeding and cleaning the 45 surviving
rabbits brought in, 23 guinea pigs (who subsequently also produced 12
babies) and 2 degus so that Humane Society staff could focus on the
other animals in the confiscation and limit assistance in the "bunny
room" to medical care so that only qualified Humane Society medical
staff gave medication, etc.  This was on top of all the volunteer care required
to handle the nearly 200 fosters already in MO HRS (St. Louis) care.

When the case came to court, full disposition of the animals was awarded to the
Humane Society of Missouri.  Again, they turned to the House Rabbit Society of
Missouri for the rabbits and small animals. Over the next month MO HRS accepted
all of the small animals. Appealing to some veterinarians in the area with
rabbit experience, and, again, our volunteers, we also put together a
spay/neuter day on Sept. 28, 2008 in which 20 rabbits were altered in one day.
The remaining rabbits were altered at Hope Animal Hospital as they were ready. A
special adoption day was organized for October 5th, 2008 with both print and TV
media attention.   Over 20 rabbits and 15 guinea pigs were adopted that day.  Of
the 45 rabbits 3 were subsequently lost to health complications, but 25 are in
permanent adoption homes and the remainder are in foster care with MO HRS for
continued socialization and/or health care so that they, too, may find permanent
homes.

We can't thank enough all those who gave of their time, energy, and
love to help these animals in need. And if the above wasn't enough
for 2008, MO HRS in St. Louis had 175 adoptions in 2008, revamped its
website, added a PayPal button, and sold nearly every 2009 Rabbit Rescue
Calendar it made.   Thank you to those who helped and those
who adopted.

MO HRS has the following events/activities planned for 2009:

Monthly meetings, 3rd Tuesday of each month 7:30pm, Humane Society of
Missouri
Feb. 17:  Speaker  Linda Beisswenger, DVM,   "Emergency Care - What
to do Until You Can Get to Your Veterinarian"
April 4, Eggstravaganza,  Missouri Botanical Garden
June 7, Bunny Expo,  Humane Society of Missouri (Macklind)
Oct. 24,  St. Louis Pet Expo, America's Center
Nov. 15, Holiday Animal Boutique,  Humane Society of Missouri
(Macklind)
http://www.hrsmostl.com/

* San Diego

San Diego HRS is offering fun new opportunities for kids.  To
celebrate "Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month" in February, we are holding
a Feb 14th activity day for kids, "Love a Shelter Bunny!"  At this
event kids will make toys and treats for area shelter rabbits,
including rattle toys, hay treat bags, and more.

Our pre-Easter education program will include an art contest where
school children are invited to submit a drawing that supports our
motto "Rabbits are for a Lifetime - Not Just for Easter."  Winning
entries will get a visit to their classroom from a former Easter
bunny currently in HRS foster care.

Bunnyfest planning is underway, with a new Event Coordinator on
board, Heather Christian.  Heather is leading a team of volunteers
that will work on getting sponsorships, new vendors, and coordinate
preparation for this annual event.  This year's Bunnyfest looks to be
one of the best ever, with several new volunteers lending their fresh
ideas and energy to the event.

Community education classes are underway with our first Bunny 101
seminar scheduled for Jan 31.  February's classes include Angora
Grooming, the kids' Valentine volunteer event, and a training
workshop for chapter educators.
http://www.sandiegorabbits.org/

* National Headquarters

We will be holding a special Valentine's Day Luncheon at our
headquarters on February 7, and on March 29, we will be hosting a Toy
Making class where participants will make fun goodies for your
bunnies, friends' bunnies, or the bunnies here at the shelter. Finally, on May
3, we will be hosting the "Well Maintained Bunny" class, which will be a primer
class on grooming and health care for
rabbits. To find out more about these classes, call us at 510-970-7575 or e-mail
us at rabbit-center@....
http://www.rabbit.org/rabbit-center


** Join, Donate or Renew Your Membership!

We are done with the newest issue of the House Rabbit Journal; this
one will cover more 20th anniversary history and information, plus
all kinds of other great things. 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. While we have a large reach, we are still a grassroots,
volunteer-based organization, and we need your donations to continue
to do what we do. To renew, make a donation, or join, go to
http://www.rabbit.org/hrs-info/joining.html


** Thank you on behalf of the rabbits.

** February is Adopt A Rescued Rabbit Month

This month House Rabbit Society celebrates Adopt a Rescued Rabbit
Month! To find out more about adopting a rabbit, please start with
our FAQ pages and then visit our adoption page to find an HRS chapter
or foster home near you. Shelters, to find out about how to promote
rabbit adoptions at your own shelter, please visit our Rescue pages.
http://www.rabbit.org/adopt-a-rabbit-month/adopt.html

** Help for Shelters and Rescue Groups

House Rabbit Society has put together a comprehensive set of
materials for shelters and rescue groups to use to help them to
improve their rabbit care and adoption programs. At
http://www.rabbit.org/rescue/, you'll find information about the HRS
Emergency Rescue Fund, working with pet stores to promote rabbit
adoptions, lots of educational materials, and links to pages where
you can find adoption forms, shelter forms, posters, flyers, and more.
http://www.rabbit.org/rescue/

** Jewelry to remember a beloved Rabbit

Memorial Gallery Pets, a company that makes memorial jewelry for pet
owners, has just created two new rabbit memorial necklaces. With the
purchase of an up eared rabbit or lop eared cremation jewelry
pendant, a percentage of profits are donated to HRS. Be sure to enter
HRS in the order notes so that HRS gets a donation from your
purchase.
http://www.memorialgallerypets.com/pet-cremation-jewelry.aspx

** Other Businesses that benefit HRS or Rabbit Rescue When You Buy

Did you know that there are all kinds of ways that you can benefit
HRS when shopping for you or your rabbit? We've organized the links
to all of the companies that currently donate to HRS or to other
rabbit rescue groups when you make a purchase. Visit these great
companies here:
http://www.rabbit.org/links/shopforhrs.html

** Google Search

Did you know that if you use HRS's Google page, every time you use
Google to search for something, a you'll be supporting HRS?
http://www.rabbit.org/fun/google-search.html

** Searching for Rabbit Superstars!

Amy Spintman, HRS Educator, volunteer with San Diego HRS, and founder
of Cats & Rabbits & More, is looking for photos of rabbits playing in
Cottontail Cottages and Hopper Hideaways to post on these pages:

http://www.catsandrabbitsandmore.com/cottontail_cottages
http://www.catsandrabbitsandmore.com/hopperhideaway

If you're interested in your rabbit being a star, please contact Amy
at amy@....

** Hoarding Case in Florida

The following newspaper article tells the story of a man in Tampa who
had over 150 rabbits in poor conditions at his property. Since the
story was written, Animal Control removed the rabbits from the man's
home and most went to an animal rehabber in St. Petersburg for
temporary care. Tampa Bay HRS will be assisting with spay/neuters and
adoptions for these rabbits.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/article971454.ece

** Rabbit Networking

Check out eThump, the new email list for rabbit lovers
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/eThump/
Rabbit rescuers are invited to join the Rabbit Rehoming Alliance, a
new support system for rabbit rescuers:
http://www.meetupalliance.com/RabbitRehomingAlliance
And don't forget Bunspace: the "in" place to be for rabbits from
around the world:
http://www.bunspace.com

** Chapter Updates

* Colorado

Colorado HRS has had a large jar (one of those multi-gallon drinking-
water bottles) in the shop, inviting people to drop their change in.
We recently counted it.  It contained $1499.38!!  This paid for three
sky lights in one of the rooms of our shelter.
http://www.coloradohrs.com/

* Italy

AAE Coniglio, the Italian chapter of HRS, was recently in the news
again! To see the most recent coverage, go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJRijVUrQt0&feature=channel_page
http://www.aaeconigli.it/

* Wisconsin

The Wisconsin HRS Chapter has had a busy fall and early winter. Our
September Bunny Day in Madison brought a large crowd, two- and four-
legged, to hear about rabbit dental and digestive problems with guest
speaker Kurt Sladky, DVM, of the UW-Madison's Veterinary Teaching
Hospital. Early December saw successful fund-raising with our holiday
bazaars, despite the unusually heavy snowfall.

In November WHRS assisted the Animal Rescue League of Iowa (Des
Moines) with back-to-back confiscations of a large number of dwarfs
and lionheads. Over half of the 34 rabbits came back to Madison for
rehoming, with the remainder being rehomed our good friends at
Minnesota Rabbit Rescue. We thank Chicago HRS, Indiana HRS, and Red
Door Shelter of Chicago for taking several rabbits as well. Currently
there is no HRS chapter in Iowa - if you live in Iowa and would like
to be involved in helping shelter rabbits, we could use your energy!
Please contact us at WiHRS (info@...) if you would like
to help.

Chapter Manager George Flentke has been invited to Des Moines ARL
this spring to train shelter staff in rabbit care and behavior. We
are pleased to be associated with this fine shelter! Easter sees our
annual education events with the Mounds Pet Food Warehouses in south-
central Wisconsin (March 22, 29, Apr 5). April 18 is the Burlington
Pet Fair, and Milwaukee Bunny Day is April 26. August sees the AAV
Conference in Milwaukee Aug 8-15 and we will be sponsoring a rabbit
education table there. We are always seeking volunteers to help with
these events. Contact us at (608) 232-7044 or info@....
http://www.wisconsinhrs.org/

* Chicago

HRS Chicago mobilized its core volunteers to help DuPage County
Animal Care and Control in Wheaton, IL that had rescued over 69 Dutch
rabbits during an eviction on December 4, 2008.   The rabbits while
well socialized, were living in deplorable conditions.   The rabbits
were free roaming in a one bedroom apartment that was saturated with
urine and fecal matter.   The amount of dead and live flies was
indescribable and unbearable for the officers on the scene.  The
rabbits were able to multiply freely. Reproduction occurs every 4
weeks with litter ranging from 3 to 6 babies. The rescue effort was
swift and dog kennels soon became rabbit haven.

The shelter veterinarian immediately evaluated all the incoming
rabbits. They were amazed at the level of adaptability the rabbits
displayed.  They did not appear to suffer any stress with the
transition and the veterinarian was able to begin spaying the rabbits
immediately upon intake.The shelter vet spayed 15 female rabbits the
next day and 13 of them were pregnant.

Dr. Susan Brown donated her time and neutered an additional 14 of the
rabbits and she and Dr. Nye performed a dental surgery on one that
HRS Chicago had taken into our foster system.

HRS Chicago volunteers worked 5 days a week to help clean, medicate
and screen adoptive homes for the rabbits.  Various local rabbit
rescue groups, including HRS Chicago, were utilized to reduce the
population as the spay/neuter surgeries happened and the Associate
Press release resulted in 27 shelter adoptions so far.  Now we are
happy to say that there are only 6 rabbits left.
http://www.hrschicago.org/index1.html

* St. Louis

Missouri HRS in St. Louis had its biggest challenges ever in 2008.
Starting in late 2007 and rolling through 2008 we had 20 litters of
babies come to us from various shelters; some with moms and some
not.  That and the normal rabbits coming into us from shelters were
more than enough to handle, but in early August 2008 the Humane
Society of Missouri notified the House Rabbit Society of Missouri
about a major confiscation soon to occur of over 360 creatures of
fin, fur, and feather.  The confiscation would include around 50
rabbits, over 20 guinea pigs, and other potential small animals.
Would our organization be able to help?  The shelter would give up
its employee dining room for the duration as the animals would
require housing on premises until the case went to court for final
disposition.

A rush meeting with our governing group and a rush grant request to
Petsmart Charities was made plus a grant from HRS and a donation from
IND HRS covered the medical needs we anticipated.  An appeal to our
members brought in a group of volunteers who met the night before the
confiscation and turned the dining room into both a housing and
exercise area plus medical triage center.  We were able to utilize
dog crates on tables for aisles of bunny housing and used small
animal housing for the guinea pigs and degus. Dr. Linda Beisswenger
of Hope Animal Hospital in Fenton, MO stayed until the small hours of
the morning to help the Humane Society veterinary staff with
diagnosis and recommended treatment of the incoming small animals.
She followed up by coming to the shelter many times for continuing
care and handled the legal write-ups for the small animals that would
be presented to the judge for disposition.

Rallying to the call for daily volunteers, members of MO HRS took on
the daily care duties of feeding and cleaning the 45 surviving
rabbits brought in, 23 guinea pigs (who subsequently also produced 12
babies) and 2 degus so that Humane Society staff could focus on the
other animals in the confiscation and limit assistance in the "bunny
room" to medical care so that only qualified Humane Society medical
staff gave medication, etc.  This was on top of all the volunteer
care required to handle the nearly 200 fosters already   in MO HRS
(St. Louis) care.

When the case came to court, full disposition of the animals was
awarded to the Humane Society of Missouri.  Again, they turned to the
House Rabbit Society of Missouri for the rabbits and small animals.
Over the next month MO HRS accepted all of the small animals.
Appealing to some veterinarians in the area with rabbit experience,
and, again, our volunteers, we also put together a spay/neuter day on
Sept. 28, 2008 in which 20 rabbits were altered in one day.   The
remaining rabbits were altered at Hope Animal Hospital as they were
ready. A special adoption day was organized for October 5th, 2008
with both print and TV media attention.   Over 20 rabbits and 15
guinea pigs were adopted that day.  Of the 45 rabbits 3 were
subsequently lost to health complications, but 25 are in permanent
adoption homes and the remainder are in foster care with MO HRS for
continued socialization and/or health care so that they, too, may
find permanent homes.

We can't thank enough all those who gave of their time, energy, and
love to help these animals in need. And if the above wasn't enough
for 2008, MO HRS in St. Louis had 175 adoptions in 2008, revamped its
website, added a PayPal button, and sold nearly every 2009 Rabbit
Rescue Calendar it made.   Thank you to those who helped and those
who adopted.

MO HRS has the following events/activities planned for 2009:

Monthly meetings, 3rd Tuesday of each month 7:30pm, Humane Society of
Missouri
Feb. 17:  Speaker  Linda Beisswenger, DVM,   "Emergency Care - What
to do Until You Can Get to Your Veterinarian"
April 4, Eggstravaganza,  Missouri Botanical Garden June 7, Bunny
Expo,  Humane Society of Missouri (Macklind) Oct. 24,  St. Louis Pet
Expo, America's Center Nov. 15, Holiday Animal Boutique,  Humane
Society of Missouri
(Macklind)
http://www.hrsmostl.com/

* San Diego

San Diego HRS is offering fun new opportunities for kids.  To
celebrate "Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month" in February, we are holding
a Feb 14th activity day for kids, "Love a Shelter Bunny!"  At this
event kids will make toys and treats for area shelter rabbits,
including rattle toys, hay treat bags, and more.

Our pre-Easter education program will include an art contest where
school children are invited to submit a drawing that supports our
motto "Rabbits are for a Lifetime - Not Just for Easter."  Winning
entries will get a visit to their classroom from a former Easter
bunny currently in HRS foster care.

Bunnyfest planning is underway, with a new Event Coordinator on
board, Heather Christian.  Heather is leading a team of volunteers
that will work on getting sponsorships, new vendors, and coordinate
preparation for this annual event.  This year's Bunnyfest looks to be
one of the best ever, with several new volunteers lending their fresh
ideas and energy to the event.

Community education classes are underway with our first Bunny 101
seminar scheduled for Jan 31.  February's classes include Angora
Grooming, the kids' Valentine volunteer event, and a training
workshop for chapter educators.
http://www.sandiegorabbits.org/

* National Headquarters

We will be holding a special Valentine's Day Luncheon at our
headquarters on February 7, and on March 29, we will be hosting a Toy
Making class where participants will make fun goodies for your
bunnies, friends' bunnies, or the bunnies here at the shelter.
Finally, on May 3, we will be hosting the "Well Maintained Bunny"
class, which will be a primer class on grooming and health care for
rabbits. To find out more about these classes, call us at 510-970-
7575 or e-mail us at rabbit-center@....
http://www.rabbit.org/rabbit-center


** Join, Donate or Renew Your Membership!

We are done with the newest issue of the House Rabbit Journal; this
one will cover more 20th anniversary history and information, plus
all kinds of other great things. 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. While we have a large reach, we are still a grassroots,
volunteer-based organization, and we need your donations to continue
to do what we do. To renew, make a donation, or join, go to
http://www.rabbit.org/hrs-info/joining.html


** Thank you on behalf of the rabbits.

Dear Friends,

We have great news for you today: PETCO Ceases Sale of Rabbits

House Rabbit Society (HRS) is delighted to announce that PETCO has
decided to cease its sale of rabbits in all PETCO stores. PETCO will
begin phasing rabbits out of its stores immediately and as of early
2009, the only rabbits available at PETCO stores should be rabbits
from shelters or rescue organizations.

HRS, a nonprofit organization dedicated to rescuing rabbits and
educating the public about proper rabbit care, blames thousands of
cases of rabbit neglect, abandonment, and euthanasia on impulse
purchases of rabbits at pet stores.

Because PETCO is one of the largest pet supply chains in the United
States, its decision to stop all rabbit sales will have an enormous
impact on the plight of surplus and homeless rabbits in this country,
and HRS applauds PETCO's intelligent decision.

HRS also applauds the work of animal welfare groups around the
country who have been urging PETCO for years to stop the sale of
rabbits, birds, and other animals in their stores. The work of these
groups has no doubt played an important part in PETCO's decision. In
addition, local rabbit rescue groups have also been instrumental in
this decision, through their work in establishing rabbit adoption
programs in their local communities, and ending the sale of rabbits
in those regions with adoption programs.

As the world's largest rabbit rescue organization, and with a website
that gets over a million hits per week, House Rabbit Society has
played a leading role in rescuing and placing abandoned rabbits
around the world. As of 2008, HRS volunteers have rescued over 20,000
rabbits, the vast majority of whom were originally purchased through
pet stores and breeders.

HRS encourages PETCO to reach out to animal rescue groups and animal
shelters all across the country in order to help those organizations
adopt out their homeless rabbits, birds, and small animals. PETCO
can, and should, play a leading role in rehoming, rather than
selling, adoptable animals in all of their stores, and HRS hopes that
PETCO will use responsible criteria in screening adopters, and
providing them with educational materials.

House Rabbit Society looks forward to working with PETCO to shine a
spotlight on the plight of unwanted rabbits, and to help end the
euthanasia of rabbits in our nation's shelters.

***

Please cross-post.

** Help House Rabbit Society Win Needed Funds!

The Animal Rescue Site is awarding $100,000 in grants to eligible
Petfinder member rescue organizations.  The grand prize is a $25,000
grant, and other prizes are available as well.  Just imagine how many
rabbits we could help for $25,000!

The rescue organizations with the most votes will win.  You can vote
by visiting The Animal Rescue Site (http://tinyurl.com/3j3rj2) and doing a
search for House Rabbit Society in California. Clicking and voting are free,
with no registration required.  You can vote once every day during the
Challenge, which starts on September 29th and ends December 14.

** New Book to benefit HRS

A great new book called Bunnies in Boats was just released, whose
profits benefit House Rabbit Society.  When you buy the book, up to
$7 goes toward funding House Rabbit Society and to plant a tree in
the United States.  The story has depth and emotion, while remaining
light and fun. It is not a "children's book," but children will love
it, too.  To buy the book, read a sample, and find out about the
author's mission, go to Bunnies in Boats
(http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=842721).

** Rabbit Crisis in Louisiana

From June Booth, HRS educator in New Orleans:
Here in St Tammany Parish we have just handled a hoarder case.
Fortunately the Parish shelter could take in most of the rabbits; we
took the most ill to my veterinarian and are working with them now.
The hoarder and his wife refused to provide their rabbits with hay,
vet care, etc. The man used to get rabbits out of shelters and sell
them, until I informed the shelters and supposedly this had stopped.

The man became ill and his daughter discovered the rabbits and a
couple of hundred pigeons in the garage. In total there were well
over fifty rabbits, not counting the dead babies found in the garage,
and the babies born since then. Their future is not secure as we
cannot take any more than what we have and with the evacuations and
the economy, people are not adopting animals at this time. Charges
will not be brought against this man as he is terminally ill but he
will be watched and checked on frequently so he cannot bring any more
animals into his home. This case has taxed our resources so we are
not taking in rabbits now. The shelter does accept donations and some
of the Noah's Wish volunteers have kindly helped them out with
donations.

They can be reached at:
St Tammany Parish Animal Services
25026 Hwy 36
Abita Springs, LA 70420
If you would like to donate please ear mark it for the rabbits.

** Rabbit Crisis in Pennyslvania

From Sue Donaldson, HRS educator in Pittsburgh:
Animal Friends confiscated 46 rabbits yesterday in a cruelty/neglect case.  They
also took 7 dogs, 26 cats, 2 goats, 2 ducks and 30 chickens.  The shelter only
has room for 36 rabbits, but they are making do with carriers, free-standing
cages, etc.  The 36 cages that are already there are located in their medical
suite and are normally used to house animals after surgery, etc.  The rabbit
room houses ten bunnies, and those cages are always full.

All the rabbits are safe at the shelter -- and they all have been seen by a vet.
No spays or neuters have been done yet, and we are going to have the on-staff
shelter vet go over them with a fine tooth comb this weekend.

I saw the bunnies last night.  I am still trying to get over their condition --
most covered in urine and feces, very malnourished, but they seemed very
trusting, also.  Some had horrible bite wounds, as if they had been attacked by
a raccoon or feral cat.  Most of them are young -- under one year, we think.  We
also think we have at least 4 pregnant females.

To help, or to find out more, go to http://www.thinkingoutsidethecage.org and to
read a news account of the case, go to
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08276/916722-54.stm

** News from the Best Little Rabbit, Rodent and Ferret House

From Sandi Ackerman, HRS Chapter Manager:
We're so excited to be kicking off our Special Building Program Fund
during the month of October. The project has been designed along the
going green theme. All water, except for restroom water will be
recycled back into our laundry facility. The buildings are being
designed with natural heating/cooling incorporated into their
structure. Our long time dream has been to establish a low cost
spay/neuter clinic and we will finally be able to accomplish that
goal! Visit our web page at http://www.RabbitMeadows.org


** Rabbits Need Help in St. Louis

In August, The Humane Society of Missouri rescued more than 360
animals in Southwest Missouri, including 50 rabbits, as well as dogs,
cats, ducks, chickens, goats, donkeys and other animals. The animals
were living in filthy conditions with little to no food, water, or
shelter. St. Louis HRS has been active in the care of the rabbits,
and both St. Louis HRS and the Humane Society of Missouri can use
help from the public.

From Joy Gioia, HRS Chapter Manager:
We've been working like crazy on our 50 bunny rescue.  This Sunday,
Oct. 5, we are having an adoption event for the Polk County bunnies
from noon to 4pm at the Humane Society of Missouri, 1201 Macklind
Ave., St. Louis, MO 63110.  Call 314-995-1457 for more information.
There is a variety of bunny breeds within this group and most are
dwarf types.

Many of the rabbits already have been officially turned over to MO
HRS, but after the adoption event all of the remaining rabbits will
belong to MO HRS and that's when we'll need additional help with
placement if any chapter has room.  We've had a couple of responses,
but don't want to send if we can manage to place locally.  Most have
been spayed and neutered already and the remainder will be.

** 2009 Rabbit Rescue Calendar Available

Missouri HRS is selling 2009 calendars already; to see the calendar,
visit http://www.hrsmostl.com/ShopTilYouHop.html and to order,
Contact Susan Ruby at luvthosebunnies@...

** Upcoming HRS Events

October 4: Vancouver HRS is hosting their annual Rabbit Festival
http://www.vrra.org/

October 5: AAE Coniglio/HRS Italy is hosting a football match
benefiting the organization http://www.aaeconigli.it

October 12: Maryland/DC/NoVA HRS celebrates "HRS: 20 Years and
Counting" http://www.rabbitsinthehouse.org/

October 19: New York City HRS is hosting their annual Rabbit Care Conference
http://www.rabbitcare.org/conference.html

October 19: HRS Headquarters is holding their annual Harvest Luncheon
http://www.rabbit.org/rabbit-center/index.html

October 25: New Jersey HRS is holding their annual BunnyFest
http://www.njhrs.com/RabbitFest.htm

November 2: St. Louis HRS is hosting their annual Holiday Animal
Boutique   http://www.hrsmostl.com

November 21: St. Louis HRS is hosting a Trivia Night with many silent
auction items.  http://www.hrsmostl.com

December 6: Alabama EARS is having their annual BYOB Party
http://www.alabamaears.org/


** Join, Donate or Renew Your Membership!

We are working on the newest issue of House Rabbit Journal; this one
will cover more 20th anniversary history and information, plus all
kinds of other great things. 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. While we have a large reach, we are still a grassroots,
volunteer-based organization, and we need your donations to continue to do what
we do. To renew, make a donation, or join, go to
http://www.rabbit.org/hrs-info/joining.html


** Thank you on behalf of the rabbits.

Dear friends,

I wanted to give you one last update on the Tennessee rabbits.

One week ago, Bartlett Animal Shelter in West Tennessee seized 119
rabbits, mostly lops, from a breeder in a hoarding case. The shelter
was desperate and did not have the facilities to care for 119
rabbits, on top of the 30 dogs who came from the same breeder, and
all the rest of the animals in their care. They reached out for
help.

Within a couple of days, at least half a dozen groups pitched in to
help by taking rabbits (if I left any group off of this list, please
forgive the oversight):

Young-Williams Animal Center in Knoxville (a public shelter
themselves), North Georgia HRS, Cape Fear HRS, the House Rabbit
Connection of MA/CT, the Arkansas Pet Rabbit Network, the House
Rabbit Network of MA, Wild Rescue of Texas, and Alabama EARS/HRS.

Transport has been arranged by groups ranging from Bunny Rescue of
Nashville, the House Rabbit Connection, the Humane Society of the United States
in Tennessee, and the Bunderground Railroad.

Alabama EARS and National HRS both have contributed funds to help
with spay/neuters.

On top of the above groups, Patricia Brainard of RabbitwiseMemphis and the
Bunderground Railroad was instrumental in organizing much of the help, as was
Kathy Burke, HRS educator in Greenback, TN, and Deb Young, HRS educator in CT.

We just learned today that the last group of 20 rabbits will be
leaving the shelter tomorrow for WildRescue in Texas. This isn't the
end of the road for the bunnies or the rescue groups who are taking
them, but 90 rabbits have been saved in just a matter of a week by
the actions and cooperations of dozens of people.

(Click here to see a news story with video on the 10 lucky rabbits
who made it to the Young-Williams Animal Center:
http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=62609&catid=2 )

House Rabbit Society has paid for the care of some of the TN rabbits
with funds generated from our Emergency Rescue Fund
(http://www.rabbit.org/rescue/Grant.html ). You can help us help
cases like this in the future, by donating to the fund at
http://www.rabbit.org/hrs-info/joining.html . (Put emergency rescue
fund in the comments field.)

One last note:

Rabbits are being bred, sold, surrendered to animal shelters, and
euthanized every day in this country, and rabbit rescue groups and
animal shelters large and small are fighting to care for too many
rabbits with too few resources. Yet it's nice to see that when a
small shelter, ill equipped to handle a large rabbit crisis, reaches
out for help, that even with strapped resources and local demands,
groups like those listed above can still reach out and help.

Thanks, everyone.

Dear Friends,

Following are three news items that you may be interested in:

1. This is an update on the Tennessee rabbit situation that developed
Friday night:

Patricia Brainard of RabbitwiseMemphis visited the rabbits and reports that
there are now 90 rabbits.  She examined about 50 of them, lots of females, some
possibly pregnant, all very nice mini-lops.  Some had head tilt and were
euthanized, but the rest *appear* to be healthy.

The following groups are helping by taking in rabbits or assisting in
other ways:

Young-Williams Animal Center in Knoxville is taking ten rabbits, North Georgia
HRS is taking in 25, Cape Fear HRS is taking in rabbits, the House Rabbit
Connection of MA/CT is taking in rabbits, the Arkansas Pet Rabbit Network is
taking rabbits, and the House Rabbit Network of MA is taking some.
RabbitwiseMemphis is helping as well, and Best Friends is sending out publicity
to their network. National HRS is helping with financial assistance. Alabama
EARS is also taking in a couple and helping with spay/neuter assistance.

For folks interested in adopting who are outside of the TN area, the
Bunderground Railroad is offering their assistance. If you need help with
transport or can assist with transport, please contact Patricia at
rabbitwise@....

From Patricia: "It's hard to imagine what their lives have been like, but since
babyhood they've never known what it's like to live in a clean, cozy home or be
loved and recognized for the special beings they are. These bunnies wanted you
to know that they are very beautiful and unusually colored and they are very
proud of their coats(bunnies can be a little vain).  They are very interested in
finding out what it would be like to live with a human friend and are hoping to
hop into your life! If you think you would like a lop eared sweetheart to join
your family, please call Kim at: (901)385-6484 or email her at:
kscheu@...." (If you'd like to see photos of the buns, email us.)

Special thanks to Kathy Burke, HRS educator in Greenback, TN, Deb Young, HRS
educator in Connecticut, and Patricia Brainard of RabbitwiseMemphis for all
their work on this.

2. Kelowna, British Columbia rabbits in danger.

The city of Kelowna has hired EBB Consulting to kill the feral domestic rabbit
population in Kelowna for $54,000.

A local, non-profic organization - TRACS (The Responsible Animal Care
Society) put in a bid for less with the plan to spayed/neuter the rabbits and
relocate them to a sanctuary  (which is ready to receive the bunnies), where
they can live out their lives healthy, happy, well fed and secure. But the City
of Kelowna decided to go with EBB and the rabbits will be killed.

TRACS, a non-profit group relying 100% on donations, has rescued 250 rabbits so
far but they desperately need funding to capture the remaining 700 rabbits
before EBB kills them. EBB is planning on starting to kill the rabbits very soon
- so time is of the essence. Unfortunately, TRACS can't rescue more rabbits
without the funding to properly look after them!

Please visit http://www.tracs-bc.ca/bunfund.html to find out what's going on,
and to help.

3. New rabbit meat products in Safeway.

It has been reported to us that Safeway stores in Washington State and possibly
elsewhere have introduced a new product, frozen rabbit parts as a snack food.
It's in the freezer case and is displayed much like buffalo wings. Evidently,
Safeway is trying to start a new line of mass consumption novelty products based
on rabbit meat.

The woman who first saw these new products is concerned, as are we at HRS, that
this marks a new attempt by the rabbit processing industry to make rabbit meat
more mainstream.

The rabbit meat comes from Pel-Freez Arkansas, the largest rabbit processor in
the United States, which "processes" rabbits from breeders across the US and
now, evidently, China as well. We are concerned about this attempt to move
rabbit meat from a marginal product to a mainstream product; as production ramps
up, the rabbits being bred and killed will suffer even more.  (Pel-Freez's
website has an online application that anyone can fill out to become a Pel-Freez
supplier of rabbits.)

If you are concerned about this trend and want to let Safeway know your
concerns, you can send them a polite note to:

Customer Service Center
Safeway Inc. — M/S 10501
P.O. BOX 29093
Phoenix, AZ 85038 - 9093

Safeway, by the way, has a statement on their website about animal welfare and
its "comprehensive animal welfare program to ensure that both its national brand
and private label suppliers have programs in place standard for the humane
treatment of animals in all aspects of animal husbandry, shipment, and handling
during the harvest process." Because rabbits are not covered under the federal
Humane Methods of Slaughter Law, there is no way to ensure that under current
law rabbits raised and slaughtered for food do get humane treatment.

Safeway owns Vons, Kroger, Tom Thumb, Randalls, Genuardi's and Carrs.

Please feel forward to cross post!

Dear friends,

Bartlett Animal Control in West Tennessee seized 119 rabbits Friday
evening from a breeder in a cruelty case. Evidently the rabbits are
purebred show lops in "unusual colors."

The shelter is desperate and needs help with placing these rabbits.
They are not spayed or neutered (but otherwise appear to be in good
health) and if a veterinarian were to offer their services with fixing
some of them, that would be welcome.

But beyond that, they just do not have the facilities for long term
housing for over 100 rabbits (they seized 30 dogs as well). If you can
help by taking in rabbits AT ALL, please contact the shelter directly
at (901) 385-6484. If you are a veterinarian and can help with spay
neuters, please ask for Kim Scheu, the shelter director, who you can
also email at kscheu@....

** HRS Celebrates 20 years. Join us for the Celebration!

House Rabbit Society celebrates 20 years of rabbit rescue and advocacy
in 2008! To celebrate this great accomplishment, we are hosting a very
special 20th Anniversary Event on June 21, 2008, at Humanist Hall in
Oakland. This will be a gourmet vegetarian dinner by Philip Gelb
Catering with wine by  McManis Family Vineyards, and special
anniversary coffee provided by  Rabbit EARS as well as an auction, a
gift boutique, an art show, and an evening of entertainment and
celebration. If you are on the HRS mailing list in California, you
should have received an invitation for this event in May. If you
didn't receive an invitation, view it at
http://www.rabbit.org/events/hrs20invitetext.html.

Our auction will include wonderful toys, housing and treats for your
rabbit, as well as great rabbit-themed goodies for you too, as well as
lots of services and gifts that will satisfy anyone. To see the list
of donors (so far) to our auction, please visit
http://www.rabbit.org/events/leapforjoyauctionthanks.html.

We will also be hosting a fun movie event at the Cerrito Speakeasy
Theatre in El Cerrito on Sunday, June 22. We will be showing the camp
classic horror film Night of the Lepus. It will be a fun night--we
hope you can join us!

Chapter commemorative events include the following (links to
individual events at http://www.rabbit.org/events/hrs20.html):

-- March 22: Sacramento HRS Run for the Buns
-- March 29: Massachusetts HRS 5th annual Bunraiser
-- April 5: Seattle HRS Annual Dinner & Silent Auction
-- April 20: Tampa Bay HRS BunFest
-- April 27: Milwaukee HRS Bunny Day
-- May 3, 10, 17, 24, 31: Arkansas HRS "20/20 Vision"
-- May 4: HRS Italy Celebrates "Conigliando a tutto pelo"
-- May 31: San Diego HRS Open House
-- June 7: Columbus HRS "Celebrating Rabbits"
-- June 7: Arkansas HRS "20/20 Vision"
-- June 8: St. Louis HRS Bunny Expo
-- June 8: North Georgia BunFest
-- June 14: Colorado HRS Spring Fling
-- June 14: Chicago HRS BunnyFest Picnic
-- June 21: HRS Headquarters Celebratory Dinner
-- Fall (TBD): Madison HRS Bunny Day
-- September/October (TBD): Vancouver HRS Rabbit Festival
-- October 12: Maryland/DC/NoVA HRS celebrates "HRS: 20 Years and
Counting"
-- October 25: New Jersey HRS BunnyFest
-- October (TBD): New York City HRS Rabbit Care Conference
-- December 6: Alabama EARS BYOB Party

Call us at 510-970-7575 if you'd like to find out more about our 20th
anniversary celebrations.

** Funny Bunny Toy Company Helps HRS Celebrate 20 Years of Rabbit
Education and Rescue

The Funny Bunny Toy Company  (http://www.funnybunnytoyco.com/) is
donating 25% of all sales to HRS in the month of June to mark our 20th
anniversary. So don't forget to buy!

** HRS 20th Anniversary Commemorative Merchandise Available
You can order HRS 20th anniversary commemorative items at
http://www.cafepress.com/hrs/4863737.

** New Organic, Fair Trade Coffee to benefit Rabbit Rescue!

RabbitEARS, a rabbit rescue organization located in Kensington, CA,
in partnership with Thanksgiving Coffee Company, has developed three
Fair Trade and Organic Certified Anniversary Blends which will be
launched this month in celebration of House Rabbit Society's 20th
Anniversary. A portion of the profits from the sale of the coffees
will be donated to HRS and to wild rabbit sanctuaries.

For more information about how to buy the coffee and support rabbit
rescue and wild rabbit habitat, or earn money for your rescue group,
please contact RabbitEARS at http://www.rabbitears.org/.


** Rabbits on the Web

* BunSpace.com (http://www.bunspace.com/) is a community for rabbit
lovers, built by rabbit lovers. Create a webpage for your furry kids,
make new friends, share your bunny photos, tell your stories, and much
more. Think MySpace for rabbit people. The site guidelines specify
that the site is dedicated to real rabbits and that only rabbit owners
and "rabbit benefit" organizations can have profiles. They
specifically state that they will remove seller and breeder profiles.
See the winners of their Best Rabbit Residence contest at
http://www.bunspace.com/contestwinners?contestid=4&all=1.

* 3D Desktop Easter Bunny Rabbits Screensaver is available for both
for PC (http://www.uselesscreations.com/rabbits/) and Mac OS X
(http://www.uselesscreations.com/mac/rabbits/).

* The caption for this picture (http://i28.tinypic.com/34y5zr5.jpg) is
Evil Bunny. The rabbit certainly has an "I'm going to take over the
world and you can't stop me" vibe going on.

** Cruelty Cases in Las Vegas

Las Vegas House Rabbit Society recently took in two rabbits who were victims of
horrible crimes.  Lucky Bunny, now named Riesling, was dyed blue and ejected
from a moving car last week. A wonderful person immediately rushed to his aid
and was horrified to see that this two pound bunny's ears were mangled and
mutilated.

A second rabbit, Milagro, was brought into the animal shelter in Las Vegas with
both of his ears cut off, right down to his head. Thankfully, Kathy from Las
Vegas HRS was able to rescue him, and is giving him loving care.

Both bunnies are now in safe hands, but their veterinary bills may be high. To
contribute to the fund set up to care for them, go to
http://www.bunnyrescuefund.org/ or email Maria Perez at MLMPProds@....

** New Children's Book

Bramley's Little Sister is a new children's book about a relationship
with a real rabbit and his human baby sister. Dawn's Animal
Connection will donate $1.00 for each book sold online to the Rabbit
Rescue of your choice. Visit the book website (http://www.dawnallen.net),
select House Rabbit Society from the drop-down menu then click "Add
to Cart" to purchase your book(s).

** HRS Emergency Rescue Grant Helping Rabbits Everywhere

The HRS Emergency Rescue Grant, launched in 2007, has so far
benefited 15 rabbit rescue groups and animal shelters who have
struggled with large domestic rabbit rescues, with $6250 so far being
sent to groups in the United States and Canada.

** Rabbits in the News

Offering Hope to Hoppers for 20 Years
http://tiny.cc/bk3Zh
A happy anniversary article from the Best Friends Animal Society.

VIDEO: Rabbit Lady
http://tiny.cc/JJ6dF
HRS Educator June Booth was profiled by the New Orleans
Times-Picayune. The newspaper also produced a video, which you can
view at the above link.

Agriculture Commissioner Irvin discourages giving animals as Easter
presents
http://tiny.cc/oXf2F
Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Tommy Irvin is urging parents to
think twice before giving animals to children this Easter. Edie Sayag
of the North Georgia says that this is the first time she has seen a
government agency in Georgia acknowledge the work that HRS and other
rescue organizations are doing.

Good luck indeed: 53 million-year-old rabbit's foot bones found
http://www.physorg.com/news125164897.html
One day last spring, fossil hunter and anatomy professor Kenneth Rose,
Ph.D. was displaying the bones of a jackrabbit's foot as part of a
seminar at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine when
something about the shape of the bones looked oddly familiar. That
unanticipated eureka moment has led researchers at the school to the
discovery of the oldest known record of rabbits. The fossil evidence
in hand, found in west-central India, predates the oldest previously
known rabbits by several million years and extends the record of the
whole category of the animal on the Indian subcontinent by 35 million
years.

Pet Care Tips For Real Easter Bunnies
http://tiny.cc/hkOGm
Although this story ran on the CBS Early Show before Easter, it's
still excellent information for people considering rabbits as pets.
Click on the picture of the bunny on the left side of the page to
watch the video.

A Novel Approach to Helping a Rare Rabbit
http://www.edf.org/article.cfm?contentID=7829
Efforts to aid the endangered Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit through the Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife.

** Chapter Updates

* The Arkansas Pet Rabbit Network is in the process of establishing a
non-profit which has energized our membership.  Over 30 people and
many rabbits attended our last meeting in February indicating that we
are filling a need.  Our meetings feature bunny nail trimming and
bunny glamour shots along with topics on bunny care.  One of our
members and a former volunteer with the Colorado House Rabbit Society,
Erin Bradford, has setup a Petfinder page, a Yahoo chat room, and a
home page for our group.

For the 20th anniversary, we are setting up HRS and bunny information
tables at leading pet stores in May and June.  On Mother's Day
weekend, May 10th and 11th, we staffed a booth at the Hot Springs Art
in the Park.  At the event we had several bunny related displays, sold
some anniversary merchandise, and offered a free dog park memorial
brick, and free bunny spay and neuter.

* Baltimore/DC Chapter

Kelly Fitzpatrick, a volunteer with the chapter, put together a very
nice Easter adoption video and posted it to YouTube. Watch it at
http://www.youtube.com/BaltimoreDCHRS.


** Become a Member of House Rabbit Society or Renew Your Membership

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. If you already are a
member, thank you, and please remember to renew (we don't send out renewal
notices but we'd be happy to tell you if your membership has expired, or when it
will). All members receive the Society's newsletter, House Rabbit Journal,
edited by House Rabbit Society founder and author of The House Rabbit Handbook,
Marinell Harriman. Please go to http://rabbit.org/hrs-info/joining.html.

Laura Barnes
HRS E-Newsletter Editor and HRS Educator
laura@...

** Thank you on behalf of the rabbits.

** February is Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month

House Rabbit Society (HRS), an international nonprofit animal
rescue and education group, celebrates February 2008 as
"Adopt A Rescued Rabbit Month."

Mary Cotter, Marketing/Education Director of the Richmond-based
HRS, says that the timing of this educational effort couldn't
be better. "Promoting adoption and educating potential adopters
early in the year helps to prevent the impulse purchase of
bunnies a month or two later at Easter time. This, in turn,
will reduce the number of rabbits relinquished to shelters."
This month, HRS volunteers will be putting in many extra
hours to teach potential adopters what to expect when living
with a rabbit.

HRS works to debunk the myth that rabbits are ideal pets for
children; in reality, even baby bunnies tend to be willful
and independent, do not enjoy being picked up and carried,
and are easily injured when dropped. HRS also cautions against
buying or adopting a rabbit as a gift, or on a whim, as the
novelty usually wears off quickly. When a family realizes
how much day-to-day work is involved, the rabbit is,
unfortunately, surrendered to a shelter, or-- worse --
released outdoors, where he often becomes the victim of
a predatory animal or a speeding car.

** HRS Needs Your Rabbit Photos

We need your pictures and videos! We are collecting videos and
pictures of HRS adopted bunnies.  We will be using the pictures
and video clips for a video montage to be presented at our 20th
celebration. We are looking for super cute, funny, and crazy
pictures.  We would love videos of your bunnies doing wild binkies,
jumps, crazy funny tricks, and wild antics.  Please send
attachments of these clips to celina at celina@....

** House Rabbit Society Celebrates 20 Years, 20,000 Rabbits

House Rabbit Society celebrates our 20th Anniversary in 2008.

Founded in 1988 by Marinell Harriman, author of the House
Rabbit Handbook, and her husband Bob, House Rabbit Society
is the largest rabbit rescue and advocacy organization in the
world. House Rabbit Society has two main goals: to rescue and
re-home abandoned rabbits through our network of volunteer
fosterers and our one-of-a-kind rabbit shelter in Richmond,
CA, and to improve rabbits' lives by helping people better
understand these often misunderstood companion animals,
through our publications, website, educational materials
and classes.

Since our founding, HRS has expanded from a small group of
San Francisco Bay Area volunteers to a network of thousands
of members and hundreds of volunteers across the United States,
Canada, Australia, Europe, and Asia. Today, HRS volunteers
collectively produce the House Rabbit Journal, the award
winning www.rabbit.org, and are responsible for educating
tens of thousands of people. In addition, our volunteers have,
since 1988, saved the lives of 20,000 rabbits. In 2000, HRS
opened the first public rabbit-only shelter in the country
in Richmond, California, which serves as a model for animal
shelters around the world.  HRS volunteers are internationally
recognized for their expertise in rabbit behavior and care,
and are called upon to give educational seminars at events
every month.

To celebrate our 20th anniversary, House Rabbit Society
chapters will be holding special events around the country
throughout the year, including the following dates
and locations:

March 22: Sacramento HRS Run for the Buns
March 29: Massachusetts HRS 5th Annual Bunraiser
April 5: Seattle HRS Annual Dinner & Silent Auction
April 27: Tampa Bay HRS BunFest
April 27: Milwaukee HRS Bunny Day
May 3, 10, 17, 24, 31: Arkansas HRS "20/20 Vision"
May 31: San Diego HRS Open House
June 7: Columbus HRS "Celebrating Rabbits"
June 7: Arkansas HRS "20/20 Vision"
June 8: St. Louis HRS Veterinary Conference
June 14: Colorado HRS Spring Fling
June 21: HRS Headquarters "Leap for Joy" Dinner and Auction
Fall (TBD): Madison HRS Bunny Day
September/October (TBD): Vancouver HRS Rabbit Festival
October 25: New Jersey HRS BunnyFest
October (TBD): New York City HRS Rabbit Care Conference
December 6: Alabama HRS "Bring your own Bunny" Party

Please check our website for more information!

** Order Your 20th Anniversary HRS Swag

HRS 20th Anniversary merchandise is now available on CafePress. See
http://www.cafepress.com/hrs/4863737 for the complete line.

** Make Mine Chocolate Campaign 2008

Each year, unwanted, former Easter rabbits fill local rabbit
rescues and humane societies. The goal of the "Make Mine
Chocolate!™" campaign is to break the cycle of acquisition
and relinquishment by educating the public about the
responsibilities involved in keeping a companion rabbit
before a rabbit is brought home.

With enormous pride and tremendous excitement, we present
this year's raffle painting, "Across the Universe," from our
friend and professional artist, Joseph Larkin. This beautiful
painting is acrylic on canvas, 8" x 18", and does not need
to be framed as the cosmic motif extends around the edges of the
painting. Purchase your raffle tickets at
http://www.makeminechocolate.org/store.php.

We are also at work on an activity book that will help children
learn about rabbit personality and care. Our Cafe Press store
continues to be successful and our "Make Mine Chocolate!™"
pins are worn proudly throughout the world.

** Rabbit Science

Infrared Rabbit
http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/image_galleries/ir_zoo/rabbit.html
Infrared photos of a rabbit. The eyes of this warm-blooded rabbit
put out more heat than the rest of its body, and are the
brightest areas in the infrared images. The rabbit's feet and
portions of its ears are also bright in the infrared because
these are areas where the rabbit's fur is thinner.

** Rabbits in the News

Animal magnetism: The pets we invite into our home are often a
reflection of ourselves
http://www.rockfordwoman.com/08/x540398070
Profile of Ann-Marie Soderstrom of Rockford, IL, who shares her
home with three house rabbits.

Firefighters save rabbit Maisey
http://www.spaldingtoday.co.uk/news/Firefighters-save-rabbit-
Maisey.3727323.jp
A pet rabbit that was trapped underground for more than five
hours was rescued by firefighters.

Kittens 'adopted' by pet rabbit
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/north_east/7101506.stm
Six abandoned kittens have found an unexpected new mother
figure - a pet rabbit. This is the same rabbit who appears in
http://www.stv.tv/content/news/headlines/display.html?
id=opencms:/news/newArticle5245614, which was included in the
last newsletter.

THE CREATURE FEATURE: Think twice before buying an Easter bunny
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23243564/
Excellent feature by the Associated Press on carefully
considering the purchase of a rabbit. Extensive quotes from
Mary Cotter, HRS Vice-president and Education/outreach Director.

** Rabbits in Pictures

How to Open The Envelope
http://www.5min.com/Video/how-to-open-the-envelope-4296
Video of a fuzzy, organic letter opener.

Rabbits Binkying
http://www.youtube.com/results.php?search_query=rabbits+binkying
Compilation of YouTube videos of binkying rabbits. Thanks to Paige
Parsons for the link.

Rabbit Rescue with Amy Sedaris
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vC9taroEsI
Promotional video for Microsoft Office 2007 includes many smart,
computer savvy rabbits and promotes House Rabbit Society too.

Current 7Up Ad Features Rabbits
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKXnlFpmsCU

** Chapter Updates

* Alabama EARS

Alabama EARS is starting out the 2008 with their Books for Buns
program. Through a generous grant from the House Rabbit Society,
EARS will be donating copies of the House Rabbit Handbook to
libraries and shelters across Alabama. Books for Buns is a
group project. EARS' members are able to submit their area
libraries for consideration and even dedicate the donated
book to a special rabbit in their life. "It's a great way
to get our members involved right in their own communities,"
says Linda Howard, Chapter Manager.

EARS is also gearing up for Cottontails Village Arts & Crafts
Show (Birmingham) Feb 29-Mar 2. This craft show with over 500
vendors is a great opportunity to educate the bunny-friendly
public about what it is really like to live with a rabbit BEFORE
Easter is here. EARS volunteers spend an entire weekend
promoting the "Make Mine Chocolate" campaign by passing out
chocolate, flyers, and note cards with the basic points.
There is also plenty of time to have in-depth conversations
with those who are interested. Because this convention is
so well promoted and heavily attended, EARS volunteers rarely
have a moment to sit down!  "It's incredibly satisfying to hear
people say 'oh, I'm so glad you told me! I was going to get a
rabbit for my child/grandchild for Easter'" says Corresponding
Secretary, Paris Grey.

* Colorado Chapter -- Northeast Satellite

This winter we are planning to increase our visibility in Greeley by
putting a rabbit educational station at the West Ridge Animal
Hospital. West Ridge is also going to sponsor a Bunny Adoption
Event on February 23rd from 9 AM until 1 PM. We will have our
foster bunnies there for people to meet, offer free nail trims
and tune-ups for bunnies. Scheduling this well before the Easter
(March 29th) season will, hopefully, increase our adoptions, help
current rabbit parents to take better care of their bunnies and
aid in our efforts to decrease the purchase of rabbits for Easter.

* Chicago Chapter

HRS Chicago will be hosting  "Rabbit Update 2008 – Healthy Lifestyles
for Today's Rabbit" featuring Dr. Susan Brown, HRS Health Director,
on Saturday, February 23, 2008 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Oak Brook
Public Library. Now that we humans have pledged to improve our diet
and exerciser routines in the coming year, join us to learn about the
proper diet forryour rabbit and to gain new insights on ways to enrich
your rabbit's environment. Pre-registration is required due to limited
seating capacity. The registration fee is a $15 donation per person.
Please contact us at hrschicago@... for information.

On October 31 we were pleased to welcome Mary Cotter, HRS Outreach,
Public Relations and Marketing Director  and chapter manager of New
York  City HRS, to the Chicago area. During her visit, Mary and Dr.
Susan Brown, HRS Health Director made a stop at DuPage County Animal
Care and Control for Mary to do a presentation on handling shelter
rabbits and nail cutting for the shelter staff and HRS Chicago
volunteers. The entire session was video taped for future use in
training shelter staff and shelter volunteers.  HRS Chicago has 6
members who regularly volunteer with the rabbits at DCACC. We have
seen many positive changes in the DCACC rabbit program. We would like
to encourage all HRS members to volunteer at local shelters. Your
presence can be the first step in improving the conditions for rabbits
at your shelter. The more shelters we can assist, the more lives we
can save!

* Indiana HRS

2007 was a very, very busy year for Indiana House Rabbit Society
(IHRS).  We participated in three large-scale confiscations and
expanded our Petco adoption program outside of  Indianapolis to
three additional locations.  This is bittersweet as a very special
volunteer was tragically killed in an automobile accident,
leaving a significant gap in the Northeast area of the state.

March to May, IHRS participated with Chicago HRS, Wisconsin HRS, and
Red Door Animal shelter, caring for 187 rabbits seized from a breeder
in Watseka, Illinois.  We sent teams of volunteers over 180 miles to
help out on four different weekends.  While many rabbits were
returned to the breeder, we were thankful to transfer 6 rabbits into
foster care, only one rabbit is looking for his forever
home.

In April, one of our special volunteers was tragically killed in an
automobile accident.  We were able to network with EARPS, our adoption
partner to place all 20 of the volunteer's rabbits into foster care,
sparing them placement in her local "high kill" shelter.  At this
time, 5 rabbits are still looking for their forever homes, 2 bonded
pairs and one special needs upper respiratory infection rabbit.

This summer, we expanded our Petco adoption program to Mishawaka,
Highland, and Merrillville, Indiana.  We are much closer to our goal
of no rabbit sales at Petco in Indiana:  we now have adoption programs
at 8 locations, shelters have adoption programs in 2 locations.  This
leaves only 3 locations in Indiana where spayed and neutered rabbits
are being sold. Based upon previous sales figures, we estimate that
the sale of 350 rabbits has been prevented where IHRS or shelters have
adoptable rabbits.

In September, IHRS was contacted by Metropolitan Animal Services in
Louisville, KY soliciting assistance for a confiscation from a
Basement Breeder (101 rabbits).  We once again stepped up and helped
the shelter catalog rabbits, separate by gender, and triage rabbits
for medical care by the shelter vet. We sent volunteer teams three
weekends and local volunteers assisted several days per week.  We
were able to network with local rescue groups and two HRS
groups (Arkansas and Chicago) to facilitate the transfer of all
rabbits to foster care.  IHRS accepted 45 rabbits into foster care, 12
are still waiting for forever homes. View the adoptable rabbits at
http://www.indianahrs.org/news-details.aspx?newsId=156

In October, IHRS was again contacted by Metropolitan Animal Services
in Louisville, KY soliciting assistance capturing over 80 rabbits.
The rabbits were living in a series of tunnels in the yard of a
"backyard breeder" who got over his head and was neglecting his
rabbits (conditions documented at
http://www.deitchley.com/blog/2007/11/26/489/).
We provided guidance to capture the rabbits.  The details surrounding
this rescue are provided on our website at
http://www.indianahrs.org/news-details.aspx?newsId=159

There are 21 very special rabbits who are now healthy enough for
spay/neuter and will be ready for their forever homes in 2-20 weeks.
This group of rabbits is truly amazing.  They have recovered from
wounds that document their struggle to survive, most have tattered
ears from fighting, and some have recovered from extensive illness.
In spite of their very difficult former lives, they have the biggest
hearts of any rabbits we have had the privilege to assist: discovering
that human hands are kind, providing food, medicine, and loving touch,
and living indoors is wonderful, never having to worry about food or
predators again.

The net result of these activities has resulted in a record numbers of
rescues (173) and adoptions (129). The success of the Petco adoption
program has enabled IHRS to work with 6 new shelters to improve rabbit
care and reduce euthansia.  We are thankful to have helped so many
rabbits in 2007, but realize that there is still so much to do.

* Missouri HRS

On a fabulous note, 2007 ended for the House Rabbit Society of
Missouri in St. Louis with 185 adoptions; a record setting year.  Of
course, there are always more rabbits than homes dumped into area
shelters so we have just as many waiting in our foster care for homes
of their own and will be working just as hard in 2008 to assist them
and the area shelters who depend upon us.

Our Holiday Boutique in November was a huge success and lots of fun as
was our monthly meeting in December which was a time to celebrate the
holidays and the successes of 2007 with a special "Thank You!" to all
of our volunteers and adopters for everything they did.  Our Educator,
Bobbie Shewmaker, put together a very special slide presentation to
music showing volunteers doing every aspect of help from medical to
laundry to the background music of "Hero" followed by slides of
adopters and fosterers holding their bunnies to the music of "The Arms
of the the Angel."  There wasn't a dry eye in the room.

Calendar sales have been brisk and there are only about 50 of our
Rabbit Rescue 2008 left.  We're already working on 2009 as,
unfortunately, we've had a ton of babies dumped at area shelters.  The
babies make adorable photo subjects, but it makes so many more that
need homes.  The yearly calendars, though, have been a wonderful and
fun way to help cover costs for spays, neuters, and other medical
expenses of our fosters.

Here's hoping that 2008 will be a fabulous year for all in finding
homes, seeing fewer surrenders, and having lots of education getting
out to the public to help us keep moving in that direction.

* Washington State Chapter

We're very excited! The Seattle Washington Chapter has relocated our
adoption center to Rabbit Meadows in Redmond! We have had property in
that location for the past 5 years, but  it was only 6 months ago that
the County zoning was changed to permit an animal shelter. We have
gutted a mobile home and set it up to temporarily house our adoptable
rabbits & rodents. Within the next year we hope to begin building, to
create a permanent animal shelter. This move will save us money in
both the short and long term so that we'll be able to put up our ideal
shelter. Check our web page for more news about our relocation at
http://www.RabbitRodentFerret.org.

** Become a Member of House Rabbit Society or Renew Your Membership

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. If you already are a
member, thank you, and please remember to renew (we don't send out renewal
notices but we'd be happy to tell you if your membership has expired, or when it
will). All members receive the Society's newsletter, House Rabbit Journal,
edited by House
Rabbit Society founder and author of The House Rabbit Handbook,
Marinell Harriman. Please go to http://rabbit.org/hrs-
info/joining.html.

Laura Barnes
HRS E-Newsletter Editor and HRS Educator
laura@...

** Thank you on behalf of the rabbits.

Dear friends,

Thanks to your phone calls, letters and emails, we have just
learned that PetSmart is discontinuing the rabbit sale "test"
and will no longer be selling rabbits in any of their stores,
once the remaining rabbits are gone.

This is wonderful news, and is a fantastic Christmas present
to all animal lovers, and especially to all of the rabbit people
who have been active in this campaign. We have heard that it was
because of the vocal opposition of animal lovers across the
United States that they have reconsidered their choice.

Please thank PetSmart for their decision, and let them know
that it was the right choice.

Please address your thanks to PetSmart care of:

PetSmart
John Alpaugh
Vice President, Specialty Merchandising
19601 North 27th Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85027
(623) 580-6100
corpcommunications@...

** House Rabbit Society Selected Charity of the Day by GoodSearch
forDecember 4, 2007

GoodSearch will honor House Rabbit Society as the Charity of
the Day on December 4, 2007.  The HRS logo and a link to
www.rabbit.org will be featured on the GoodSearch homepage.
GoodSearch.com is a search engine that donates half of its search
revenue (about a penny a search) to the charities its users
designate. GoodSearch is powered by Yahoo! search.
Find GoodSearch at http://www.goodsearch.com .

** Funny Bunny Toy Company To Donate 25% Retail Price of
All Website Sales from Nov. 15th - Dec. 31st

Funny Bunny Toy Company will be donating 25% of the purchase
price from each item sold from their website from November 15 -
December 31.  Don't miss out on a chance to pick up some
stocking stuffers and holiday gifts for your special bunny
and help House Rabbit Society with a donation at the same
time.  You can visit Funny Bunny Toy Company at their website
http://www.funnybunnytoyco.com to see all of their products
including their special holiday toys.

** Bunny Store Second Annual Holiday Fundraiser Now in Progress

The Bunny Store and More (http;//www.thebunnystore.com/holiday.htm)
is holding its Second Annual Holiday Fundraiser. They will donate
$1 per ornament sold to the rabbit rescue of their customer's
choice when they make a purchase. In order to nominate a
rescue group of their choice, all a customer needs to do is
fill in the name of the rabbit rescue in the "Annual Holiday
Fundraiser" text box when they check out.

** Puppy Paws to Donate 25% of Purchase Price to HRS

Puppy Paws (http://www.puppypaws.com/) will donate 25% of
your purchase price to House Rabbit Society until
December 31. Just mention the group's name in the Customer Notes
section of the order form.

** 2008 HRS Calendars Available

The St. Louis Chapter (http://members.petfinder.com/~MO56/index.html)
and the Vancouver Chapter (http://www.vrra.org/calendar2008.htm) are
both selling 2008 wall calendars. Buy yours now!

** Noah's Wish Thanks HRS Volunteers For Assistance With Rabbits
Affected by Southern California Fires

Karen Thonet, a Noah's Wish volunteer writes:

"Noah's Wish wrapped up their deployment at the San Diego
Qualcomm Stadium practice field at noon on Friday October 26.
To the best of my knowledge, all the rabbits evacuated to
Qualcomm went back home with their owners. One owner of parrots,
rats, cats and dogs reclaimed her animals on Thursday night to
transfer them to the temporary shelter at Del Mar. During
the 4 days at Qualcomm we had a total of 18 rabbits,
10 parrots, 3 ducks, 2 chinchillas, 3 rats and an iguana
in the exotics area...

Thank you to Judith Pierce, SDHRS chapter manager, for her
continuous monitoring and direction of our situation in the
midst of her own evacuation and efforts in coordinating foster
home and shelter rabbit evacuations, and for her follow-up with
rabbit owners who were briefly introduced to rabbit-care the
HRS way (spay/neuter, hay as an essential to a long healthy life,
preventing overheating, healthy diets, safe litter and indoor
housing), and for the owner of 5 unaltered rabbits (previously
caged separately) who were all put together into a big dog kennel
for evacuation, and now need emergency spay surgeries.

Thanks also to Patti Scott, long-time HRS volunteer, and the
first responder who brought hay and healthy pellets, who helped
provide critical care, including heat relief, grooming, and
out-of-cage time for the rabbits sunup through sundown on
Tuesday, most of Wednesday, and again on Friday, and for
graciously opening her home to me for the best shower I've
ever had on Wednesday night. Thanks to Amy Spintman, SDHRS board
member, licensed HRS educator, for signing on with Noah's Wish to be
a point person for fostering displaced rabbits, although this
did not become necessary, it was a vital step towards keeping
HRS in the loop if rabbits needed fostering locally, and for
her online coordination of lists and our needs, for the fresh
veggies she bought with donated funds and brought were a blessing
for the hot rabbits, and for her education of owners reclaiming
their rabbits on Thursday. And thanks to Michelle Adams, SDHRS
rabbit adopter who brought more hay and pellets and fresh veggies
on Tuesday afternoon, and for passing our needs along to the lists."

** The Facts About Poinsettia
http://www.rabbit.org/care/poinsettia.html

Just in time for the holidays, read the real story about the toxicity
of this popular winter plant.

** Forget Google. Bunnies Rule the Internet

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21462043/
MSNBC discovers that rabbits are taking over the Internet.
Sites mentioned in this article include Disapproving Rabbits
(http://www.disapprovingrabbits.com/), 30 Second Bunnies Theater
(http://www.angryalien.com/), Rabbit Bites
(http://www.rabbitbites.com/aboutus/), and House Rabbit Society.

** Pet Rabbits Becoming Popular in NYC

http://video.wnbc.com/player/?id=172980
WNBC did a feature on the HRS New York City chapter's bunny
bonding clinics. The clip features HRS Chapter Manager Mary Cotter
and Educator Cindy Stutts and six cute rabbits.

** Kitten litter adopted by rabbit

http://www.stv.tv/content/news/headlines/display.html?
id=opencms:/news/newArticle5245614
Story from STV (Scotland) about a house rabbit who adopted a
litter of kittens.

** Chapter /EducatorUpdates

* Colorado HRS
The Colorado House Rabbit Society held its annual Bunny Boutique
on Sunday, 11/11/07.  The weather couldn't have been better--
sunny, no wind, a temperature of 70 degrees!  In the Bunny
Burrow (our one-hop bunny shop), there were items for people
who love things with bunnies on them, or in the shape of bunnies,
basic bunny supplies, a variety of rabbit books, etc.  In
the Bunny Grotto (converted from the garage across from the shop),
people were lured by the smell of corn popping and there they
found an incredible number of specially made toys and treats
for their bunnies. Finally, in the Bunny Barn, which houses
around 130 rabbits, people visited the shelter bunnies, voted
for their favorite rabbit, asked questions of the co-managers,
and enjoyed refreshments. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves
immensely, and at the end of the day, nearly $8,000 had been
raised for the bunnies.

* Pittsburgh PA
HRS Educator-in-Training Sue Donaldson was recently featured on WDVE
in Pittsburgh by Sean McDowell, a well-known local DJ. Sue brought
along Leopold, one of the chapter's fosters, who  charmed the staff. A
picture of Sean, Sue, and Leopold is posted on the Photos section of
the HRS-Announce web site
(http://pets.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/hrs-announce/photos) in the
December 2007 Newsletter Photos album. You must have a Yahoo! account
to access the web site. Sue's rabbit Mocha is also featured in
"Disapproving Rabbits", now on sale at your favorite bookseller. Mocha
appears on page 161.

* Sweet Binks Rabbit Rescue, Inc. (RI Chapter)
Sweet Binks is kicking off our 4th Annual "Dreaming of a White Bunny"
campaign!  We like to promote the adoption of the ruby eyed beauties
that often get overlooked for adoption and encourage looking at these
wonderful rabbits in a more positive light!  We also love to have
testimonials and pictures from people all over the globe telling us
about how much they love their adopted BWB's (big white buns!)  Hop on
over to www.sweetbinks.org and check it out! Sweet Binks has also been
very busy conducting a rabbit round-up in Plainfield, CT.  We have
trapped 4 rabbits so far (3 dwarfs and an angora) that were set free
in a wide open yet heavily thicketed area.  Conventional ways of
catching them are not feasible so we have been luring them into humane
Hav-A-Hart traps with banana and alfalfa!  Thankfully, several of the
area residents have been very helpful with checking the traps
constantly and calling us when we get a bun or two.  We actually
caught two in one trap!  To see the buns now safely in our care,
please visit our web site.  Sweet Binks wants to thank the House
Rabbit Society for the Emergency Grant to purchase several more
Hav-A-Hart traps and with expenses for this long process of catching
many rabbits out in rural Connecticut.  Thank you also to Jessica S.
who also purchased 3 Hav-A-Harts for Sweet Binks also.  The buns thank
you!

* Lowcountry House Rabbit Society (South Carolina -- a branch of the
North Georgia chapter)
Butterscotch, a rabbit who had been shot in the face with a pellet
gun, has had the surgery to remove the pellet to have his sutures
removed.  He seems to be doing very well and is eating hay as though
he's never seen it before.  The pellet was lodged just behind his jaw
joint so chewing was difficult.  He also had a clump of fur lodged in
the sheath of muscle on the back of his face where the pellet entered
his head and brought fur through the wound with it. Butterscotch's
story was featured on Charleston's NBC news channel.

We are now more concerned about his friend Cocoa who was rescued along
with Butterscotch.  Cocoa is suffering from a severe ear infection.
We've had numerous ear infection cases coming in over the past two
months, but all of the others have tested as pasteurella.  Cocoa's
culture just came back as E. Coli, though his vet is unsure if that is
what is definitively causing the infection.  We are still treating him
aggressively, and he will have an ear flush with sedation this
Thursday.

On the positive side, many have come through for our pleas for help.
We have had several pieces of rabbit-themed jewelry donated by one of
our members, which is for sale on our website--all proceeds will go
towards our high vet bills.  We also have a recent adopter who is an
artist and is painting rabbit artwork for us to sell, and only taking
a small percentage of the sale to cover her supplies.  We have sold
two more of the three story cube condos that were built in September
as part of the Day of Caring--coordinated by the Trident United Way,
this event involved over 200 projects throughout the tri-county area,
and we successfully constructed 5 roomy condos.  One of the remaining
condos is being used in one of our foster homes, and the other one is
pending purchase now!

** Give a Holiday HRS Membership to a Friend!

Purchasing a membership to House Rabbit Society would make a perfect
holiday gift. It's easy to buy one. They only come in one size. You
won't have to search for a parking slot and you won't have to look for
a matching bow.

You and the fortunate recipient will both know you are supporting the
largest house rabbit advocacy organization on the planet. Please
consider buying those on your holiday list a gift membership today.
All members receive the Society's newsletter, House Rabbit Journal.

A yearly tax-deductible membership costs only $18 or $25 for
international memberships. Please go to
http://www.rabbit.org/hrs-info/joining.html for more information.

** Thank you on behalf of the rabbits.

** For Harry. You will be missed by all who were blessed to know you.

Dear friends,

If you have tried to make a donation via our website in the last
couple of weeks, you probably found that your donation was rejected.

We have just gotten the problem fixed and wanted to let you know that
if you had planned on renewing your membership, joining HRS, or making
a donation, that it is back online!

Thanks for all of your support and I apologize about the inconvenience,

Margo DeMello

What's New at the House Rabbit Society
October 2007

** Lowcountry House Rabbit Society President Receives Jefferson Award

Jenni Beard, President of the Lowcountry House Rabbit Society, has
received the Jefferson Award from the Charleston, SC Post and
Courier for her work with the House Rabbit Society. For the full
story, see "Rabbit Rescuer Steps in When Pets Lose Favor"
(http://www.charleston.net/news/2007/sep/30/rabbit_rescuer_steps_when
_pets_lose_favo17657/).

** PetSmart Begins Rabbit Sales

In July, PetSmart began selling dwarf rabbits in its stores. To see
what you can do about this issue, visit http://www.rabbit.org to
read our press release, some of the national press the issue has
received, and more. We have been told that PetSmart is now going to
be making a decision as to whether or not to continue rabbit sales,
so your calls and emails are still very much needed!

** Emergency Rescue Fund Grant

We now have an emergency rescue grant fund that is used to help
other shelters and rescue groups when they end up with large numbers
of rabbits in an emergency situation. If you'd like to help, please
visit http://www.rabbit.org.

** Rabbits in the News

Scientists Hope Hef Bunny Numbers Jump
http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2007/05/20/729529-scientists-hope-hef-
bunny-numbers-jump
A cat trapping program in the Florida Keys protects endangered marsh
rabbits.

Bunny lovers put off by COA's rabbit recipes
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2007/05/27/2003362626
Rabbit SOS, Taiwan's first rabbit rescue organization, protests the
country's Council of Agriculture's promotion of rabbits as food.

** Rabbit Links
Lolrabbit
http://icanhascheezburger.com/category/lolrabbit/
Extra cute pictures of rabbits with captions. Based on the lolcat
phenomenon. You can generate your own at
http://www.thecheezburgerfactory.com/.

Talking rabbit on America's Got Talent promotes rabbit adoption
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2h8CGTSNsY

Skippy Ala King and his human Bruce competed this summer on
America's Got Talent. You can also see Skippy at the Aspen Comedy
Festival (http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?
fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=9507649).

Disapproving Rabbits
http://www.birdchick.com/adventures/rabbit/
Pictures of rabbits disapproving of all sorts of things. There's
also a blog (http://www.disapprovingrabbits.com/) and a book
(publication date: October 16).

** Chapter Updates


* Tampa Bay HRS

The Tampa Bay House Rabbit Society recently ran a toy drive to
benefit the rabbits of the Tampa Bay SPCA.

The SPCA has long been a model for adoption, education, behavior-
training and care for the animals with one exception - the rabbits
were kept outdoors.  Plans were in place to enclose the existing
rabbit hutches when the SPCA made the decision to give the rabbits a
space indoors.  Brand new cages were purchased and rabbits happily
moved into their new digs.

To celebrate the move, TBHRS partnered with Busy Bunny to buy some
new chew toys to keep the bunnies occupied until they find their
forever home.  Best of all, since moving indoors, the rabbits are
getting more visits from prospective adopters.

* Maryland/DC/Northern Virginia HRS

The MD/DC/NoVA Chapter represented HRS by staffing booths at two
conferences held in the Washington, D.C. area.  The first at the end
of July was Taking Action for Animals, a conference sponsored by
several animal protection organizations including HSUS, AWI, PCRM,
WSPA (http://www.takingactionforanimals.com/).  We helped educate
people about the many issues of rabbit welfare including Petsmart's
recent decision to sell baby rabbits.

The second was the American Humane Association's annual conference
for animal welfare and protection professionals at the end of
September (http://www.americanhumane.org/site/PageServer?
pagename=ev_professionals_pa_conference). We provided information
about meeting the needs of rabbits while in a shelter environment
and ideas for finding good adoptive homes.  It was encouraging to
hear so many positive comments about HRS and the good relationships
many shelters enjoy with our local chapters around the country.

* Rabbit Rescue & Rehab (New York City HRS)

New York City HRS will hold its 13th Annual Rabbit Care Conference
on Sunday, October 21 at the Radisson Hotel in New Rochelle, NY.
Further details available from http://rabbitcare.org/conference.html.

* Sweet Binks Rabbit Rescue (Rhode Island HRS)

On October 13th, Sweet Binks will be conducting a Rabbit Education
Seminar at the RISPCA in East Providence from 12 pm to 3 pm.  Sweet
Binks offers these mini-seminars twice a year, free to the public.
Topics discussed are basic health, diet, care, litter box training,
spay/neutering, grooming and other subjects.

On August 4th, Sweet Binks held our 4th Bun-efit Fundraiser at VASA
Park in Foster.  So many wonderful raffle items were donated for our
big raffle and we raised just shy of $4000.00 for our shelter.  We
had vendors booths, tarot card readings and lots of great bunny
merchandise.  It was another hot and successful Bun-efit and we
thank all our volunteers and friends for their hard work and for
coming out and supporting Sweet Binks!

* Wisconsin HRS

On October 6, the Wisconsin House Rabbit Society celebrated 15 years
of rabbit rescue. Marinell and Bob Harriman joined founders Julie
Smith and Carolyn Long, current Chapter Manager George Flentke, and
a gathering of many members for a banquet and fund-raiser in
Madison. Nearly 550 rabbits have been directly admitted into the
WHRS fostering program since its founding in 1992. Hundreds of other
rabbits have been supported by our volunteer-run socialization
programs at many Wisconsin shelters. Other projects have included
distribution of the HRS Handbook to public libraries across the
state, and the donation of professional rabbit cages for shelters
with high rabbit intakes. We are grateful to the loyal support of
our many members and volunteers; thanks to their efforts many
rabbits have been saved and provided with a high quality of life. We
look forward to another fifteen years plus!

WHRS has also been busy assisting with several large scale rabbit
rescues. These include the 180 rabbit confiscation at South Suburban
Humane Society, the displacement of farmed rabbits in western
Wisconsin after the heavy flooding of late August, and assisting
Indiana HRS with the pending influx of dutch rabbits from the
Louisville confiscation. This is all on top of the 38 rabbit
confiscation in Dane County last summer. It has been a privilege to
work with Chicago and Indiana HRS in helping these needy rabbits.

* St. Louis HRS

MO HRS in St. Louis celebrated adopting its 1000th bunny in
September!  Over 60 members attended the monthly meeting which was
mostly a party with quite a few adopted bunnies in attendance as
well. :)  One additional accomplishment that was part of this was
the dedication of four special volunteers who took total charge of
a "dump" of 42 bunnies on a local shelter which had no resources for
more than 2 or 3 rabbits.  MO HRS provided the spays/neuters,
housing, health care, supplies, and food, but it was these four
volunteers who handled the daily cleaning, feeding, vet runs, people
education, and adoption of these bunnies.  Thanks to Pat Daly,
Bobbie Shewmaker, Thelma Miller, and Maggie Perez for the many hours
spent at this shelter and an additional thanks to Emily Prince who
also spent many hours helping these bunnies. Of
course, other surrendered bunnies didn't stop coming in, but because
of the tireless efforts of these volunteers, we have placed 57
bunnies from this shelter since it all started last April.  Most
have been adopted, but the few remaining have been able to be
absorbed into MO HRS foster care until they, too, can find their
forever home.

MO HRS also has their annual RABBIT RESCUE CALENDAR available for
2008 at $15.  It can be ordered by going to
http://www.mohrs.petfinder.org for information or by ordering from
those local chapters or national HRS which carry it.  All proceeds
go directly towards rescuing abandoned domestic rabbits from
whichever organization it's ordered.  The front and back cover can
be seen on our website.

MO HRS in St. is also having its annual Holiday Animal Boutique on
Nov. 4 at the Humane Society of Missouri from 11am to 4pm with
prizes, jewelry, gifts for pets and pet people, photos with Santa,
holiday or season photos, and bunny supplies.  Our website has full
information or call 314-995-1457 for additional information.

Finally, the St. Louis side of MO HRS was happy to help again with
the annual Central Veterinary Convention in Kansas City during
September.  As always, the K.C. crew, chaired each year on this
project by Jennifer Habernal, put together a fabulous booth complete
with CDs full of information to give to attending veterinarians and
vet techs. In spite of a full time job and a ton of foster bunnies,
Jenn always does an incredible job of pulling off this huge event
and impressing both vets and the CVC with her professionalism.


* AAE-Conigli (HRS Italy)

AAE-Conigli, HRS Italian Chapter, will be holding a conference on
rabbit health and rabbit care in Rome on September 20, 2007. For our
European members and friends, the Information Is as follows:

Conigliomania - Rabbit festival
Villa Celimontana
Via della Navicella 12, Roma, Italy
October 21 2007

We will have a 13.15 Vegetarian lunch at 13:15 (1:15pm) and at 14:30
(2:30pm), the main Rabbits and caretakers meeting will be held. To
find out more, please visit http://www.aaeconigli.it/ .

* Iowa educator

We've been busy in Iowa, taking in dump calls, handling phone calls
and emails about rabbit care and health issues, and assisting a
graduate student at the University of Iowa who was concerned about
conditions at an Iowa-City area shelter.

** Become a Member of House Rabbit Society or Renew Your Membership

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. If you already are a
member, thank you, and please remember to renew. All members receive
the Society's newsletter, House Rabbit Journal, edited by House
Rabbit Society founder and author of The House Rabbit Handbook,
Marinell Harriman. Please go to http://rabbit.org/hrs-
info/joining.html.

NOTE: The latest Issue of House Rabbit Journal has gone to print and
Is going out this month! So If you're not sure If your membership or
address Is current, be sure to check In with us at
membership@... to make sure you will receive the latest Issue!

Laura Barnes
HRS E-Newsletter Editor and HRS Educator
laura@...

Dear friends of House Rabbit Society,

As some of you may have heard, PetSmart is now going to be selling rabbits.
Following is a letter that we are sending to PetSmart today, and putting on
our website, regarding their decision and HRS's position on that. Please
feel free to forward this letter, and the "What you can Do" information
following it, to anyone and everyone you think might be interested.

July 14, 2007

Robert F. Moran
President and Chief Operating Officer
PetSmart, Inc.
19601 North 27th Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85027

Dear Mr. Moran,

I am writing this letter in response to PetSmart’s recently announced
decision to sell purpose-bred, baby dwarf rabbits in PetSmart stores.   For
some time now, House Rabbit Society and other rabbit rescue organizations
have enjoyed mutually beneficial relationships with their local PetSmart
stores, placing rescued and adoptable rabbits through adoption programs at
those stores. To say that House Rabbit Society is disappointed by PetSmart's
violation of its own commitment to save rescued animals would be a gross
understatement. I’m sure you can understand why PetSmart’s decision to sell
rabbits feels like such a betrayal, after all the work done by your
partnering organizations to place homeless rabbits through your stores.

PetSmart’s proposed sale of rabbits goes against everything that PetSmart
itself claims to stand for.  According to the Humane Society of the United
States, rabbits are the third most-frequently relinquished species at
shelters across the country – a huge, and largely hidden, problem, because
many members of the general public are simply not aware of it.  PetSmart
claims that its sale of baby rabbits will not exacerbate this problem
because 1) all PetSmart dwarf rabbits will be spayed/neutered prior to sale,
and PetSmart employees will be “trained to instruct the public” regarding
their care; 2) PetSmart will perform “customer-satisfaction surveys” after
the purchase of a rabbit and will have a 14-day return policy, in case the
rabbit “doesn’t work out.”  Let me address each of these points.

1) Although spaying/neutering does indeed prevent further reproduction, it
does not prevent – or even acknowledge – the myriad other reasons why so
many rabbits end up in shelters.  These problems can be prevented only by
skilled, up-front screening of all potential adopters by rabbit caregivers
with long-term, first-hand knowledge of companion rabbits.  This skill is
not something that can be acquired overnight.  While your sales staff may go
through a limited training before being tasked with caring for and adopting
out these complicated animals, our own volunteers go through a minimum of a
year of training before they are qualified to educate the public about
rabbits. Our HRS veterinarians have received substantial additional training
and experience with rabbits (since companion rabbit medicine, with rare
exceptions, is not part of the curriculum in veterinary medical schools),
and as a group, have treated and cared for tens of thousands of rabbits over
the last couple of decades alone.  It is regrettable that you have chosen to
ignore all of this education and experience when considering the sale of
rabbits in your stores.

2)  To do its “survey,” will PetSmart contact its customers after  several
weeks?   Months?  Years?  Throughout the lifetime of the rabbit (up to ten
years or more)?  In our experience, rabbits can be abandoned due to a change
in the owners’ circumstances many months or even years after the initial
purchase.  PetSmart’s 14-day return policy will simply not provide the
window that is needed for all of the PetSmart rabbits that will be abandoned
months or years after purchase.  Many will be dropped off at animal
shelters, where, if not adopted or rescued by groups like House Rabbit
Society, they will be euthanized.    Others will simply be released into
neighborhoods or wilderness areas because of the tragically mistaken belief
that a companion rabbit set loose will join a wild rabbit family. Instead,
these rabbits fall victim to dogs, cats, raccoons, raptors, and automobiles.
Will the numbers of rabbits euthanized thanks to PetSmart’s new rabbit sales
program be subtracted from the number of rabbits PetSmart Charities claims
to have saved? Will PetSmart agree to take back any rabbit purchased at any
of its stores, over the rabbit’s 10-year lifespan?  That is precisely what
we, and many other rescue organizations, agree to do when we adopt out a
rabbit, because it is the only way to assure the rabbit will not end up in a
shelter again.

The HRS members and representatives who have already contacted PetSmart have
been given various reasons for PetSmart’s decision.

We have been told that PetSmart is responding to “market demand:” customers
come into a store looking for rabbits, and PetSmart wants to meet this
demand.  What happens if customers come in asking for puppies and kittens?
Will PetSmart let this demand go unmet?  Are rabbits less worthy of PetSmart
’s protection than puppies and kittens?

We have been informed that PetSmart made its decision only after consulting
with a team of “pet care experts.” House Rabbit Society, the largest
repository of rabbit care experts in the world, was never consulted, nor, as
far as we know, was any other rabbit rescue organization.  HRS not only has
more information on the demanding levels of care needed by rabbits than your
own staff, but our volunteers know more about the surplus rabbit problem
than any pet store ever could, since they deal with it on a daily basis.

We have also been told that PetSmart selected baby dwarf rabbits as the
“best type of rabbit for a family.”   This flies in the face of what most
rabbit rescuers know from experience, and points to how sadly misinformed
PetSmart’s decision is.  Baby rabbits – like baby animals of any kind – are
more destructive and require much more training and supervision than more
mature animals, and dwarf rabbits are often significantly more skittish and
harder to handle than larger rabbits. Further, dwarf rabbits have a higher
incidence of dental disease due to their small, shortened head shape, and
this can mean expensive veterinary care as often as every other month.  And
finally, the pediatric surgeries that are required to produce sale-ready,
baby rabbits may have potentially serious negative health effects.  For
example, it is known in other small mammals that bone density is decreased
when these pediatric procedures are performed. In a rabbit, who already has
a lightweight and fragile skeleton, this additional bone loss could be a
serious problem in later years.

Contrary to popular belief, rabbits are not low-maintenance animals. In
fact, compared to dogs and cats, they are actually high-maintenance pets.
The hundreds of phone calls that we receive every week demonstrate that
people who purchase rabbits at pet stores simply do not attain enough
information on how to care for them, nor do they commit to the ten years or
more that a rabbit will live. While you maintain that your veterinarians
will teach your staff about rabbit care, we know that pet store staff, like
so many service employees throughout this country, are generally short-term
or part-time employees, often teenagers, most of whom have never lived with
even one rabbit, let alone the scores that our volunteers have lived with.
They simply do not have the knowledge, skills, or inclination to properly
educate the public about these complex animals.

As the world’s largest rabbit rescue organization with a presence in forty
states and six countries, and a website that gets over a million hits per
week, House Rabbit Society has played the leading role in rescuing and
placing abandoned rabbits. In our twenty years of rescue work, we have
rescued over 20,000 rabbits, and our members look to us to fight the
continued breeding and sale of rabbits, and to prevent as many of their
deaths as we can. We are deeply concerned about this issue, since the vast
majority of the pet rabbits we rescue and rehabilitate were originally
purchased through pet stores and breeders.

There simply is no excuse in this day and age for a company with a
reputation for compassion to continue to sell animals, but especially
animals that are abandoned and euthanized at the rate that dogs, cats, and
rabbits are. For PetSmart to feign ignorance or imply that the deaths of
rabbits do not matter is repugnant to the men and women around the country
who have dedicated their lives to saving these animals.

House Rabbit Society will be informing our members of PetSmart’s decision to
place dollars over lives, and will encourage our members and allies to shop
elsewhere for their pet supplies. As a national licensing organization, HRS
does not prohibit its individual chapters from deciding for themselves whom
they will partner with in their adoption activities.  We recognize that some
of our chapters have built strong and mutually productive relationships with
some PetSmart stores, and we will not interfere with these. But as a
national rescue organization, we can tell you that many of our chapters do
not want to work with any organization that sells or breeds rabbits, and are
extremely distressed by PetSmart's decision. We also will be speaking with
the many dog and cat rescue groups that PetSmart works with to let them know
of your decision.

In closing, on behalf of the Board of Directors of House Rabbit Society, I
ask that PetSmart immediately reconsider its proposal regarding the sale of
rabbits in PetSmart stores. PetSmart has honored its policy not to sell
puppies and kittens in any of its stores; we ask that you extend the same
protection to rabbits, and remember that compassion should not be limited to
one or two animal species.

I eagerly await your response to our request.  Please do not hesitate to
contact me if you need further information or clarification on anything
covered in this letter. Finally, if PetSmart executives would like a
face-to-face meeting with members of our board, we will go out of our way to
arrange this.

Sincerely,

Kathleen Wilsbach, Ph.D.
President
House Rabbit Society

cc:
Anita Garcia, Manager of Adoptions, PetSmart Services and Store Operations
Philip L. Francis, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
David K. Lenhardt, Senior Vice President, Services and Store Operations
Mary Miller, Senior Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer
Sophie Engelhard Craighead, President of the Board, PetSmart Charities
****

What You Can Do Regarding PetSmart's Sale of Rabbits

Please let PetSmart know that you are unhappy with their decision to sell
rabbits in their stores, rather than reach out to more rabbit rescue groups
to expand their rabbit adoption programs. Please send PetSmart a polite
letter or email, or give them a call to let them know of your concerns, via
the contact information below:

Email: http://www.petsmart.com/global/customerservice/contactUsForm.jsp
Phone: (800) 738-1385
Fax: (623) 580-6502
Snail mail:
PetSmart, Inc.
19601 North 27th Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85027

What's New at the House Rabbit Society
May 2007

**Tribute to Rainn MacPhail, IHRS Volunteer/HRS Educator
From Dawn Sailer-Fleeger, Indiana HRS Chapter Manager:

It is with great sadness that I report the loss of a special
Indiana House Rabbit Society (www.indianahrs.org) volunteer,
licensed wildlife rehabilitator, and compassionate friend to
all creatures, Rainn MacPhail.  Rainn passed away in a car
accident the morning of April 27, 2007 on her way to work at
the Koinonia Environmental and Retreat Center at Manchester
College.

Rainn has been a tireless supporter of rabbits and other
animal species in the state of Indiana going back many
years.  She was truly Fort Wayne, Indiana's Mother Theresa
to the animals.  Rainn's accomplishments in this capacity
are too numerous to list.  Her most recent contributions
include assisting in the care of the 180+ rabbits seized
from a neglectful breeder at South Suburban Humane Society
near Chicago, IL.  As recently as April 26, 2007, the day
before she died, Rainn and another volunteer successfully
captured Sampson, a domestic rabbit released to fend for
himself
(http://www.indianahrs.org/adoption-details.aspx?id=286).

Rainn's contributions to animal welfare for house rabbits,
wild cottontails, and various other species in need who
stumbled across her path will be deeply felt and dearly
missed.

* New Book about Rabbits!

Rabbits: Gentle Hearts, Valiant Spirits – Inspirational
Stories of Rescue,Triumph, and Joy showcases twenty-four
uplifting true stories, including contributions by best-
selling authors Susan Chernak McElroy and Dr. Bernie Siegel
and a Foreword by Dr. Michael W. Fox. Full-color photographs
and artists' illustrations enhance the reading experience.
The back matter contains educational articles and a resource
section.

Nearly every story highlights a rescue from a traumatic
or life-threatening situation, with the emphasis then on
the happy life that results from compassionate human care
and the rabbit's resilient nature. Many of the stories are
about rabbits originally rescued by the House Rabbit
Society, The Fund for Animals Rabbit Sanctuary, Brambley
Hedge Rabbit Rescue, or Best Friends Animal Society.

The complexity of a house rabbit's nature is showcased: the
curiosity, intelligence, sociability, and courage. A unique
feature of the book is the "About Rabbits" sidebar that follows
each story, explaining aspects of these often-misunderstood
creatures and containing tidbits of wisdom about their psyche,
instincts, and physical attributes.

Discover for yourself why readers are impressed with the
book's inspirational message and beautiful format. It's a
book for compassionate animal lovers of any age.

Note: The book is available at a discount for those wishing
to raise money for and awareness about rabbits. Contact author
Marie Mead at orders@novamarispress. Those wishing to purchase
individual copies can do so at Marie's website
(http://www.celebratingrabbits.com). The book will be
available at bookstores and online sellers late this month.

** Mutts Promotes Rabbit Adoption
http://muttscomics.com/news/index.asp?idnews=574&newsCat=news

From the web site above (click the link to see the comic strip
that went along with it):
Easter is a warm and wonderful time of the year, but many
bunnies are invited into homes only to be turned out when the
jelly beans and Easter bonnets are put away. Not surprisingly,
this MUTTS print published on May 2, 2001, is a popular
reminder of these annual mishaps. (Find it here). The fact is
rabbits rarely make good pets for children. They are ground-
loving creatures who feel frightened when picked up and held.
Families often learn this too late, and turn to the only
refuge for the domesticated creatures: the local animal
shelter. If you think you might be able to share your home
with one of these adorable creatures, now is the best time of
year to find them available. Find out if you might make a home
for a bunny by visiting the House Rabbit Society website. The
bunnies need you, but only if you can make a good home for them!

** HRS Volunteers Write Article for E: The Environmental Magazine

Choose Chocolate, Not Fur: A Rabbit Reality Check
By Marie Mead & Nancy LaRoche
http://www.emagazine.com/view/?3667

** New Bun-E-Tees and More

http://www.cafepress.com/bunetees
100% of any proceeds from merchandise with the HRS web site
on it goes to national HRS.

** We Want Your Rabbit Stories

HRS is still publishing Rabbit Stories on the HRS-Announce
e-mail list, but we need your help. Please send your rabbit
stories to laura@.... This feature will return with
a new story next month.

** Rabbits in the News

* Rabbits wrecking Australian isle
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070422/sc_afp/australiaenvironment
An explosion in the rabbit population has "trashed" the World
Heritage listed Macquarie Island, which is home to endangered
penguins and albatrosses, the World Wide Fund for Nature said.

* Bunny trail leads right to her door
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/orl-
rabbitwoman07apr05,0,1594858.story?coll=orl-shopping-
headlines
Feature about HRS educator Steffanie Schrader's work with
Orlando Rabbit Care and Adoptions.

** Rabbit Web Site of the Month

Super Bunnies Rabbit Hopping
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LE9OXATfF0o
This YouTube video shows clicker trained rabbits running an
obstacle course. All of the rabbits were adopted and the
video advocates rabbit adoption.

**Chapter Updates

* Colorado Chapter
http://www.coloradohrs.com/

This year, our annual Spring Fling will be held on Saturday,
June 16th from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM at our beautiful Colorado
HRS Chapter Headquarters! People are welcome to bring their
rabbits for the outing and will be able to rent cages to ensure
their safety while the humans are visiting or shopping.
This year we have planned seminars by rabbit-savvy
veterinarians, clicker-training expert, and lamp rewiring
demonstrator. Nancy LaRoche, a collaborator on the new book
Rabbits: Gentle Hearts, Valiant Spirits, will be available
to sign autographs.

We will have booths offering bunny nail-trims, bunny massages,
bunny photos (with or without human companion), bunny vet
advice, and everyone's favorite - PEOPLE FOOD! Any proceeds
from booths go to care for our shelter bunnies. Additional
fun for attendees will be found in the Bunny Burrow Gift shop
sale, prizes won by purchasing Surprise Eggs, voting for "The
Favorite Bunny", used toner and cell phone recycling contest,
and an exciting Silent Auction.

We are now promoting a fund-raising project titled "Change a
Bunny's Life with Your Change" with cute bunny-themed plastic
cups for people to take home and collect their spare change.
This will be an ongoing fundraiser with funds earmarked for
special projects, of which the first is "Better Building for
the Bunnies". This project is geared to add windows and or
skylights to the bunny rooms to provide natural light.

* Indiana HRS
http://www.indianahrs.org

Indiana HRS (IHRS) has had a busy year with 66 rescues and
53 adoptions.  This is in large part due to our expanded
Petco adoption program (5 Indianapolis stores).  This success
would not be possible without the hard work of our in-store
Bunny Buddies, who provide daily exercise for our foster
rabbits housed at Petco, answer questions, and educate the
general public.

IHRS expanded to the Mishawaka Petco location in March 2007,
our first location outside Indianapolis.  We are expanding to
the Merrillville and Highland Petco locations in May 2007 and
June 2007, respectively. Indiana HRS is well on our way to
making Indiana the first adoption only state at Petco stores.
We have six more stores to go and feel this goal is within
reach by the middle of 2008!

IHRS also played a significant role in the care of the
Watseka neglect rabbits, housed at South Suburban Humane
Society (SSHS) in Chicago Heights, IL.  Fifteen of our
volunteers have logged and incredible 250+ hours (and counting)
caring for the very lucky rabbits still housed on-site.
Many of these volunteers have driven nearly 3 hours one way
to get to the shelter!  There are currently 53 rabbits
(including kits) housed at SSHS.  Volunteers are hopeful
that the breeder will not appeal the court's decision and
these remaining rabbits will be available for transfer to
rescue in early May.

IHRS is fortunate to have obtained custody of two Watseka
rabbits - George and Ringo - injured at the shelter.  They
are thankful to be in the safety of IHRS foster care and
will be available for adoption in mid-May.  Please check our
website (www.indianahrs.org) for additional details on the
Watseka case and/or for additional information on George and Ringo.

Again, our success is attributable to the generosity of our
hard-working volunteers!

* H.A.R.E. Inc. (Miami HRS Chapter)
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/hrs.html

The chapter held a weekend-long Easter Bunny Awareness Event
at the Miami Museum of Science.  The Museum was sponsoring
an Easter Egg Hunt, and we had a large display in part of
the hunt area where participants could come visit foster
bunnies and learn about why rabbits and Easter don't mix.

We had several hundred children and their families come by,
and everyone had a good time watching the safely penned and
playful foster bunnies!

* Missouri Chapter
http://www.mohrs.petfinder.org

St. Louis has been a busy place as you'll see, but probably
the most challenging event we've had revolves around the
37 bunnies dumped the week before Easter at an Illinois
shelter near St. Louis.

As a local paper phrased it, "The Easter Bunny visited the
Belleville Humane Society a bit early and left behind all his
relatives." The shelter immediately called MO HRS.  Our
newest HRS Educator, Bobbie Shewmaker, and her mentor,
Educator Pat Daly, jumped in with both feet (and everything
else.)  MO HRS has provided food, hay, litter, and
appropriate housing and continues to do so.  Bobbie & Pat
have been caregivers for the bunnies on a daily basis
where the shelter set aside a small room for exclusive bunny
occupancy. After two of the 37 bunnies had babies, the
shelter, which had no adoption fee nor qualifications for
rabbit adopters, quickly agreed to a $75 adoption fee which
is being used by MO HRS for spays/neuters and health checks.
Using our own funds we had all of the rabbits spayed/
neutered.  Bobbie has been handling adoption interviews
and qualifying adopters.  One woman was quite huffy
when she couldn't have one to occupy her empty outdoor
hutch and a large, intimidating man got nowhere with petite
Bobbie when the interview revealed the bunny would basically
be a toy for a 5 yr. old.   Eight bunnies have been adopted
thus far so the tale is far from being over, but our
Illinois volunteers are working hard to help them all.

Monthly educational meetings are held for members
which generally have between 40 and 60 attendees. At our
February meeting guest speaker Doreen Olsen, well known
clicker trainer and rescue volunteer with various bird
organizations, had her talk enjoyed so much that in April
we held an elementary clicker training class to give rabbit
parents an idea of some practical uses for this type of
training.

At the end of April, member Keri Delaloye, along with her
sister and mother, put together a Trivia Night for the benefit
of MO HRS in St. Louis and the Humane Society of Missouri
bringing in a much needed $3600 for our two organizations
to share.

Other events for St. Louis have included two newspaper
articles, two radio interviews prior to Easter, an event
at the White Rabbit (a shabby/chic store), and an appearance
in the Eggstravaganza at the world renown Missouri Botanical
Gardens event for their members where children were allowed
to pet bunnies and parents were educated on the reality of
rabbits as animal companions.

In February and March, chapter manager Joy Gioia did training
for the Humane Society of Missouri animal staff and vet techs
on care and handling of rabbits and about particular
illnesses common to rabbits.

In April MO HRS participated in the Open House held by
veterinary students  at the University of Missouri in
Columbia, MO to help educate attendees about rabbits.
Chantilly Lace, a French Angora, Rhinelander, Mini Lop
mix enchanted everyone with her loving personality, exotic
appearance, and willingness to offer her head for petting
to over 300 people who came through.  Rembrandt, a young
Flemish Giant of about 18 lbs. also wowed the observers
who were particularly amazed at just how gentle he was w
ith the toddlers who were allowed in his pen to give him
sprigs of parsley and to pet him. These two bunny
abassadors really know how to work a crowd.

MO HRS also officially opened its own store offering food,
hay, housing, treats, toys, grooming tools, and many other
things.  Volunteers help with the store and all profits
benefit the fosters. Other volunteers help man PetsMart
adoption days at four different stores now and provide
much needed bunny education. The MO HRS calendar committee
is also hard at work producing the 2008 Rabbit Rescue
Calendar which will be available in August/September.

To date for 2007 we've had over 50 adoptions. In May MO
HRS will participate in the Wildlife Rehab Clinic Open House
explaining the differences between cottontails and domestic
rabbits and on June 10 we will hold our annual big Bunny Expo
which generally attracts around 300 people and offers tons
of educational info, children's activties, photos, a
veterinary speaker, exhibits, and lots of sale items for
both bunnies and bunny people. Detailed information on the
Bunny Expo can be found on our website at
www.mohrs.petfinder.org

* New Jersey Chapter
http://www.njhrs.com/

NJ House Rabbit Society has recently sold it's 100th Rabbit
Neuter/Spay certificate. The low cost program is in the
second year, with participating veterinarians all over
the state.

Chapter Manager Shelley Stack is successfully recovering
from a January brain surgery for a benign tumor that was
causing blindness and is back to taking NJHRS phone calls.
Board members Tracy Turner and Janine Motta are due MANY
thanks and hugs for taking over chapter business during
the past 5 months.

NJ HRS is participating in the Annual Adoptathon at the
Monmouth County SPCA on May 5th and 6th and will be there
to help with shelter rabbit adoptions and to answer rabbit
care questions.

In November NJHRS hosted the sixth BunnyFest, with guest
speaker Dr. Michael Doolen.  A good time was had by all
humans and their rabbit companions.

* Upstate New York Chapter (THE Rabbit Resource)
http://www.therabbitresource.org/

We've licensed 3 new Educators in the past year - Meg Brown
in the Albany/Saratoga area, who is also a qualified
wildlife rehabber, (Dr.) Kim Kraebel in Cortland/Ithaca,
and Craig Abelson in Buffalo/Rochester area.  All are working
to educate locally. Meg has been teaching classes to the
public.

Kim and I (Chapter Manager Davida Kobler) will be doing classes
for staff (which I did last year ) at Tompkins Cty SCPA in
Ithaca soon. I did the training last year with Dr. David
Ruppert, who is out webmaster and assists with education
and rescue in Ithaca.

I am getting classes (for public and also to recruit fosterers)
and events organized for Utica area and CNY. I did a training
for shelter staff at Menands in Albany, with Jude Raphael,
in December.

Craig has been a very active volunteer with Erie County
shelters in Buffalo, assists with every aspect of education
and adoption there. He works with Kristen Strobel.

Linkages and liaisons are therefore strong with Buffalo,
Rochester, Utica, Tompkins County, Albany shelters.

We have been tabling, are going to be assisting at an
adoptathon next weekend in Utica, probably Pet Expo in May
here also, and have been invited to the summer fest at
Cracker Box Palace in Sodus, to table.

Jude Raphael in Albany has been working very closely with
Menands shelter there and improving life  significantly for
the bunnies there.

Nancy Furstinger from Elizaville was instrumental in getting
the bunnies at the horrendous Catskill Game Farm closed and the
animals sold at auction moved to better homes.

* Sweet Binks (Rhode Island)
http://www.sweetbinks.org

Sweet Binks has been busy with adoptions at our shelter and
at Petsmart and PetCo.  Sweet Binks is in trial status with
PetCo in Rhode Island and is having great success.  We opted
to have adoptable rabbits offered for adoption at PetCo, so
they would not sell the Marshall Farms rabbits.  Both PetCo
and Sweet Binks are excited about this opportunity and
adoptions are quite successful.  Sweet Binks has been very
active with Petsmart as well and has brought in
increased funding for our organization, increased
adoptions and awareness.

Sweet Binks volunteers conducted two Rabbit Education
Seminars in March which was open to the public and a free
event.  We have had great success with these educational
classes and conduct them 3 or 4 times a year.  We have found
these events to attract good people, many whom have found
a stray rabbit or are current rabbit owners and want to
learn more.  These are also great for new adopters or
people considering adopting a rabbit.  We offer a
PowerPoint presentation and attendees are given a
folder with literature and notes that follow the PowerPoint
presentation.  Subjects include proper diet, spay/
neutering, litterbox training and needs, grooming
(nail clipping, etc.) and much more.

Sweet Binks is also gearing up for another Bun-efit Fundraiser
this August 4th.  This is our largest fundraising event and
includes live music from three popular, local artists, great
raffles, lots of food and much more.  This event is held at
the beautiful Vasa Park in Foster, RI and is a lot of fun.
We hope to see many of our friends there! All proceeds go
to the operation and needs of Sweet Binks shelter. Tickets
are $15 per person.

Sweet Binks also installed a new propane heating system
this winter. This modern, clean and highly efficient system
was purchased with the help of an immediate assistance grant
from The Rhode Island Foundation.  Thanks to a Sweet Binks
supporter, our shelter will also be getting a fresh, interior
wall/ceiling painting  too.  Thanks to Valerie and
Sherwin Williams!

* San Diego Chapter
http://www.sandiegorabbits.org/

Upcoming events:

ANGORA GROOMING CLASS
June 9, 2007
Pre-registration required: Contact HRS at 619-718-7777 or
email hrs@....

Are you having trouble keeping your angora bunny well-
groomed? Fighting with mats and burrs and everything on the
floor sticking to bunny's fur?

This class will teach you the proper way to groom your angora
bunny, and tips on how to keep their fur clean, how to keep
those nasty mats at bay, which litterbox beddings work best
to keep from sticking to their bottom, and a whole lot more!

Grooming combs and supplies will be on hand for purchase.
Bring your bunny along! All rabbits must be in a carrier for
their safety.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS – SAN DIEGO HRS OPEN HOUSE COMING UP!

Mark your calendars for Saturday, June 2nd, from Noon to 4 p.m.
San Diego HRS will be hosting an Open House at the Bunny Supply
Store, 4805 Mercury Street, Suite B (corner of Mercury &
Ronson Roads)

     * Bunny themed Raffle
     * Light Refreshments
     * Shop for fun, HRS-logo t-shirts, coffee mugs and more!
     * Great rabbit books and calendars
     * Supplies for your bunny!

Stop by to visit with your bunny-loving friends and pick up
great items for yourself and your rabbit companions.

Learn more at www.sandiegorabbits.org

* Washington State Chapter
(Best Little Rabbit, Rodent, and Ferret House)
http://www.rabbitrodentferret.org/

The Washington Chapter of the HRS also known as Best Little
Rabbit, Rodent & Ferret House (BLRRFH) has operated a
public shelter (open 6 days a week) for the past 11 years and
Rabbit Meadows, a sanctuary for feral rabbits, for the past
10 years. Prior to that time we ran our chapter out of a
private home, as many HRS chapters do.

On Saturday, April 21st, The Rusty Pelican Cafe in Seattle
hosted the first annual "You're nobody 'til someBUNNY loves
you!" dinner and silent auction. They not only hosted the
event, they provided all of the dinners and donated 10 pies
and cakes (which they are famous for) to the auction.
Special thanks to Rabbit Meadows volunteer, Kristen Fraiser,
who volunteered her time as the Auction Chair. The event
was a great success and a lot of fun was had by all!
We raised over $6,500 for our lifesaving work and gained
several new volunteers and supporters.

We have plans to purchase a permanent shelter building in
the near future to ensure that there will always be a safe
place, devoted to the special needs of small companion
animals in need of a second chance.  We are leasing the
building that currently houses our shelter and will have to
move when the lease runs out this year due to the sale of
the building. Earlier this year, our Board made the
decision to sell the Rabbit Meadows property to help
us purchase a property to combine both the adoptable shelter
animals and the feral sanctuary rabbits onto the same land.
This will also help us to streamline our operations,
focus on our mission and minimize our overhead.

Your contributions are directly responsible for making our
lifesaving work possible. With your support, we will continue  ork
to make this a better more compassionate world for rabbits,
rodents and ferrets. Make your gift today by visiting
http://www.RabbitRodentFerret.org. Thank you!


** HRS Emergency Rescue Fund

So far, we have raised over $1500 through the new Emergency
Rescue Fund, and have given grants of $250 and $750 to
Animal Friends of Pittsburgh and Bunny Bunch of Southern
California, to help with their large rescue cases. Thank
you for making this program a reality!


** Become a Member of House Rabbit Society or
Renew Your Membership

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. If you already are a member, thank you,
and please remember to renew. All members receive
the Society's newsletter, House Rabbit Journal, edited by
House Rabbit Society founder and author of The House
Rabbit Handbook, Marinell Harriman. Please go to:
http://rabbit.org/hrs-info/joining.html

Laura Barnes
HRS E-Newsletter Editor and HRS Educator
laura@...

What's New at House Rabbit Society?  March 2007

** Longtime HRS Volunteer Wins Oregon Humane Society Lifetime
Achievement Award

From the Oregon Human Society website:
(http://www.oregonhumane.org/news/2006Volunteers.htm)

Mary Huey of NW Portland, recipient of the OHS Lifetime
Achievement Award, first volunteered for OHS in 1991. Mary
is a true Rabbit Advocate in every sense possible and has
contributed over 650 hours to OHS. Mary was one of the original
driving forces behind the creation of the original Rabbit
and Rodent Room in the old shelter building. Mary's enthusiasm
for rabbits led to the creation of a dedicated group
of OHS volunteers called Rabbit Advocates. Mary has
remained a dedicated volunteer at OHS and, with the recent
Hillsboro rabbit rescue, has put in countless hours of
volunteer time feeding cleaning and caring for over 200
rabbits involved in the case.

** Make Mine Chocolate 2007 Campaign Off and Running

From www.makeminechocolate.org:

The 2007 "Make Mine Chocolate!" Campaign has officially begun!
We've got some exciting new items for this year's campaign:

"Make Mine Chocolate!" is pleased to announce a partnership
with the National Confectioners Association (NCA) for Easter
2007. NCA is the major trade association representing the
nation's confection industry, including the more than 90
million candy and chocolate Easter bunnies produced in the
U.S. each year! For Easter outreach, NCA will tout a
"Battle of the Bunnies" campaign and reveal results from
a nationwide survey that show Americans prefer candy
bunnies to live bunnies as Easter gifts. See the press
release from NCA at
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?
ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-15-2007/0004546606&EDATE=

Visit our Web site and NCA's Web site, www.CandyUSA.org, in
the upcoming weeks for more news on this exciting partnership.

* Our CafePress store is up and running! Visit
www.Cafepress.com\chocolatebunny to see all of our exciting
merchandise. Finally, you can order that MMC mug you've always
wanted!

* The "Make Mine Chocolate!" Public Service Announcement
will be distributed nationwide! Thanks to the generosity of
Maria Perez of Las Vegas HRS and her colleague, Bill Goodwill
of Goodwill Communications, who agreed to provide this service
pro bono, the PSA will go out to all of the major radio
markets in the country!

* We've added a Letter to Photographers on our website.
Use this template as a guide when you write to your local
photographers encouraging them to use toys, candy and
flowers in their Easter photos instead of live rabbits.
We're currently finalizing a companion poster that
Compassionate Photographers can display in their stores.

* "Accessorize Your Bun" is now online! This great game in
our Interactive Bun learning center lets you set up a virtual
living space for our friend Watson. His mentor, Professor
Rabbit, guides you by offering tips on which choices are
best for Watson's comfort.

* Don't forget our raffle! Joseph Larkin has again provided
an original painting to be raffled for $1 per ticket. Check our
website for a photo of this beautiful art work.

* "Make Mine Chocolate!" will be the Charity of the Day at
Goodsearch on April 3, 2007. Use Goodsearch for all your internet
searches and support MMC at the same time.
Visit www.goodsearch.com.

As always, we have informational materials at
http://www.makeminechocolate.org/marketing.htm . You'll find
a variety of print materials, including the new
Compassionate Photography items, and a Public Service
Announcement for download and distribution to your local
media outlets.

Make Mine Chocolate is already receiving media attention.
See the first item in a Memphis Commercial Appeal column at
http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/lifestyle_columnists/article/0,14
26,MCA_529_5417646,00.html.
See also a longer piece in the New York Post at
http://www.nypost.com/seven/03182007/entertainment/rabbit_fears
_entertainment_julia_szabo.htm

** We Want Your Rabbit Stories

HRS is still publishing Rabbit Stories on the HRS-Announce
e-mail list, but we need your help. Please send your rabbit
stories to laura@.... This feature will return with
a new story next month.

** Leith PetWerks Show Me the Bunny Contest

Leith PetWerks will give away six 48" Double Level Bunny
Abodes between March 1 and Easter (April 8). According to the
annoumcement:

Winning is easy... all you need is a little creative energy
and a love for a long eared one. You can color one of two
images we provide, you can submit a picture, or you can do
something wildly creative! That last part is a little
augmentation we've made to the contest based on some requests
from those interested -- I'm wondering what we're going
to end up with! Sculpture? Handmade cards? Pencil drawings?
Whatever! =-)

See the contest page for full details, including how easy
it is for people of all ages, talents and energies to enter
and to win!

http://www.leithpetwerks.com/contests/2007coloring/

Simply send your entries, questions, and comments to
contest@....

** Rabbits in the News

*Old Chapel Used for Rabbit Rescue
http://www.kirotv.com/news/10946925/detail.html
An old chapel in Seattle's Discovery Park has become a
sanctuary for rabbits rescued from Seattle's Woodland Park.

* Endangered Rabbits Return to Washington
http://www.happynews.com/news/3152007/endangered-rabbits-return-
washington.htm
The Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit is finally back in its old
stomping grounds, munching olive-drab sagebrush and hopefully
doing what rabbits do best. Twenty of the creatures -- each
not much bigger than a man's hand -- were set free Tuesday
in a remote wildlife reserve, an attempt to jump-start their
population in central Washington state.

** Rabbit Web Site of the Month

Rabbit Bites
htttp://www.rabbitbites.com
Two bunnies named BunBun and Chou Chou comment on popular
culture. Recent episodes include the Oscars and American Idol.
Warning: some of the content is for more mature audiences.

**Chapter Updates

* Chicago Chapter
http://www.hrschicago.org

180 Rabbits Seized in Watseka, IL Abuse Case

On February 24, 2007 humane investigators confiscated 180+
rabbits from a breeder in Watseka, IL who will be charged with
animal cruelty and abuse. House Rabbit Society of Chicago
has been assisting South Suburban Humane Society with the
triage and care of the rabbits that were confiscated in
this case. As of February 27 all the rabbits have
receive a preliminary medical exam and the many sick rabbits
are receiving medical treatment. It took two days for
veterinarians to document the rabbits at the shelter and
triage their health care. Volunteers Joan and Dave Irwin and
Colleen Cameron assisted with the triage and Dr. Susan Brown has
provided the majority of the health care. Now past this major
hurdle, many hours will still be required to settle the rabbits
into groups based on their medical and physical needs. There
are many ill rabbits as well pregnant does and some young
litters that require special considerations.

Ongoing care and assistance for this large group of rabbits
will be a huge undertaking for South Suburban Humane Society.
HRS Chicago, Indiana House Rabbit Society, Wisconsin House Rabbit
Society and Red Door Shelter in Chicago have offered assistance.
We will be coordinating our efforts to maximize resources.
We are almost finished collecting the items needed for basic
housing Ð cages, litter boxes, crocks, etc. As the rabbits are
set up in better appointed cages, the volunteers will turn
their efforts to helping with much needed grooming tasks
such as trimming nails and grooming the matted Jersey wooley
rabbits. Of course, the shelter will appreciate any
assistance we can provide with the daily cleaning chores
or daily medications.

Anyone interested in making donations or volunteering can
contact hrschicago@... or dawn@....

For more information on the case, see the March 3 article in
the Chicago Tribune at
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-
0703030186mar03,1,4542399.story?coll=chi-news-hed&ctrack=
1&cset=true.

See also Dr. Susan Brown's statement about the case at
http://www.hrschicago.org/Letter%20from%20Dr%20Susan%
20Brown.htm.

Upcoming Seminar

HRS Chicago will be hosting an afternoon seminar titled
"Building an Effective Relationship with Your Veterinarian,"
on Saturday afternoon April 21 at the Oak Brook Public
Library. We are privileged to have Dr. Susan Brown,
the National House Rabbit Health Director, presenting
information on how we as rabbit guardians can communicate
better with the veterinarian when or rabbit friends need
health care. Have you ever thought about what a
veterinarian's professional responsibilities are? Have you
wondered how you can be better prepared for the vet
visit? What can we do to assist the veterinarian in
evaluating our rabbit friends? Join us to find out. Watch
for more details. Contact HRS Chicago at
hrschicago@... if you have questions.

* Colorado Chapter
http://www.coloradohrs.com/

The Colorado State University College of Veterinary Medicine
has established a trial program where senior vet students will
spay and neuter the chapter's rabbits at no cost. These will
be done under the personal direction of Matt Johnston, VMD,
DABVP Avian, who is the college's resident expert on rabbits.

This obviously benefits the chapter greatly, but it also trains
vet students who will be able to spay and neuter rabbits when
they enter into practice next year. After evaluating the
trial, CSU is likely to make this a permanent program.

-----------------------------------

There are no norms for thyroid in rabbits, and the University
of Tennessee wants to establish some. So students from CSU's
College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences are
coming to the shelter to take blood from a large number of
rabbits. These samples will be sent to the university, so
they can establish norms.

* Los Angeles Update

RABBIT ADOPT-A-THON
Thanks to the help of 45 volunteers and the West Los Angeles
Center staff, the Second Annual LAAS Rabbit Adopt-A-Thon,
"Adopt a Honey For Your Bunny," which took place on
February 11, 2007 in the Westchester Recreation Center, was a
smashing success. Not only were 30 LA Animal Services rabbits
adopted, a new all-time record for one day, but volunteers
found homes for one "return" and one relinquished bunny,
for a total of 32 adoptions. HRS representative Michelle
Kelly was there to educate potential adopters and organize
the event.

All adopters filled out an Adoption Information Form, spoke
with Adoption Counselors, and paid an adoption fee of $50
for each rabbit. While looking for the perfect match of
rabbit or rabbits, potential adopters watched a professional
DVD of rabbits in the home.

The rabbits were all neutered, litter box trained and had
a micro chip implanted in advance.

NO KILL PLAN FOR RABBITS
On February 26th, Michelle Kelly spoke at the Board of Animal
Services Commissioners meeting and presented a plan "No Kill
For Rabbits." Key to the plan: recruiting and retaining
volunteers who specialize in rabbits, and providing education
on and coupons for spay/neuter to reduce the overpopulation
of pet rabbits in Los Angeles.

Volunteers Needed For Los Angeles Area Mobile Adoptions

Local PetCo management has agreed that if we show rabbits
for adoption in their stores, they will not sell Marshall
Farms rabbits. This is a win-win situation for the public
shelter rabbits in Los Angeles: more rabbits from the animal
shelters will get adopted and there won't be an influx of
Marshall Farms rabbits hitting the shelters. The success
of this enterprise depends on whether or not there are
enough volunteers signed up to transport rabbits and do
adoption counseling. Please contact Michelle Kelly at
losangelesrabbits@... for more information and
to sign up as a volunteer.


* San Diego Chapter

San Diego HRS received its Federal Nonprofit Status in January
and is now a nonprofit corporation under the name, San Diego
Companion Rabbit Society, Inc. We are "doing business as"
San Diego House Rabbit Society, to retain the recognition
that comes along with the House Rabbit Society name. Our board
is going on its second year and is working to increase benefits
to our supporters, along with the number of rabbit adoptions
in San Diego County.

-------------------

San Diego HRS has a new online Cafe Press store! Visit
www.cafepress.com/sdhrs to shop for great t-shirts, totes,
caps, cups, mouse pads and more!

------------------

San Diego HRS is embarking on an ambitious year to provide
more educational seminars to our supporters. Upcoming
classes include Bunny Massage with Chandra Moira Beal, author
of "The Relaxed Rabbit: Massage for Your Pet Bunny;" Clicker
Training Your Rabbit, with clicker training specialist,
Andrea Bratt Frick; T-Touch and Animal Communication with
Lauren McCall of The Integrated Animal; and several
Bunny 101 and Angora Grooming training sessions throughout
the year.

* Tampa Bay Chapter
http://www.tampabayhrs.org/

Tampa Bay HRS worked with SPCA Largo on BunFest, which was
held February 18. As part of the promotion for the event,
Jennifer Richard, HRS educator and SPCA employee, went on
Channel 10 to promote the event. To see the video, visit
http://www.studio10.tv/day/wednesday/segment.aspx/49159/
Its_Bunfest_Time_at_SPCA_Tampa

* Vancouver Rabbit Rescue and Advocacy, Vancouver, BC
http://www.vrra.org

British Columbia has a big chain store called Petcetra
(just like Pet Smart) that has always sold baby rabbits.
The BC SPCA works with Petcetra in spite of this because
they adopt out cats and dogs for them. VRRA has always been
against this and it's been a sore point between the group and
the SPCA.

In mid-February, the city council met to pass a by law to
ban the sale of exotic pets in pet stores and also to pass
a bylaw on how animals are kept at pet stores. Olga Betts,
the Vancouver chapter manager, went to speak about how rabbits
are kept and also about why they should be banned for sale
in pet stores. The BC SPCA was there to support the exotic
pet ban but did not speak about rabbits. At least two of
our city councillors were very interested in the rabbit issue.
The bylaw was passed without adding rabbits, However, the
BC SPCA had a serious talk with the owner of Petcetra and
he has agreed to stop selling baby rabbits and to adopt out
spayed and neutered SPCA rabbits throughout the province.
The BC SPCA has asked VRRA to advise on how to handle the
adoptions. VRRA will also participate in the media event
(when the announcement comes out) to talk to people about
rabbits both in person and on the radio.


** New HRS Emergency Rescue Fund

Every year we hear about a number of emergency rabbit
rescue situations around the country that involve anywhere
from 50 to 1500 rabbits. Sometimes HRS can help when we have
volunteers in the area who can provide foster care,
veterinary care, support for the rescuing shelters, and
more. Other times we are less able to help. We know our
supporters would also like to be able to help with these
cases, which often involve so many rabbits, so much
suffering and so few resources.

House Rabbit Society would like to help more, and to
allow you to help more.

To that end, we have started a Rescue Emergency Fund.
This fund is kept in a separate bank account from HRS'
general funds, and all donations coming in that specify
"Rescue Emergency Fund" will go into that account. We will
use those funds to make small, targeted grants to animal
rescue organizations who are involved in a large rescue.
Funds can be used to purchase cages, litterboxes, food,
hay or toys, or can be used to fund spay/neuters and other
veterinary care. We will keep our members informed via
the HRS website of how many dollars have been raised, and
what rescue situations have been funded. To make a donation
to this fund, be sure to include "Rescue Emergency Fund"
in the description field of the online donation form
(donations via snail mail are also gratefully accepted).


** Become a Member of House Rabbit Society or Renew Your
Membership

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. If you already are a member, thank you,
and please remember to renew. All members receive
the Society's newsletter, House Rabbit Journal, edited by
House Rabbit Society founder and author of The House
Rabbit Handbook, Marinell Harriman. Please go to:
http://rabbit.org/hrs-info/joining.html

Laura Barnes
HRS E-Newsletter Editor and HRS Educator
laura@...

** What's New at House Rabbit Society? Welcomes 2007


** HRS Chosen as Charity of the Month for January and February

House Rabbit Society has been chosen as the January and
February Charity of the Month for
www.charityshoppingonline.com. For all your post-holiday
shopping this month, please consider visiting
www.charityshoppingonline.com; profits from your shopping this
month will go to House Rabbit Society!


** Ferret/Rabbit Rescue Grant Program 2006 Winners

Congratulations to all who tirelessly work on behalf of the
animals. http://www.rabbitstop.com/grant2006winners.html


** Newspaper and Cardboard – Are They Safe to Chew?

"Is it safe for my rabbit to chew newspaper and cardboard?
Will the paper and ink poison him?" Deb Jacobson of the
Printers' National Environmental Assistance Center
(http://www.pneac.org) responds: The formulations for
inks were modified MANY years ago to reduce or
eliminate pigments that contain heavy metals (particularly
lead). Cardboard is typically printed with water-based
flexographic inks and the adhesives used to make the
cardboard are water and corn starch based. Basically
you could ingest it for extra roughage if you so choose
(as do the bunnies).

The newsprint is typically printed with oil-based offset inks
(most common) or water-based flexographic inks and low
grade paper. The paper grade used for newspapers is a
good thing because they have used less bleaching chemicals
and less processing to make the paper. The same is true
for the corrugated.

I would suggest you withhold the slick paper, multi-color
ads. The newsprint with black ink or newsprint with a few
pages of colored ink is fine. One reason is the paper they
use may be a higher grade (more bleaching chemicals
used). The other reason is the pigments in the colored
inks. Some pigments still contain "compounds" of
chemicals that I would not want my "baby" to consume.


** Rabbits in England: The Most Abused Pets

Rabbits are the most abused domestic pet in England and
Wales, with 35,000 abandoned every year, says the
RSPCA. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6166113.stm


** Investigation Uncovers Hell in Rabbit Fur Farms in Portugal

Portuguese animal protection group ANIMAL goes inside
Portugal's rabbit fur trade to expose the violence endured
by the real "fashion victims". Rabbit pelts produced in
Portugal are sent to China, via Spain, and are then sent to
the European Union.

In late October, investigators with the Portuguese animal
protection group ANIMAL went inside the Portugal's
rabbit fur trade, for the first time gaining access to places
and information and talking to key agents of this trade,
using covert cameras and different front covers to capture
graphic evidence to show to the public who are the real
"fashion victims" this winter. http://www.tvanimal.org

ANIMAL has partnered, in the USA, with the Anti-Fur
Society and RabbitWise: Rabbit Advocates USA, and, in
France, with Fourrure Torture, to expose this trade
internationally - today, the outcome of this investigation has
been release in Portugal, in France and in the USA. This
marks the beginning of a new campaign against fur in
Portugal.

"This winter, ask yourself: Who are the Real Fashion
Victims?" TVANIMAL.org: Exposing Animal Abuse.
Please support our work for the Animals." Help ANIMAL
to have more means to help more and more animals.

Please make a secure donation to ANIMAL today through
PayPal - go to: www.PayPal.com and make a donation to
info@....


** Airline Pet Policies

As you plan your travel in 2007, you may wonder if or how
you can bring your rabbit along. BringFido.com has made
it much easier. They have aggregated airline policies for
pet travel at http://www.bringfido.com/airpolicies.htm. They
also have an Air Travel Regulations for Pets page at:
http://www.bringfido.com/airregulations.htm.


** February Rabbit Adopt-a-thon in Los Angeles

With over 1,100 rabbits checked into the Los Angeles
City shelters yearly, and an additional 1,000 checked into
the Los Angeles County shelters, plus hundreds more in
surrounding areas and in several rabbit rescue groups, the
Los Angeles area is overflowing with unwanted rabbits.
To help save them, L.A. Animal Services will be holding a
super adoptathon at the "Be a Honey, Adopt a Bunny"
(or, Adopt a Honey for Your Bunny!*) Rabbit
Adopt-a-thon at the Westchester Recreation Center on
Sunday, February 11 from 10 – 6.

The $50 adoption fee includes neuter prior to adoption. In
addition, L.A. area shelters have an ongoing need for
volunteers to help care for and adopt out shelter rabbits.
Please call 310-713-2478 for more information.

** Rabbit Crisis in Houston

Rabbit Crisis in Houston--Help Needed!

In late December the Houston SPCA was called to a breeder's
home to seize more than 150 rabbits because the breeder
was very ill and could no longer care for them.
Bunny Buddies, a Houston based non-profit rabbit rescue
and education group, stepped up to help the SPCA care
for the rabbits and find them homes. Bunny Buddies
volunteers spent every day feeding, cleaning and caring
for the rabbits. Many of the volunteers gave up their
Christmas holiday time and even came for hours every
evening after a long day at their regular jobs.

Approximately 70 of these bunnies were taken into foster
care. If you are interested in adopting one of these
beautiful bunnies, please email Bunny Buddies at
adopt@.... If you can help by making
a donation, please email us at info@....

http://www.bunnybuddies.org

** Classroom Rabbits CAN Be a Good Thing

As a rabbit volunteer at Oakland Animal Services Shelter,
we do our best to listen for "red flags" when interviewing
potential donors; outdoor hutches, "starter pets" and
cabbage rank high on the list. Also high on the list was
"classroom pet" until I recently met Megan, a wonderful
and compassionate teacher looking for a rabbit for her
classroom. After long conversations, we released our
precious Frosty into her care.

Following is an update on Frosty and his relationship with
the children in Megan's classroom. I am reprinting the
letter here in the hopes that the next time a teacher contacts
your rescue, shelter or chapter; you will entertain the
possibility that the situation might be a wonder for all
parties involved, including the rabbit:

Dear Oakland Animal Services Staff and Volunteers,

Hello everybody. I guess you would all like to know how
your big Frosty is doing. He is awesome. He lives in
Fremont at the Durham Elementary YMCA and is daily
adored by about 28 kids. He has his own special place in
our class room which he loves to share with 3 or 4 of his
kids at a time.

Every morning when he is let out of his cage he has to chin
mark everything thing in his little world. Then he lays on the
couch to be pet. When the kids are at school you can find
him re-arranging the book shelf or mountain climbing our
bean bag chairs, or, his favorite pass time, sleeping in his
box. (The same one you guys made for him at the shelter).
I sing his name for him, and I pet him with his little puppet.

After school the kids run to wash their hands so they can
pet him and feed him whatever kinds of fruits and veggies
they got for him from the cafeteria that day. If the weather
is good he likes to go outside with one of his kids on his
harness and eat grass from the field or dig in the tanbark.
Everyone takes a 15 minute turn to "walk" him but mostly
they just follow him around while he does what he pleases.

When it gets to be about 5 O'clock and the kids start to go
home, he gets to hop around the classroom and get into the
back packs or sleep under the tables.

The kids do a wonderful job of looking after him. They
make sure he always has food, hay, and water and they
police each other to make sure they have washed their
hands before they pet him. They tell the class to quiet
down if they think it's getting too noisy for Frosty. They
clean his cage and make sure he gets enough exercise.
The kids always tell me that he's so beautiful and how
much they love him. I always hear about how they just
can't believe that he sat at the shelter for so long before
anyone wanted him.

Frosty is an ideal classroom pet because he is friendly and
outgoing, patient, fairly quiet, and has perfect litter box
skills. He brings a sense of calm and caring to our class and
encourages kids, who otherwise wouldn't, show their
caring side as well. Every day I see the effect that Frosty's
presence has on our kids. Many live in apartments and may
not have pets. For them having Frosty in our room is the
only time they get to interact with an animal. Frosty teaches
our kids about caring for something smaller than you and
about sharing love.

Our kids now know that rabbits don't belong left in a cage
and they spread the word to their friends. On top of all that,
he and Millie have educated them on the plight of shelter
animals and taught them the value of a life. Frosty is just as
much a teacher in our classroom as the humans, maybe
even more so, because he teaches children something more
than we can.

Thank you very much for all your hard work and
dedication that allowed Frosty the opportunity and time he
needed to find his home, his place, and his purpose in this
world. Please know that the work you do doesn't just
serve to help the animals, but also the people whose lives
have been touched and influenced by the animals you
saved, like a ripple affect that starts with you.

I'll be sure to send you a picture of him with his kids when
I get one, and you guys will see him soon for nail trimmings
since he doesn't let me do it!
Thank you again
-Megan

The rabbit volunteers at the Oakland shelter raise money to
spay and neuter every rabbit, making them more adoptable.
Shop at our online store
(http://www.cafepress.com/hoptoadopt) from which 100%
of the proceeds go straight into the rabbit spay/neuter fund.
Please, help us help more rabbits like Frosty. Thank you.


** Got a Good Bunny Story to Tell?

You are invited to submit a short story for consideration
to be included in a book about house rabbit behavior. For
more information and a submission form, please go to:
http://www.izzyjams.com/melinda/BunnyBook.doc.


** American Pet Diner's New Sick Bunny Feed Formula

"Critter Be Better" is a new replacement feed when your
rabbit is sick, stressed, post surgery, has digestive
disorders or is eating poorly. The feed can also be used on
a monthly basis to bring normal levels of micro flora back to
the digestive system.

For more information about this Timothy-based formula
and all the terrific American Pet Diner hays and feeds,
please go to: http://www.americanpetdiner.com/


** Support Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary

Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary, located in California's
beautiful San Joaquin Valley, is an official House Rabbit
Society Sanctuary. Founded 3 years ago, Harvest Home is
the forever home to almost 100 "unadoptable" rabbits
rescued through HRS, Bay Area shelters and abuse/neglect
cases.

Please consider making as generous a donation as possible
to Harvest Home. Every cent you donate will go to the care
of scores of animals, including ducks, chickens, pigs and
Bullwinkle, the donkey. Every dollar you donate will go to
expanding the facilities so that many more animals can be
given forever sanctuary.

http://www.harvesthomeanimal.org/index.htm
(Be certain to click on the "Residents" link to see a
terrific photo of 70+ (now 100) rabbits enjoying their
evening salad.)


** Delightful Rabbit Websites

For as many cute rabbit pictures as you can stand, check
out the Bunny Lovers Unite group on Flickr:
(http://www.flickr.com/groups/bunnyloversunite/). See
also the Bunnies section at CuteOverload.com
(http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/bunnies/index.html)
for both still pictures and video.


** Win a Collection of 23 Beatrix Potter Books

Miss Potter, a newly released film about the life of Beatrix
Potter, was released in January. Use the following link for
a chance to win a complete collection of her beloved books:
http://www.peterrabbit.com/miss_potter/competition/us.cfm


** House Rabbit Society Chapter and Educator Updates

* Tampa Bay http://www.tampabayhrs.org

In celebration of Adopt a Rescued Month in February, we
are again hosting BunFest at the SPCA of Tampa Bay in
Largo on February 18; a vet lecture and Rabbit Habits
presentation. Last year, seven rabbits found forever,
loving homes during BunFest! Proceeds from the Bunny
Boutique will benefit both the SPCA Tampa Bay and the
Tampa Bay House Rabbit Society.
tampabayhrs@... 813-891-6144

* Columbus http://www.columbusrabbit.org/

Library Letters - CHRS began a program to donate the
House Rabbit Handbook to local libraries. With the
permission of the Buckeye Chapter, we extended our
program to include libraries throughout the state of Ohio.
To date, we've had 91 libraries request books, with some
asking for additional copies for their branches and
bookmobiles. In total, we've mailed 137 books. Another
library asked if we would give a presentation on house
rabbits.

"Make Mine Chocolate!" - The 2007 MMC campaign will
be kicking off shortly. This year will bring another raffle
drawing for an original painting by Joseph Larkin titled
"Mr. Brooks in the Garden." We've also opened a
CafePress shop with a variety of "Make Mine Chocolate!"
merchandise. And we're asking our Partners to work with
local photographers to find humane alternatives to using live
rabbits in their portraits. As always, we'll have materials
available to download and distribute to help spread the
word that rabbits aren't disposable pets.
http://www.makeminechocolate.org

2007 Midwest Veterinary Conference - For the fifth year,
CHRS will have a booth at the upcoming Midwest Vet
Conference on February 22-25, 2007. The annual
conference has an average attendance of 6,000 vets,
technicians, hospital managers, staff, students, and animal
welfare professionals. Our booth features an exercise pen,
samples of different types of hay and litter, a "food
pyramid" showing the components of a proper rabbit diet,
and a DVD player showing short videos on living space,
daily routines, and exercise.

* Indiana http://www.indianahrs.org

Indiana HRS was hard at work in 2006. Early in the year,
HRS Educator, Karen Woznick, led a team of volunteers
to launch a new website with expanded content. Since
launch, website traffic has increased 1000%. We have
received very positive feedback and are looking to make
additional improvements in 2007.

Another important activity has been expanding our Petco
rabbit adoption program (4 stores). We apply the same
adoption policies to our Petco foster rabbits as our rabbits
housed in traditional foster care. Since the implementation
of this program in 2005, 53 rabbits have been rescued to
support this adoption program for which IHRS would not
have had foster care space.

The success of this program hinges on our Bunny Buddy
Rabbit Socialization Volunteers. Our Bunny Buddies
provide daily exercise and 1:1 attention for our foster
rabbits and educate the general public on how to care for
companion rabbits. To date, we have had approximately
1000 volunteer shifts representing over 2000 volunteer hours.

We are able to reach the public even when our Bunny
Buddies are not in the store. Our educational material is
available during store operating hours. The public has taken
more than 5000 educational handouts on living with a
companion rabbit, housing, litter training, pellets and hay,
greens, toys, veterinary care, and pairing rabbits. Our
volunteers answer phone calls and e-mail questions resulting
from our literature, answering 300% more requests over
last year.

Once our expansion to the Speedway store is complete
later this month, we will have eliminated the sale of baby
rabbits at Petco stores in Indianapolis (6 stores). We are
projecting 72 adoptions/year in Indianapolis, while
eliminating the sale of approximately 160 baby rabbits. We
are thrilled to save shelter rabbits while also eliminating
potential shelter surrenders down the road due to impulse
purchases.

We are replicating the success in Indianapolis, recruiting
volunteer support for all Petco locations in the state of
Indiana: Bloomington, Columbus, Fort Wayne, Highland,
Kokomo, Merrillville, Mishawaka, and Terre Haute.

* Arkansas

2006 was a busy year for HRS Arkansas Educator,
Sharon Dumas. Besides volunteering at a veterinary
conference in St Louis, Sharon again traveled throughout
the state to several libraries hosting "Paws and Claws,
Tails and Scales", a reading program for children. Scores
of children attended (and adults) attended and were
educated about the wonders of animals.

In October, the first meeting of the Pet Rabbit Network
(founded by Sharon and Erin Bradford) was held.
Distributing valuable rabbit care and veterinary information
and treat samples, the initial meeting was a success. Two
months later, the number of attendees doubled. Holiday
photos and nail trimmings were had by all! The next meeting
is scheduled for February.
Sharon Dumas, HRS Educator since 1990, Arkansas
idadumas@...

(Ed. Note: House Rabbit Society wishes you much success
with this ambitious and important outreach endeavor.)

* Charleston SC Branch of the North Georgia Chapter
http://www.houserabbitga.org/

2006 has been an exciting year for us here in Charleston, SC.
Our area Petsmart store in Mount Pleasant, SC, began an
adoption program with us in summer of 2005 decided in
2006 to dedicate two cages in their "cat and rabbit"
adoption center to us! This is one of the newer Petsmart
stores that has their adoption center behind plexiglass with
a long narrow playing room behind the cages. The staff
has been overjoyed at having the buns there, and most days
will take them out to play in the safe playroom several times
a day. Most of the bunnies quickly learn how to use the
stepping stools to get in and out of their cages on their own,
so little lifting is needed. We still have our dedicated area
fosterer, Lynda Cunningham, but we are now able to have
twice the bunnies at any given time. It is so small
compared to most branches and main chapters, but every
bunny saved means just as much!

In 2006 we did a whopping 6 adoptions! That seems like
small potatoes to most of you, but 2005 we only managed
two. One very special adoption was Schroeder. This
darling Dutch/MiniRex mix was at a county shelter in the
euthanisation room. His crime was that he had nipped a
staff member--on the shoulder, didn't bite through her
scrubs, and he had just been abused by numerous
children carrying him around the shelter the prior day.
After a heated battle with management to convince them
that he was not a menace to society, I finally managed to
spring him free. Thanks to Lynda's 11 year old son
Joseph, we found a temporary place for Schroeder to
live--on the bottom bunk of Joseph's bunk bed! As soon
as we could get an open space at the Petsmart, Schroeder
went to stay there and was quickly adopted by a family
whose teenage daughter had been volunteering to clean
cages. He is now living the good life, and is also learning a
great deal about algebra as he assists Haley with her
homework each night!

Another special adoption was Rita. Many of you in the
southern states may remember Rita, the big black/agouti
rex mix who was rescued from a horrific situation in fall
2005 after the hurricane she was named for. Rita had many
temporary places to stay, but she finally wound up here in
Charleston where Lynda fostered her for several months
and taught her to trust humans again. Then came even more
excitement--someone wanted to adopt Rita and bond her
to a boy bunny named Scooter! At their first introduction
it was clear that the bond was possible--and also that all 4
vets whom Scooter had been seen by were greatly
mistaken. Scooter's owner had been repeatedly told that
"he" was a neutered male, and the massive dewlap was a
giveaway--Scooter was a girl! We directed Scooter's
human to a good rabbit vet who performed the spay, and
were relieved to find that although Scooter had the
beginnings of cancer in her uterus, it was in the very early
stages and she has a very good prognosis. Meanwhile,
Rita and Scooter are best friends, and are usually snuggling
or grooming one another.

Each bunny has his or her own special story to tell. I hope
that I've done justice to these two, but each one was very
special in his or her own way. Thank you to all who have
supported us, and we hope for an even greater 2007!

* Colorado http://www.coloradohrs.com

The Colorado House Rabbit Society is delighted with the
remodeling of one of its bunny rooms. The floor was raised
and sloped into a gutter, making it possible to clean the
entire area with a hose. The wall and floors were painted
complimentary creamy colors, with the floors wonderfully
textured for the rabbits' feet. The steel pens are a muted
evergreen color. There are eight 4' x 5' pens across the
back, with eight 4' x 4' pens in front. The front pens can
be opened into each other by pocket doors, to make a
single 32' long run, or any multiple of 4' pens. Finally, there
is space for 14 crates above the back pens.

The rabbits who are enjoying this new space are grateful to
all who made it possible--as are we!

The Colorado House Rabbit Society is formally establishing
the "Northeast" Satellite in Greeley, run by Debby Schmidt,
and the "Northwest" satellite in Grand Junction, run by Sandy
Roberts. In the past, our satellites have mostly represented
us with teaching in their respective locations. These two will
take in and place their own rabbits, have their own bank
accounts, and work toward becoming full fledged chapters.
Meanwhile, their web-sites can be accessed through ours:
www.coloradohrs.com.

We are excited about the efforts made by Debby and
Sandy, and the support given them by many of our members!

Nancy LaRoche
Co-Manager
Colorado House Rabbit Society

* New Jersey http://www.njhrs.com/

The New Jersey House Rabbit Society's Lower Cost
Rabbit Spay/Neuter Certificate program has just successfully
completed its first year. To date, we have sold 60
spay/neuter certificates. Spay is $85 and neuter is $65.
Without spay/neuter certificates, rabbit guardians here in
NJ can be charged on the low end, $250 for neuter, $350
for spay and on the high end, $350 for neuter and $460 for
spay (for surgeries without complications). We have
several participating veterinarians and are working to
encourage more to join our program. Veterinarians have
agreed to accept a special fee from NJHRS and the chapter
pays the doctor the difference of the amount collected for
the certificate and the contracted doctor fee. We hope to
grow the program by adding more veterinarians and add to
our fund through grants.

* San Diego http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/

San Diego HRS is working to end the sale of rabbits in their
local shelters and write in a letter to Petco management:
"How can PETCO, in good conscience, begin to sell
animals they know are already languishing in local shelters
in huge numbers? With more than 500 rabbits coming into
local shelters and humane societies each year, what is
PETCO thinking? Certainly not their "supposed" mission
of "Think Adoption First."

Please support San Diego HRS in their campaign to stop
Petco from buying and selling rabbits, while local shelters
and rescue groups are inundated with homeless rabbits.
For more information about San Diego's work and what you
can do to help them, please go to: http://tinyurl.com/364w6t

* Portland http://www.adoptarabbit.com/

Portland Rabbit Advocates will be working at a massive
Rabbit Adoption Super Bowl this Sat. Feb. 3, at the Oregon
Humane Society. This event is being held to find  homes for
over 150 neglected rabbits in one day.

The rabbits are part of one of the largest and strangest
animal abuse cases in Oregon history. They were rescued from
neglect last October, then stolen from custody in January,
then discovered in a hideout last week and recovered by authorities.

This Saturday, their long saga will hopefully come to a happy conclusion. The
general public is invited to come to the
Hillsboro Police Department  and participate in the Super
Bowl Bunny Blitz. The goal is to find homes for over 150
rabbits in one day—a record of Super Bowl proportions.

How did over 150 rabbits end up in a police precinct building?
In October, Hillsboro police and investigators from OHS rescued
158 rabbits from the suburban home of Miriam E. Sakewitz.
Another 88 dead rabbits were found on the scene.

While the criminal case against Sakewitz was being pursued,
the rabbits were under the care of Portland Rabbit Advocate volunteers and staff
from OHS. In late January, the building
housing the rabbits was burglarized and 150 animals stolen.
The trail led back to Sakewitz, who was arrested in Chehalis
where police found the 150 stolen animals plus many more
that she had acquired after she was charged with neglect.
A judge recently awarded custody of the rabbits to the
Hillsboro Police, which is placing them up for adoption this Saturday.

Donations to help Rabbit Advocates, who covered much of the
rabbits' medical needs, would be most welcome and can be sent
to Rabbit Advocates, PO Box l4235, Portland, Oregon 97293-0235.

http://www.oregonhumane.org/news/BunnySuperBowl.htm

* HRS Headquarters and Rabbit Center
http://rabbit.org/rabbit-center/index.html

The HRS Headquarters and Rabbit Center has been busier
than ever. Adoptions are up, but unfortunately, so are
returns so we are re-doubling our efforts to ensure that our
adoptions are happy and permanent.

Our store, The Hop Shop, has a lot of amazing new items
so if you're in the Bay Area, please be sure to come by for
a visit.

We also have a lot of exciting new classes coming up in
2007, including Bunny Bonding, Clicker Training, Children
and Rabbits, Grooming, Litter Box Training, Caring for a
Special Needs Rabbit, Working with Biting Bunnies,
Solving Behavioral Problems, T-Touch, Acupuncture,
Bunny Nutrition, and Coping with Loss. To find out more
about these events and other Rabbit Center activities,
please consider joining the Rabbit Center Announcement
List at rabbit-center-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.


** House Rabbit Society Chapter Grants

In the past few months, HRS has awarded a number of $3,000
grants to our chapters, allowing them to better help the
rabbits and the public in their own areas. Recent grantees
include:

Las Vegas HRS. The chapter is using the funds to renovate
the rabbit adoption center at the Lied Animal Shelter in
Las Vegas. To find out more about the renovation, and other
Las Vegas HRS activities, go to http://www.bunnyrescuefund.org/

Buckeye HRS. The chapter used their funds to assist them with
their general operating expenses. Finances within the chapter
had been strained due to a crisis involving over 80 rabbits in
a single home in Lorain County, Ohio. Buckeye assisted with
spays and neuteres, purchasing food and supplies, and finding
homes for dozens of these rabbits. To find out more about
Buckeye's activities, go to http://www.ohare.org/

St. Louis HRS. The chapter used their funds to help with
operating expenses, but especially medical expenses, food,
and housing costs. The St. Louis chapter maintains almost
200 rabbits at a time in their foster system, and finances
can be strained. The successes of their program are evident,
however, in the successful adoptions (over 150 each year),
as well as the chapter's outreach programs, which include
an annual Veterinary Conference, a Bunny Expo, and the Kids
Talking to Kids program. To find out more about St. Louis's
activities, go to
http://members.petfinder.org/~MO56/index.html

Seattle HRS. The chapter is using their funds primarily to
pay veterinary costs. The chapter's primary veterinarian
and a great friend of rabbits, Dr. Barbara Deeb, passed away i
n 2005, and the chapter has struggled with the loss of such
a great friend and supporter, as well as with higher medical
costs as a result, especially with a large number of permanently
disabled rabbits in their care. To find out more about
Seattle's activites, go to
http://www.rabbitrodentferret.org/rabbitrodentferret.org/index.asp


** 2007 Calendars Still Available!

The Missouri and Vancouver chapters of HRS have beautiful 2007
calendars. Have you not gotten yours yet?

http://www.vrra.org/gifts.htm
http://members.petfinder.org/~MO56/index.html


** Become a Member of House Rabbit Society

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. If you already are a member, thank you,
and please remember to renew. All members receive
the Society's newsletter, House Rabbit Journal, edited by
House Rabbit Society founder and author of The House
Rabbit Handbook, Marinell Harriman. Please go to:
http://rabbit.org/hrs-info/joining.html


** This newsletter is dedicated to all the wonderful rabbits
in shelters, waiting patiently, to go to there forever homes.


** On behalf of the rabbits, thank you.


What's New at HRS? editor, signing off,
Cwynar & Co.
c.cwynar@...

Connie: We will miss your passion and your energy and
your beautiful newsletters! Thank you for all of your work.
Margo

If you enjoy this feature and want to keep it going, send your
stories to Laura Barnes, Rabbit Stories editor, at
laura@....

---------------------------------------------------------------
Rabbit Stories #5: 16 October 2006
---------------------------------------------------------------
Our Rabbit Family
by  Joanne Rosenberg
Editor: Laura L. Barnes

Three years ago,I knew nothing about rabbits. Over the years we had a
lot of animals including cats, turtles and leopard geckos, and a
tank of angel fish. But after our last cat died at the age of 19, we
decided that there would be "no more pets." My husband had suffered
for years with terrible allergies and we had just bought a winter
home in Scottsdale, AZ. to enjoy riding his motorcycle (we live
north of Boston). We thought that pets would never fit into that
lifestyle.

But after our precious "Tabitha" died and our two sons grew up and
moved out, I started to notice that things were really odd in my
house. It was not only empty but also so clean! No fur on the sofa or
floor, no litter boxes to change, no scratching on the furniture. It
was really depressing!

I got an idea -- what about a rabbit? They were small and cute and
how much trouble could it be? I also could fly him back and forth to
Arizona. Everyone thought I was crazy!

Two weeks later, I dragged my dear husband to the Topsfield Fair. We
located the rabbit barn. With hundreds of rabbits under one roof, I
figured that he would either have the worst asthma attack ever or we
would know that he wasn't allergic. Up and down between the bunnies
we walked and not one wheeze, sneeze or sniffle!

As soon as I got home, I started researching on my computer and
discovered the HRS. It was wonderful. I bought 6 books including the
House Rabbit Handbook. I also discovered the Brambley Hedge Rabbit
Rescue (BHRR) in Scottsdale. They had so many cute bunnies up for
adoption that I knew that was the way to go as far as getting our new
family member. I checked out the time and place for their adoptions
and the first week in Arizona that December we got to hold a bunny
for the first time. The people from BHRR were wonderful and before
you could say "hip-hop," we had "Harley." He is an orange and white
Holland Lop with an attitude. They told us that he was "feisty" but
his personality would be good for adjusting to flying to Boston and
back once a year. And so the learning began!

I would pick him up and he would squirm and leap and kick and when I
put him down he would have an actual temper tantrum right at my feet,
complete with growling and lunging. He was never going to be a cuddly
guy but he loved for us to sit on the floor and pet him. He soon came
when called, was never destructive and litter box trained so easily
that within a few weeks he had the run of the house in Arizona. We
were hopelessly in love. The little guy just worked his way right
into our hearts!

Soon it was May and time to fly home to Boston. Harley hated to ride
in the car. He would shiver and shake and act like I do on a roller
coaster. I was worried sick but again my friends at BHRR came
through. Erica sent me a lot of info on flying with rabbits. We
bought a special carrier, packed him with a lot of hay and a frozen
water bottle. His carrier fit right under the seat. He munched on
hay and slept and when we got home he came out, did a big binky and
immediately started checking out his new digs. That's Harley!

The following winter, we adopted Nova. We thought Harley needed a
friend and she was the only female out of about 10 who didn't bite or
growl at him. That bonding thing is sure tough on us Moms. Nova is a
beautiful beige and gray lop mix. She grew fast and we learned the
real meaning to "bunny proofing." She has never suffered any ill
from her misadventures but our house and furniture certainly have.
We have seen her chew right through baby gates (never buy the cheap
ones) and discovered that she had chewed not only the wire protector
but the wire too! I have to make sure she has appropriate chew
things and we use puppy pens and good baby gates to keep her out of
certain areas. My life is back to normal. There are litter boxes and
lots of fur and animal issues to solve.

You would think with all this, I would be happy but we needed one
more bunny to really make it a family so we adopted Naia. She is the
lover of the group. She runs to us like a puppy, sits at my
husband's feet at breakfast and loves to get on the sofa and give
kisses.

These three rabbits fly to Scottsdale every winter and back to Boston
in the summer. Some life! I have the hay they eat in Arizona flown to
Boston because they like it better. We are total bunny slaves. I've
developed great skills with furniture scratch cover-wood filler,
safely gluing carpet fibers back and placing vases. Life is good. We
wouldn't trade our bunnies for anything. With their three totally
different personalities, they have made both of our houses "homes."


---------------------------------------------------------------
If you enjoy this feature and the work that we do at House Rabbit
Society, please consider making a donation to help us continue with
our mission of rabbit rescue and education. We rely on membership
dues to support the House Rabbit Journal and some of our other
activities, but require donations above and beyond those dues to
keep us running. To donate, please visit http://www.rabbit.org/hrs-
info/joining.html. Thank you for your support.

If you enjoy this feature and want to keep it going, send your
stories to Laura Barnes, Rabbit Stories editor, at
laura@....

---------------------------------------------------------------
Rabbit Stories #4: 4 August 2006
---------------------------------------------------------------
A Tale of Two Bunnies
How Calvin and Pyewackit Taught Us About House Rabbits
By Laura L. Barnes
HRS educator, Champaign IL

Calvin was an "impulse buy." I had wanted a pet rabbit since I
was a kid, probably because they seemed so cute and cuddly.

Quentin, my husband, works for Motorola. Every summer, they
have a picnic for the employees. At the Summer 1994 picnic,
they hired a local farmer to bring some animals for a petting
zoo. In addition to goats, sheep, and a couple of chickens,
he brought eight or so baby harlequin rabbits. The kids were
all clamoring to hold the cute little bunnies. So was I.

I took one of them from a kid who wasn't being very careful
and I held that bunny for the next two hours. After 30 minutes,
the farmer told me that I could buy him for $5 and that he
wouldn't grow much more. After 90 more minutes, I convinced
Quentin that a rabbit would be the perfect compliment to the
guinea pig we already had. So we took our baby bunny home,
stopping at the local pet store on the way for a cage and
some supplies.

We did everything wrong with Calvin at first, including
sexing him. He was so young that his testicles hadn't descended
yet and we thought he was a girl. We bought some books on
rabbits, but none of the local bookstores stocked the
House Rabbit Handbook.

Quentin decided to see if there were any rabbit newsgroups
on Usenet and found alt.pets.rabbits. From there, I found
out about House Rabbit Society and an e-mail discussion list
called Petbunny. That's when I really started to learn about
rabbit care.

As Calvin matured, we started letting him out of his cage to
explore the dining room. His potty habits gradually improved
(neutering helped) and we started letting him into the living
room. We were very careful to barricade any small openings that
he might try to slip into. Generally, he respected the barriers.

After about nine months, we decided it would be nice to get
Calvin a buddy. So I asked my Petbunny friends for advice.
We really wanted a girl, but a very nice PhD student from the
University of Illinois e-mailed me twice about Pyewackit, a
four year old male Dutch Dwarf cross. He and his wife had a
small daughter who was becoming allergic to him and they
wanted to find him a good home. Quentin and I discussed it
and decided to give it a try. So in April 1995, Pyewackit
came to live with us.

By this time, Quentin and I thought we were pretty
experienced bunny people. We were wrong. Pye was an
experienced house rabbit and he trained us. Some examples:

-- Two hours after arriving at our house, he was zipping up
and down the stairs like he owned the place. Calvin had never
even glanced at them.

-- Before we let him into the living room, we barricaded
the spaces behind the furniture so the bunnies couldn't get
into them. Pye immediately went over to one of them (a pillow)
and started digging at it. After awhile, he stopped and we
thought he had given up. The next day, he ran over to the
pillow, grabbed it in his front paws and flipped it over his
shoulder and had instant access to all of the really fun
stuff.

-- When he couldn't get behind the furniture, he hopped up
on it. Calvin was always pretty big and wasn't much of a
jumper, so we hadn't even considered that problem. One of
Pye's favorite things to do was hop along the back of the
sofa. He also liked to jump up onto the dining room chairs
and hide out. We called it Pye's Treehouse.

-- One night, Pye was sitting in the dining room doorway
while Quentin and I were watching TV. Suddenly, we heard a
loud *thump.* We both looked up but couldn't figure out where
the noise came from. Then we heard it again. *THUMP.* That's
when we realized that it was Pye's way of saying, "You're
ignoring the rabbit. BAD humans." So Quentin went over to
pet him and apologize.

We're only human, but we did eventually learn what Pye was
trying to teach us. Rabbits are smart (I think Pye believed
they're smarter than people), independent, curious,
affectionate, and often single-minded.

Pye and Calvin never did become buddies. About a year after
Pye came to live with us, we adopted Jessica, a spoiled,
oversized Holland Lop princess. Pye fell head over heels
in love and even staged a cage break to get to her while
she was quarantined upstairs when she first came home.

We adopted Rosie, a New Zealand White, in 1997 as a potential
mate for Calvin. Calvin thought he was human, so he wasn't
interested in her. She now sleeps in a double decker condo by
herself. She and Jessica finally reached an uneasy truce
(scaled back from two years of all-out war).

Pyewackit, the rabbit who trained us to be proper humans,
died in March 2001 at the age of 12. With his passing, he also
taught us how to mourn for a rabbit. Calvin followed a year
later. Jessica joined them two springs ago. Rosie is nine now.
She revels in being an only bunny and reaps the benefits of the
lessons Pye taught us and that we've passed on to Tessa,
our daughter.

** What's New at House Rabbit Society? Summer 2006


** Panasonic Supports House Rabbit Society

Panasonic introduced their new Oxyride battery with a
campaign called "Neuter Your Bunny" to encourage the
public to neuter and spay their pet rabbits. If you haven't
seen the details yet, check out www.neuteryourbunny.com
to read all about it.

Part of the campaign included a generous gift to HRS that
will be used for education, spays & neuters and grants to
chapters. It's amazing that corporate America is:
a) recognizing house rabbits and b) helping us to
communicate the spay & neuter message.

If you have a moment, please email Panasonic, to thank
them for their support of rabbit neutering, and to give them
a thumbs up for their compassion: http://tinyurl.com/hq8rf

Here's the message I sent. I hope you can take a couple
of minutes to add your thoughts:

On behalf of the 300+ members of the Tampa Bay House
Rabbit Society, thank you for your generous support and
your assistance in communicating the benefits of spaying
and neutering. We face a daily uphill battle to teach people
the dangers of pet overpopulation and your campaign
focus and dedicated web site boosts our efforts. As
chapter manager, I receive dozens of calls a week from
people wanting to get rid of, or "dump" their rabbits.
Hopefully your spay & neuter message will reach some of
those people and the people who allow the over breeding
of rabbits. Thank you and the rabbits thank you.

Sincerely,
Dana Hakes
Tampa Bay House Rabbit Society
http://www.tampabayhrs.org



** Best Friends Animal Society Rescues 1600 Rabbits

You may have heard about the enormous feral rabbit
colony in Reno, NV that Best Friends Animal Society
(Utah) has taken charge of.1600 rabbits have been
rescued!

I am proud to say that our Seattle chapter has agreed to
take 300 of these needy rabbits (who will live at the feral
rabbit sanctuary maintained by the chapter), which is an
enormous help to Best Friends. While most of our foster
homes are already too full to fit in additional rabbits, we
have found other ways to be of assistance, such as via
fund raising (Sacramento HRS donated $500), helping
with transportation through their areas as well as home
checks for potential adopters. One of our educators out
of the New York City chapter, Laura George, DVM,
traveled to the site for a week to do spays/neuters; she
brought her own vet tech from New York, and the two
of them helped to organize supplies, personnel, etc. to get
a system in place for future volunteer vets and techs.

Here is a great USA Today article (8/8) covering more
details of this enormous rescue. Be certain to click on the
link in the article to see the amazing photos:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/2006-08-08-rabbits_x.htm.
If you can help by taking in a rabbit or two, please visit:
http:// www.bestfriends.org



** Los Angeles Shelters Raise Rabbit Adoption Fees

The Los Angeles City Council approved a plan on Aug. 2
that nearly triples adoption fees for rabbits from $15 to
$40 at the city's six animal shelters: http://tinyurl.com/krzo4



** Harvest Home: California's Newest Animal Sanctuary

House Rabbit Society is proud to announce the formation
of Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary, the newest addition
to our network of sanctuaries that take in unadoptable
rabbits from the HRS Rabbit Center and Headquarters.
Harvest Home was founded by two HRS volunteers,
Karen Courtemanche and Annemarie Engelhardt. Karen
has been fostering for HRS since 2001 and also ran the
Rabbit Center Hop Shop. Karen was instrumental in the
Hayward rabbit rescue case as well as the Lucky case,
and in fact it was through taking in 35 of the Hayward
rabbits that Karen decided she wanted to run a
sanctuary.

Besides a newly built rabbit house with adjoining play yard
which houses 65 sanctuary rabbits, Harvest Home also
cares for chickens, pigs, ducks, a sheep, a donkey, and
a pony--all rescued animals. Harvest Home Animal
Sanctuary is located in Stockton, California and serves the
Bay Area and Central Valley.
http://www.harvesthomeanimal.org

You can help support the ambitious and life-saving work
at Harvest Home by shopping at their brand new online
gift shop: http://www.cafepress.com/harvesthome



** Your Help Needed For Anti-Rabbit Meat Campaign

For several years, Alabama EARS has been concerned
about the rise of the rabbit meat industry in Alabama. Our
Agricultural Director, Ron Sparks, has made the
development of the rabbit meat industry his "top priority".

We are sorry to report that the situation has worsened,
and the rabbits desperately need your voice! On June 21st,
2006, the Birmingham News ran an article entitled
"Another White Meat" which glowingly described the
growing rabbit meat industry in Alabama.

Right now the industry is relatively small, however, if Ron
Sparks and the Tri-State Rabbit Growers Association
have their way it will be as large as the chicken industry.
Please help nip this in the bud! We need as many people
as possible to write to Ron Sparks and the Birmingham
News, as well as stores and restaurants that feature rabbit
meat, to let them know that rabbits are companion
animals, not food.

Please visit our web page at:
http://www.alabamaears.org/bnyvoverview.html more
details on this situation and to learn more about how you
can help.


** Margo DeMello's Home/Sanctuary Makes the News!

In late July, Associated Press picked up a story originally
published in The Albuquerque Tribune about former HRS
President Margo DeMello's home/sanctuary in New
Mexico: http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/46877.html
(Editors' note: "Way to go, Margo!")


** Rabbit Crisis at Los Angeles Shelters

Los Angeles's animal shelters are overflowing with literally
hundreds of homeless rabbits right now. We have not
euthanized rabbits in several years, and we do not want to
have to start now. Please help these wonderful bunnies!
They are all spayed or neutered and just waiting for

loving homes of their own. Please contact or visit any of the
six city shelters and talk to the rabbit volunteers about
finding the right bunny pair for your home.
Visit: http://www.laanimalservices.com/RabbitCrisis.pdf
or any of these locations:

East Valley Shelter 818/756-9323
South LA Shelter 213/485-0117
West Valley Shelter 818/756-9325
North Central Shelter 213/847-2440
West LA Shelter 310/207-3156
Harbor Shelter 888/452-7381 x 143



** Rare Rabbit Gets Funds to Restore Habitat

$400,000 restoration project gives the San Joaquin River
brush rabbits another chance: http://tinyurl.com/z9meu



** New Book: When a Man Loves a Rabbit

Canadian musician and freelance writer Bruce Atchison
has just published, When a Man Loves a Rabbit: Learning
and Living with Bunnies. "A delightful and insightful look
into the heart of a man who loved his furry little friends, as
much perhaps as any father loves his children. An
entertaining read." —Cheryl Kaye Tardif, author of The
River http://tinyurl.com/obc59



** Cooling Bunnies with Frozen Water Bottles is Safe

If you have received an Internet warning about frozen
plastic water bottles releasing cancer-causing dioxins, never
fear; the message is a hoax, dispelled in the following
article from John Hopkins University: http://tinyurl.com/dbhwr



** Caution: Inherent Dangers in the Garbage Can

We share this information in hopes that you are aware of
the many indoor dangers facing your house rabbit. This is
a true story that occurred to a House Rabbit Society
member outside Florida.

Rabbits are naturally curious and can smell foods that might
be tasty, but not necessarily good. Louie got into the
garbage and into a bag of discarded Tostitos. He ate about
1/3 of the bag before his mom found him. The main
ingredient in Tostitos and many chip products is corn,
which is very dangerous for bunny. She rushed him to the
emergency vet but unfortunately there was little the vet
could do and Louie passed away.

Please be very careful of how you dispose of trash and in
the summer season of parties, please don't leave bowls of
chips out where curious bunnies can reach. Contributed
by: http://www.tampabayhrs.org



** RabbitCentral.com Supports HRS!

RabbitCentral.com is proud to offer 10% off all orders for
HRS Members! Go to http://www.rabbitcentral.com and
when you are ready to check out, enter HRS into the field
for "coupon or promotional code."



** Search the Internet and Raise Money for HRS

What if House Rabbit Society earned a penny every time
you searched the Internet? Well, now we can!

GoodSearch.com is a new search engine that donates half
its revenue to the charities its users designate. You use it
just as you would any search engine, and it's powered by
Yahoo!, so you get great results. Just go to
www.goodsearch.com and be sure to enter House Rabbit
Society as the charity you want to support (you only have
to do this once; GoodSearch will remember your chosen
charity). Just 500 of us searching four times a day will
raise about $7300 in a year without anyone spending a
dime! And, be sure to use GoodSearch especially heavily
on August 23 as we are going to be featured as the
Charity of the Day! Tell all your friends!



** House Rabbit Journal

The newest House Rabbit Journal is on its way to
press! Be sure to renew your membership if you haven't
lately to ensure that you will continue to receive this
valuable, informative and useful material.
http://www.rabbit.org/hrs-info/donation.html



** House Rabbit Society Chapter and Educator Updates

* Indiana

Indiana HRS is proud to announce that in July, they
launched a brand, spankin' new website:
http://www.indianahrs.org. You can help Indiana's rabbits
by purchasing a tee shirt, tote bag or coffee mug at their
online store: http://www.cafepress.com/indianahrs
Congratulations Indiana!


* St Louis Missouri

Our annual Bunny Expo was held June 11 at our local
Humane Society facility. The Expo is our primary
education event each year. Dozens of HRS members
volunteered their time to plan and staff the event, which
attracted several hundred attendees. We set up tables for
Behavior, Litter Box Training, Housing, Diet, Travel,
Bunny Proofing and more. Attendees can see displays,
demonstrations and a vet talk, pick up handouts, and talk
to volunteers about everything bunny. Bunnies are also
welcome at this event. We offer reasonably priced
photos, a variety of bunny food and supplies, free nail
trims, drawings and boutique items. Several of our
adoptable bunnies are featured in the housing displays.This
year's Expo was a success in education, adoption and
fund raising, and was enjoyed as much by the volunteers as
it was by the attendees.

We were fortunate that one of our volunteers was able to
arrange for our chapter manager, Joy Gioia, and some of
the bunnies and volunteers to be on the Fox News morning
show a few days before the Expo. The Fox team was
very supportive of our cause, and Joy was able to discuss
many important rabbit FAQs during the course of the
interview, as well as getting the word out about the
upcoming Expo. It was a wonderful opportunity for some
positive publicity.

St. Louis is again producing a Rabbit Rescue calendar and
hope to have a site for people to catch a glimpse of a few
photo pages for the next HRS update. Last year the
calendar was sold at many places around the country as
well as being individually ordered. We hope for as much
success this year as sales not only help the medical
expenses of the fosters in St. Louis, but help raise funds for
each organization which also sells it. We don't know how,
but the bunnies in the photos seem to just get cuter every
year! Shipping will start around Sept.1 so stay tuned.

Plans are in the works for another Rabbit Veterinary
Conference in St. Louis for March 2007 so let your
veterinarians who want to be more rabbit savvy know
about us. They can see our last agenda at:
www.rabbitvetconference.org

Susan Ruby
Educator
HRS of MO-STL
http://members.petfinder.org/~MO56/index.html


* Colorado

The Colorado House-Rabbit Society held its "Spring Fling
and Rabbit Family Reunion" on June 10th, 2006. People
enjoyed vegan food, had family portraits with their rabbits
taken, discussed issues with vets, bid on auction items, and
generally had a good time. We took in around $4,000.

Remodeling of our "run room" began the following Monday.
It looks like it's going to be a wonderful improvement in
our facilities!

Nancy LaRoche
Co-Manager, CO HRS
http://www.coloradohrs.com


* Louisiana

Katrina Disaster Update from Louisiana: We are still not
able to take in rabbits and the shelters are still in temporary
locations. Also involved in the LA/SPCA and City of New
Orleans evacuation plan for animals:
http://www.la-spca.org. I would be concentrating on
rabbit evacuation. I have been in communication with
many of the Noah's Wish volunteers and have supplied
some of them with House Rabbit Handbooks and
handouts on rabbit care. By this I hope that when they
reach the next disaster many more of them will be well
versed in rabbit care. If we have another disaster of the
magnitude of Katrina I will open a account at Oxbow or
any other place nearer to the disaster so the rabbits will be
assured of good and hay, hopefully people will donate to
this account if and when the time comes.

If you can contribute to the ongoing relief work from the
Katrina disaster, please contact June Booth in Slidell LA
at: jhbooth@...


* Arkansas

Throughout the spring and summer months, Arkansas
educator Sharon Dumas, has kept an ambitious itinerary.
Sharon has made presentations at rescue groups and
educated dozens of children in reading programs at
libraries throughout the state. No doubt, the traveling paid
off as Sharon exposed children to the wonderful world of
rabbits.


* Vancouver

Vancouver Rabbit Rescue designed, ordered and
assembled wonderful new rabbit cages made by Leith
Petwerks for the Vancouver branch of the BC SPCA.
The SPCA paid the bill. (Our labour was free, of course.)
These 12 new cages add to the 10 we installed 3 years
ago so now they have 22 excellent rabbit cages.

A new shelter for rabbits is now open in Aldergrove (a
community about 25 miles out of Vancovuer). Mercy's
Reach Rabbit Haven plans to be a shelter to aid rescues
and the SPCA with places to keep rabbits until they can
get homes. There are 32 cages along with 32 outdoor,
covered and secure runs. They plan to offer rabbit
boarding as well.

Olga Betts
VRRA
CM-T Vancouver
http://www.vrra.org


* Richmond/Headquarters

House Rabbit Society's Rabbit Center and International
Headquarters has been busy this year, dealing with a
number of unexpected rabbit emergencies. But we have
big plans for updating some of our facilities and offering
more assistance to other shelters and rescue groups in the
Bay Area. If you are in the Bay Area for a visit, please be
sure to stop by, visit the rabbits, say hi to our volunteers
and staff, and purchase some goodies in our Hop Shop.

We are pleased to announce that we will be hosting an art
show and sale featuring art work by Arizona artist Carolyn
Prince Batchelor:
http://www.cprincebatchelor.com/index.html. Carolyn has
a strong personal affinity for rabbits and hares and has
pursued an interest in the natural history of rabbits and
hares and their roles in folklore and myth. Inspired by her
readings, she began creating painted paper bead works
featuring rabbits, as well as collages, drawings, and
hand-made books with rabbits and hares as subjects.
These rabbit pieces were featured in 2005 in a gallery
show and, along with new work exhibited for the first time
at HRS, will be the basis for House Rabbit Society's
benefit exhibition.

The show will be at the HRS Rabbit Center on Saturday
August 26, from 12-4. www.rabbit.org/rabbit-center



** Become a Member of House Rabbit Society

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, House Rabbit Journal. Please go to:
http://rabbit.org/hrs-info/joining.html



** For Opie, the toothless wonder. All our hearts.


** On behalf of the rabbits, thank you.



What's New at HRS editor: Cwynar & Co.
c.cwynar@...

** What's New? At House Rabbit Society – May 2006


   **  HRS Teams Up With Puppy Paws!

   House Rabbit Society is proud to announce that Las Vegas
   HRS has developed a relationship with jewelry designer
   Pamela Meltzer from Puppy Paws Inc. The Puppy Paws
   Collection features 14k and sterling silver paw-shaped
   pendants, earrings, cuff links, tie tacks, tuxedo studs, rings,
   bracelets and charms accented with precious and
   semi-precious gemstones. The line celebrates the love
   people have for their pets.

   Puppy Paws donates a portion of their proceeds to many
   animal shelters and rescue groups to help with their efforts.
   Not only did Puppy Paws just participate in a special
   fund raiser with Las Vegas HRS, but because Puppy Paws
   wanted to help rabbits as well, Puppy Paws has now
   created a House Rabbit Pendant, made of sterling silver,
   14K gold, and 14K gold with a diamond:
   http://www.puppypaws.com/xcart/home.php?cat=99.
   15% of every rabbit pendant sold by Puppy Paws through
   their website will benefit both national House Rabbit Society
   as well as the Las Vegas HRS Veterinary Fund. Free
   engraving is included with every pendant.

   Please go to http://www.puppypaws.com to see and
   purchase one of these beautiful pendants. Puppy Paws
   plans on adding new items to their Bunnies, Bunnies,
   Bunnies category, all of which will benefit HRS, so please
   visit again!



   **  Missouri HRS In the News

   A few months ago, a large St. Louis radio station (KMOX)
   did a feature on MO HRS.   The station re-aired the
   segment just before Easter and because the reporter won
   an Edward R. Murrow award for excellence in
   broadcasting in the category of Feature Reporting.
   Missouri HRS is listed under Region 5 on the following link:
   http://tinyurl.com/rhwu4. "It's nice to know the subject of
   rabbits and the skill of the reporter, Debbie Monterey
   of KMOX, was able to gain this type of recognition."
   writes Joy Gioia, Missouri HRS (St. Louis).

   ** San Francisco/Marin HRS In the News

   Never underestimate the power of the "underdog"... and
   the underdog is a rabbit! The awareness of house rabbits
   as sentient, highly intelligent companion animals continues
   to grow in the mind of the public and in the media.  These
   misunderstood and underrepresented animals are the focus of
   much interest--good and bad, during the Easter season.

   San Francisco/Marin HRS had several articles in Bay Area
   newspapers and a number of radio interviews over the Easter
   season. In these interviews Chapter Manager Marcy Schaaf covered
   the basics of rabbit care and adopting versus buying a
   rabbit.  And, since "Sonoma" rabbit is listed on many menus,
   and rabbit fur is marketed as the "affordable new mink,"
   the issue of rabbits being slaughtered for meat and fur,
   without even the protection of the Humane Slaughter Act
   was also raised   Most people are unaware that the same
   rabbits used for fashion and food are the same "pet bunny,"
   who bonds for life with hers mate and sleeps on the sofa.
   Great job!


   ** HRS Events

   MD/VA/NoVa HRS recently had the opportunity to participate
   in the first CVC East Veterinary conference in Baltimore.
   We were the only non-profit exhibitor and we have
   MO HRS to thank for that honor.  MO HRS has participated
   in the CVC conference in Kansas City for several years.
   It's because of the conference organizers' positive
   relationship with them and the National reputation of
   HRS that we were offered a free booth (regular cost $2000).

   Las Vegas HRS had a bunny condo building day at their
   local   Lied Animal Shelter on April 1. Las Vegas HRS volunteers
   built   25 new condos to house that shelter's rabbits, to add to
   the   14 that the shelter already had, and to approach the
   chapter's   eventual commitment of 50 condos.  This is an
   enormous   accomplishment and got every one of the shelter's
   rabbits off of   the wire floors and into luxurious condominiums.

   Other recent events include a successful Rabbit Adoption
   and Education Day held by Monterey HRS on April 1 in
   Pacific Grove, California and a fabulous BunnyFest held by
   North Georgia HRS on April 23 in Atlanta.


   ** Rabbits and Easter Don't Mix in the Virgin Islands

   House Rabbit Society members Liz and Tim Duffy live in
   the US Virgin Islands and run a restaurant/bar called
   Duffy's Love Shack. The Duffy's recently sent copies of
   their local paper (the Island Trader) which included two
   HRS Easter ads in the paper in the two weeks leading up
   to Easter. They ran the full poster for "He's not a child's
   toy" and also the "Easter and Bunnies don't mix" ad. We
   don't know how many rabbits reside in the Virgin Islands,
   but certainly, loads of US tourists saw the well-timed and
   thought provoking ads. House Rabbit Society sincerely
   thanks the Duffy's for their support.



   ** Rabbits and Easter in Charleston, SC

   Jenni Beard, Supervisor, Charleston Area Branch, North
   Georgia Chapter HRS (http://houserabbitga.org) submitted
   the following article from the Post & Courier, the major
   newspaper for Charleston SC.

   "They're cute and cuddly and everywhere we look this time
   of year. Who wouldn't want a bunny?

   Area pet enthusiasts want folks to think twice  before
   hippity-hopping on down to the local shelter, rescue center,
   pet store or  flea market for a pet rabbit.

   "We get lots of bunnies that were adopted with  good
   intentions," says Kay Hyman, spokeswoman for the John
   Ancrum  SPCA. She suggests that anyone determined to
   have a  rabbit should choose the edible or toy variety
   instead. "We suggest giving chocolate Easter bunnies or
   stuffed ones instead of live animals unless your child has
   done the research and  knows what he's getting into," says
   Hyman. In fact, the House Rabbit Society has  a national
   campaign called "Make Mine Chocolate" to bring
   awareness to the  problem. "We recommend a stuffed
   rabbit with big floppy  ears that children can carry around
   and squeeze and don't have to worry about  hurting," says
   Jenni Beard, who rescues rabbits scheduled to be
   euthanized by  shelters.

   Wild vs. Domestic

   Many live rabbits given as Easter presents find  their way
   back to the shelter or a rescue group a few months later,
   Hyman says. "It's usually a couple of months after Easter
   when people realize it takes more effort than they expected
   or when they are tired of them," she says.

   "A lot of times people are ill-prepared to take care of
   them." Beard, supervisor of the Charleston area branch
   of  the North Georgia Chapter of House Rabbit Society
   (the closest chapter to this area), owns four rescued
   rabbits and has several more living with foster  families.

   "When we get into the summer, I constantly get phone calls
   from people wanting to get rid of their rabbit because the
   child is  bored with it, or it's doing all these things people
   didn't realize the rabbit  was going to do," she says.

   Hyman says many people mistakenly believe they  can
   release unwanted rabbits into the wild when they tire of
   them. "I saw no less than five stray bunnies last  year,"
   she says. "That's an ongoing problem." Beard says, "People
   often assume that because  there are wild rabbits, that if
   they release their domestic into the wild, it  will have a long
   life."

   Actually, they are more in danger that  way. "They don't
   know how to find their own food or  protect themselves
   from predators," she says. "That's a common mistake
    people  make. They think they are doing a good thing, but
   actually, they are setting the bunny up for a death
   sentence."

   Local wild rabbits are cottontails, but domestics are
   descendants of wild European rabbits, Beard says.
   Cottontails generally have agouti fur - that is, each
   individual hair has "stripes" making the rabbit appear to
   be black and  brown speckled. They also have a little
   white tail, are small in size and move quickly, Beard says.
   "Sometimes it can be hard to distinguish between wild and
   domestic," Beard says. "Basically, if you see a rabbit that
   is white or  black or spotted, it's always going to be a
   domestic rabbit."

   Not only are domestic rabbits at risk if  released, they need
   protection in a home environment, too. Even Hyman, who
   says she has been an animal  advocate since she was 10
   years old, couldn't protect her pet rabbit. "When I was a
   child, I had Mo, the love of my  life," she says. "He was a
   big white rabbit that I got for Easter. He would come when
    he was called and sit on my lap on the swing on the porch.
   I had him for  three years, and then one day when I was at
   school, I guess I had not latched  the cage and he hopped
   out and our two schnauzers got him. It was a very sad
   time in my life."

   Beard says rabbits should not be left unattended if they are
   taken outdoors. "You never know when an animal will
   wander into  your yard. All it takes is a cat, possum or bird
   of prey. They are all very  quick, and rabbits are the
   animals they are on the watch for. Also, if rabbits see a
   predator trying to break into their cage, they can a have a
   heart attack  and die. I urge people to try to keep them
   indoors."

   Hare care

   At Easter, especially, rabbits are easy to come by. As a
   child, Hyman says she can remember seeing a sign
   advertising rabbits  for sale as pets and for consumption.
   "The same people who sell them as pets also sell  them to
   people who eat them," she says.If a family were to call
   Beard today looking to  adopt a rabbit, she would not just
   issue a blanket no, she says. But she wants  to know that
   people are adopting for the right reasons.

   "I would ask you a lot of questions about your  family and
   why you are looking for a rabbit," she says. "Sometimes
   people really do want a family pet. The key is that it's a
   family pet and not a child's  responsibility. I want to make
   sure they want it to be part of the family and  spend time
   with them, not in a hutch in the backyard, ignored."

   Beard's screening process includes a phone interview, a
   written application and an in-person interview. Sometimes,
   she even visits the home to make sure there's room for a
   rabbit.  "We try to have our rabbits as close to free  range
   as possible," she says. She understands that they can't
   always have the  run of the house, though."I have a formal
   living room that I have  antiques in, and my rabbits don't
   go into that room," she says.

   People often think that young bunnies are more friendly,
   but sometimes rabbits start getting into mischief when they
   reach  maturity at age 3, 4 or 5. "Age has nothing to do
   with it," she says. "All of a sudden, your rabbit is
   destroying things and you think you got a bad  rabbit."
   Some are territorial, feisty and get into mischief, she says.
   They may dig up carpet or chew baseboards and  furniture.

   "Rather than punishing a rabbit for acting on  instinctive
   behavior, provide them an outlet to do those things, like
   chew toys  or a box of hay to dig in," she says. "Sometimes
   it takes creativity, work and  investment."Rabbits are smart
   animals, she says. They can be trained to use a litter box.
   "They learn their names and understand commands," she
   says. "I don't dare say t-r-e-a-t out loud around my
   animals."

   Hyman stresses that under the right circumstances, rabbits
   are good pets. "They are a great starter pet, but they take
   a lot of work," Hyman says. "They are definitely a
   challenge to care  for."

   Beard says many people are mistaken about rabbit care.
   "There are a lot of myths surrounding what  rabbits are
    like as pets," she says. "People often buy into it and think
   a rabbit will make a great plaything for a small child, but
   rabbits don't often go  well with young children."

   For one thing, rabbits don't like to be carried. "Some go
   limp as a defense mechanism," Beard  says. "People think
   if they go limp, than they are content, but really they are
   playing dead. They are not happy about being held."
   Others may kick, scratch or bite. "It is not trying to be
   mean," she says. "It's trying to protect itself."

   They are also very fragile. If the rabbit's back legs aren't
   supported when it is lifted, it can kick out, snapping its
   back and  causing paralysis or death.

   Rabbits also need special care from a  knowledgeable
   veterinarian. "They need to be spayed or neutered for
   health  reasons, as well as reproductive reasons," Beard
   says. "And even though they don't need vaccines, they
   need regular checkups, and it's often more expensive to
   have the vet see and treat them. People think if they
   purchase a rabbit for a  few dollars, that's all they'll be
   spending.  Unspayed, females are prone to uterine cancer,
   and males are likely to spray their territory.

   While children should not be the primary  caregivers, they
   are capable of helping, Beard says. "They are as much
   work as taking care of a dog,  sometimes more," she says.
   "You can't expect a child to be responsible for those
   needs." Parents also should realize that they will  likely
   inherit the pet when their child moves out. Bunnies
   typically live about 12 years. Other difficulties of owning a
   rabbit include potential digestive problems and gnawing on
   carpeting and electric cords. "Electrical wires resemble
   roots, so that's a  natural action," Beard says. "If you don't
   bunny proof, you'll not only be  replacing cords, but your
   rabbit could be electrocuted and die." Rabbit-proofing"
   is not too difficult to do but does take some planning,"
   she says.

   For more information, visit http://www.rabbit.org or
   http://www.makeminechocolate.org



   ** Last Male Purebred Pygmy Rabbit Dies

   The last male pygmy rabbit in a Columbia Basin
   endangered species, captive breeding project died
   earlier this month: http://tinyurl.com/orxde



   ** HSUS Offers Reward in Rabbit Killing Case

   Humane Society of the United States has offered a $2500.
   reward in a case of rabbit cruelty in Yuma, Arizona.
   Warning: The story is disturbing: http://tinyurl.com/larlv

   Please send a message of thanks to HSUS for
   publicizing this case and for posting a reward:
   http://www.hsus.org/contact_us



   ** Rabbit Hunting in Bravo Reality Show

   Bravo Channel's Real Housewives of Orange County,
   episode 2, shows the mothers encouraging their sons to
   shoot rabbits who frequent their properties. The show
   (also listed as #102: http://tinyurl.com/hs7lb) is often
   re-run and warrants objection:

   Bravo Viewer Relations
   c/o NBC Entertainment
   3000 W. Alameda Ave.
   Burbank, CA 91523

   You can contact Bravo through their web site at:
   http://www.bravotv.com/Contact_Us/



   ** Bunny Behavior: Things They Do and Why

   For an excellent tutorial on bunny body language and
   mannerisms, check out Bunny Behavior: Things They Do
   and Why (http://www.mohrskc.org/hrswebpg17.html)
   written by Joy Gioia of the Missouri chapter of the House
   Rabbit Society.



   ** Disapproving Rabbits

   This is an adorable and very funny web site chock full of
   photos of rabbits in various stages of disapproval. The
   author is unknown but we commend her/his sense of humor.
   http://www.birdchick.com/adventures/rabbit/index.html



   ** Bunny Yawns Galore!

   This web page is a collection of photographs (and
   mini-movies!) of the oft seen, but rarely captured on film,
   bunny yawn. Should you be one of the lucky few who
   managed to capture this endearing moment on your digital,
   please submit you photo to this growing collection:
   http://talkingegg.com/humor/bunnyyawns.html



   ** Lagomorph Limericks

   Exactly what it says. Enjoy!
   http://carrotcafe.com/petbunny/lime



   ** A Rabbit Haiku

   White rabbit jumps high,
   acrobatically twisting
   to land and run fast.

   Written by HRS Educator (since 1999) Laura L. Barnes
   Champaign, IL



   ** Is Your Bunny Shedding? You NEED this Comb!

   I have groomed hundreds of rabbits at HRS headquarters,
   foster homes and shelters and can attest that this incredible
   grooming tool is the best, bar none, especially when a
   rabbit is in peak shedding mode. A portion of the purchase
   price goes to the Massachusetts House Rabbit Society.
   Buy two. You'll be so thrilled with this ingenious comb,
   you'll want to share. http://www.bunnygear.com



   ** Cooling Down a Hot Bunny

   Heat is deadly to rabbits and when the temperature creeps
   up into the 80s or more, heat stress becomes a real
   concern. Overweight rabbits seem more susceptible to
   heat stress-a good motivation to trim Bun down before the
   hottest months of summer. Try these two articles for
   many tips on cooling down an overheated rabbit.

   http://www.rabbit.org/faq/sections/warm-weather.html
   http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/health/cool.html



   ** Become a Member of House Rabbit Society

    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, House Rabbit Journal. Please go to:
    http://rabbit.org/hrs-info/joining.html



   ** Dedicated to the Deserving

   This newsletter is dedicated to all the deserving rabbits
   in cages at local shelters, waiting to go home.


   **  On behalf of the rabbits, thank you.

Rabbit Stories #3: 5 May 2006

   What It's Like At My House
   Mary Alexander
   Alabama EARS volunteer
   Story Editor: Laura L. Barnes

   Editor's Note: This story originally appeared in the Alabama
   EARS newsletter. For more information about Alabama EARS, visit
   http://www.alabamaears.org/. For those who don't know what a
   binky is, see
   http://www.paperglyphs.com/rabbits/rabbittalk_binkies.html
   for a definition and descriptive video.

   Most people are surprised when they find out I have house
   rabbits.  "You've got to be kidding!" is usually the standard
   reply.  Followed by, "They actually use a litter box? Like
   a cat?"

   The Easter holidays presented many opportunities for me to
   talk to people about having house rabbits as pets.  After
   getting over the shocking revelation that bunnies can and
   will use a litter box, many people wanted to know what they
   are really like as a pet.  The common perception is of a
   bunny sitting in a cage, nose twitching.  You feed him a
   carrot, scratch his ears, close the cage door, and move on.
   But rabbits can be as fun, interactive, and entertaining as
   any dog or cat you've ever known.    All you have to do is
   bring them inside and spend some time with them.  A friend
   asked me, "What's it really like at your house?"
   So I told him.

   I usually get up at 6:30am, and there's no need to set the
   alarm.  Sophie, my three year old dwarf black and silver
   female, will rattle the door to wake me if I'm not up by
   7:00 am. She and JJ, her 5 year old, chocolate brown,
   dwarf male companion, have their own bedroom, next door
   to mine.  Answering my "wake up call," I'm greeted with
   some nudges, perhaps a few tugs on my socks or pajamas,
   before we venture to the kitchen.  While I start the coffee,
   JJ and Sophie dance in the kitchen doorway, waiting for a
   slice of banana.  Then I take my coffee, and sit on the
   stairway, with a clear view of the living and dining rooms,
   and "let the games begin."

   Each of my bunnies has their own morning routine.  Sophie
   prefers to run wide open, making a figure eight pattern around
   the dining room table and through the living room.  This is
   punctuated with sideways binkys and "cannonballs" when she
   explodes out of her cardboard tunnel.   She frequently kicks
   out while binkying, effecting a 360 turn that completely
   disorients her.  After a few figure eights, she comes,
   still running wide open, to sit by me on the stairs.
   There, she "presents" for her morning petting session.

   JJ's routine is slightly more subdued.  He hops along at a
   slow pace, slows to a stop, and then calmly pops straight up
   into the air.  He loves to get behind the living room chair,
   and run as quickly as he can to the armoire and back.  This
   is only about a 5-foot space, so he frequently crashes into
   the wall before finishing his morning work out.  Then JJ,
   followed closely by Sophie, return to their room for their
   breakfast of pellets.  Since rabbits mostly sleep during
   the day, both JJ and Sophie begin a grooming session before
   settling under the bed for rest time.  Sometimes Sophie feels
   the need to pitch in and help me with my own morning routine.
   She'll come hopping into the bathroom, nudge me on the ankle
   (very helpful when applying mascara), and beg for a raisin.
   At times she helps me with housework by grooming the toilet
   or bathroom cabinets before returning to her room.

   JJ's territory is under the bed, and he guards it ferociously.
   That's the interesting thing about JJ - somehow, somewhere in
   the grand scheme of things no one informed him that he's a
   three pound, six ounce, cute-as-pie bunny with short stubby
   ears.  Interred in that little body is the heart and soul of a
   Rottweiler, intent on protecting his territory (along with
   any broccoli florets and banana slices he can find) from the
   evil empire.  I tried to explain JJ and his territorial wisdom
   to a friend who offered to bunny sit for me:  how, when you're
   feeding his greens in the evening, when you least expect it,
   he'll lunge at you from under the bed and bite you on the
   ankle, and run back under the bed to hide.  She rolled her
   eyes in exasperation and said, "Come on, he's a bunny!
   How bad can he be?"

   Her conclusion, following the bunny-sitting event, was that
   we should all be like JJ. She said, "He did just what you
   said – he ran out and bit me.  And you know what?  I actually
   ran from him.  He weighs three pounds, and I ran from him.
   Which just goes to show you:  if something's important to you,
   go after it, no matter what.  It's all about attitude."

   But JJ has his softer side, too.  When you pick him up and
   cuddle him, he'll close his eyes and purr with contentment.
   He loves to help out with my Pilates workout, by being underfoot
   and looking for an opportunity to dig or tug on my sleeve,
   then he'll take off and binky all the way back to his favorite
   chair.   During a bad thunderstorm, he'll hide in my lap –
   so much for the big, bad Rottweiler!

   Most people are surprised to know rabbits can learn tricks.
   I taught Sophie to go on piggy-back rides, so she'll crawl
   on my back, or shoulder, at every opportunity for her "ride."
   I also taught her to sit up on a small stool.   It's amazing
   what you can teach them with a little patience, repetitiveness,
   and a slice of banana or a raisin!

   Sophie is as sweet as they come.  She never meets a stranger
   and goes to great lengths to ensure all guests in my home
   are properly groomed and chinned.  She even groomed the phone
   company repairman, while he was troubleshooting my phone
   problems!  I'm sure he appreciated her efforts.  When I was
   sick with the flu, it was Sophie who would come in to check
   on me, and give me a nudge and groom me a little.

   For all her sweet qualities, there's a devilish side to Sophie.
   She's been known to gather all her favorite chew toys and
   hide them from JJ.  While JJ's territory is under the bed,
   Sophie's territory is the bed itself. That's where she naps
   during the day.  One morning recently, Sophie didn't greet me
   at the door.  I couldn't find her anywhere, but became
   suspicious when the pillow sham began hopping towards me
   on the bed.  Sure enough, Sophie had crawled inside.

   In the evenings after work, I let the bunnies have the run of
   the house.  My home is bunny proofed – all electrical cords
   are covered in plastic tubing, there are cardboard "corners"
   taped to tempting furniture pieces, and plenty of bunny
   chew toys and cardboard boxes scattered about for entertainment.
   Sophie and JJ usually come downstairs around 7 pm.  They
   each have a favorite spot they go to for their evening
   "salads," then they have to explore the house to ensure
   nothing has changed since that morning.  Usually, Sophie
   joins me on the sofa while I watch TV or read.  At times
   JJ will join us, but often he's too busy dragging around
   a basket or toy.  Then it's upstairs for bedtime, where
   they get a slice of banana and a few more pets before
   evenings' end.

   That's what it's like at my house.  Quite different from
   the "bunny in the hutch" scenario, and much more fun.
   Yes, it can get messy dealing with hay, litter boxes,
   bunny fur, and bunny proofing the house, but they're
   well worth the effort. The companionship and entertainment
   they provide far surpass any inconveniences.  Besides,
   how can you top having bunny personal trainers
   for Pilates?

** What's New? at House Rabbit Society - March 2006


   **  "Make Mine Chocolate!" 2006 Campaign!

   The "Make Mine Chocolate!" campaign was started four
   years ago in an effort to educate the public on the realities
   of living with a rabbit, and to discourage giving live rabbits
   as Easter gifts. Our symbol is a ceramic pin in the form of a
   chocolate bunny. Comments about the pin provide the
   wearer the opportunity to share our message with the
   general public. We invite you to be part of this exciting
   program.

   New for this year, we have added a raffle prize drawing:
   an original acrylic painting called "Racing with the Moon"
   by professional artist, Joseph Larkin. Raffle tickets are
   $1.00 each, with the drawing to be held on Easter Day.
   http://www.makeminechocolate.org/rwtm.htm

   And our Learning Center features a new game: "What Will
   You Feed Your Rabbit?" is a fun, interactive way to teach
   players the basics of a healthy rabbit diet through building
   the bunny food pyramid.
   http://www.makeminechocolate.org/learning.htm

   How can you participate? Purchase and wear a "Make
   Mine Chocolate!" pin or shirt and share its meaning. Print
   our flyers and postcards and display them on community
   bulletin boards and in other public places. Pass out "Make
   Mine Chocolate!" business cards to reinforce the message
   that rabbits are not disposable pets.

   Part of a group? Become a Partner. Our Partnership
   Program offers several ways for groups to participate:
   exchange web links and display the "Make Mine
   Chocolate!™" logo on your home page. Or sell our
   "Make Mine Chocolate!™" merchandise (wholesale
   pricing is available). Or help us spread our message by
   downloading and distributing our informational materials,
   mention our campaign in your newsletters or other
   publications, press releases, media interviews, etc. Or
   create your own combination of these options. Just let us
   know about your campaign efforts by sending us an e-mail
   describing your efforts. In return, your group's logo and
   link to your website will be posted on our Partners page.

   New this year for our Partners, we have added a a Blog on
   our website for sharing Partner information, activities, and
   creative ideas for customizing your campaign at
   www.makeminechocolate.org/blog.

   Thank you for your continued support of the "Make Mine
   Chocolate!" Campaign. With your help, we can reduce the
   number of rabbits surrendered or abandoned each year in
   the aftermath of Easter.
   http://www.columbusrabbit.org


   ** "Easter and Bunnies Don't Mix" Educational Flyers

   We've designed these flyers to help others spread our
   important message that "Easter and Bunnies don't mix."
   Please distribute as many as you can this Easter season.
   http://www.rabbit.org/easter/flyer/index.html

   In addition to handing them out to passers by, you might
   also want to drop off copies at local pet stores, animal
   hospitals, supermarkets, or other places with public
   message boards, or post them on the web.

   Additionally, please print and post this thought provoking
   and heart breaking Easter poem by Mary Brandolino:
   http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-7/brandolino-poem.html


   ** Animal-Friendly Easter Recipes

   Try these fantastic recipes from around the world!
   http://www.vegcooking.com/Easter.asp


   ** Protest Glamour Shots Easter Bunny Giveaway

   Every year, Glamour Shots offers "Live Easter Bunny"
   photos. Rabbits are purchased or borrowed for these
   events and some stores raffle the rabbits away after the
   promotion is over. To register your concerns, please
   contact Glamour Shots at 800-336-4550 ext 802.
   http://www.glamourshots.com/promotions.htm


   ** Good News for Los Angeles Shelter Rabbits!

   You'll all be happy to hear that the new General Manager
   of Los Angeles Animal Services (the LA City shelter
   system), Edward Boks, is rabbit-friendly. He worked
   closely with House Rabbit Society in NYC and Mary
   Cotter gave him a stellar recommendation today.

   It seems too good to be true, but it is true: for the
   first time,  we have a General Manager who actually cares
   about   rabbits, in addition to all the other shelter
   animals. You can read up on his accomplishments by
   Googling him but for now, I'll tell you that he's a big
   proponent of "No-Kill" and he has 22 years of experience
   in animal shelters.

   We are extremely optimistic and expect that we will have
   an enforced spay/neuter policy and better treatment of
   rabbits and rabbit volunteers in the shelters.  I think we
   are entering a new era for shelter rabbits in Los Angeles.
   To help support Los Angeles area rabbits, please go to:
   http://www.larabbits.org


   ** San Diego HRS Spay/Neuter Program: A First for Rabbits!

   The first of its kind, the new "rabbit only" Spay/Neuter
   Rebate program from San Diego HRS is now in place!
   Rabbit caretakers who get their rabbits spayed or neutered
   can mail a copy of their receipt to San Diego HRS and get
   a refund for a portion of the surgery cost.  Rebates are
   $25 for a neuter (male rabbits) and $40 for spay (females).
   Receipts should be mailed to HRS Spay/Neuter Fund,
   1140 Paseo de las Flores, Encinitas, CA 92024.  This
   rebate can be combined with others offered by the County
   Dept of Animal Services, to save a good amount on the
   cost of spay/neuter.  A generous donation of $3,000 has
   been provided by the Calkins Family to get this program
   underway, and San Diego HRS is looking to match that
   amount through donations from individuals and
   corporations. To learn more about this new program,
   email hrs@....

   San Diego HRS also is currently developing a "Medical
   Assistance Fund" for individuals who find their rabbits
   needing surgery they cannot afford.  Though disbursements
   won't cover complete costs, HRS can make a donation
   toward the cost of surgeries with payment going directly
   to the vet office doing the work.  Assistance criteria and
   other details are still being worked out, but this new
   program should come online soon and seeks to assist
   rabbit families in an area of great need.
   http://rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/index.html


   ** Seattle: The Woodland Park Rabbits

   Since March, 2005, Rabbit Meadows Sanctuary has been
   working with the Seattle Parks department to rescue and
   relocate hundreds of abandoned and suffering domestic
   rabbits in Woodland Park.  The project is now threatened.
   For the latest development, please read:
   http://www.woodlandparkrabbits.org/wpprojectupdate3-06.htm

   For background information, please go to:
   http://woodlandparkrabbits.org
   http://www.komotv.com/news/story.asp?id=41626
   http://www.cityofseattle.net/news/detail.asp?ID=5848&Dept=14


   ** UC Davis Pet Rabbit Survey

   The Behavior Service at the UC Davis School of
   Veterinary Medicine is conducting a survey on pet rabbit
   behavior, and we need YOUR HELP!  Please help us
   better understand the behavior of these wonderful
   companions by completing our survey. Once we have
   analyzed the results, we plan to publish the findings and
   make them available to the public.

   For those who have multiple rabbits, we ask that you only
   complete ONE survey for ONE rabbit in your household.
   Please choose the rabbit that you have owned for at least
   3 months and whose name begins with the letter(s) closest
   to the beginning of the alphabet. For example, if your
   rabbits are named Bonnie and Rex and you have owned
   both for at least 3 months, only complete the survey for
   Bonnie.  If your rabbits' names are Bonnie and Ben, only
   answer the survey for Ben.

   There are three separate surveys; which survey you take
   will depend on the spay/neuter status of the rabbit about
   whom you are completing the survey.

   Rascally Rabbits I - for rabbits that were intact when
   acquired but are now spayed or neutered:
   http://tinyurl.com/fspbl

   Rascally Rabbits II - for rabbits that were already spayed
   or neutered when acquired:
   http://tinyurl.com/kjmof

   Rascally Rabbits III - for intact rabbits (i.e. rabbits that
   have not been spayed or neutered):
   http://tinyurl.com/s3n77

   Your participation in this survey is VERY important, and
   we thank you in advance for your time and patience!
   Ulrike Reinisch, DVM

   ** Living With an Aloof Rabbit

   While some of us live with snugglebunnies, others aren't so
   lucky. For some tips on co-habitating with a rabbit who isn't
   fond of humans, read Amy Shapiro's article "Living with an
   Aloof Rabbit": http://www.rabbit.org/journal/1/aloof.html
   (Submitted by Laura L. Barnes)


   ** What Do Rabbits See?

   Have you ever wondered what the world looks like to
   your rabbit? For an excellent discussion of the biology of
   rabbit eyesight, visit Dr. Dana Krempel's article "What Do
   Rabbits See?" at:
   http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/vision.html.
   (Submitted by Laura L. Barnes)

   **Baby Names website Provides Easter message

   Former Georgia HRS fosterer Sarah Currier (now living in
   Switzerland) tells us that upon going to http://www.babynames.com to
   research dog and bunny names for future companions, she
   found that the website includes a picture of a cute baby
   rabbit with a warning that while cute, rabbits are not a good
   pet to buy for Easter!


   ** Wanted: Stories about Amazing Animals

   This September, publisher SMARTER than JACK is
   publishing a special book dedicated to stories about
   animals who have been given a second chance. It will be
   called "Smart Rescued Animals" and will carry a very
   important message to our thousands of readers about these
   special animals and about the great work that animal
   charities do. About 90 stories from all over the world will
   appear in the book.

   We want stories about animals who overcame their
   difficult beginnings and that show how valuable to our lives
   they really are, through the smart things they do. A rescued
   animal is one who had a rough start in life but got a second
   chance when they were rescued by an animal welfare
   charity or by an individual. Stories can be submitted on
   our website at http://www.smarterthanjack.com or by post
   to PO Box 27 003, Wellington, New Zealand. The
   deadline is April 11, 2006. So far the SMARTER than
   JACK series has raised over $230,000 for the animal
   charities around the world.


   ** Wanted: Books about House Rabbits

   Do you know of any children's books about house rabbits?
   You can help a Humane Society education project by
   sending the title if you know of such a book. The two titles
   already submitted are Smudge Bunny and While We Were
   Out. Please send titles to Lori at: trilby@...

   ** Best Friends Involved in Rescue of 1,000 Rabbits

   Best Friends has been coordinating the rescue of over 1,000
   rabbits taken in a by a terminally ill woman in Reno. Best
   Friends needs a huge amount of help with respect to medical
   care, donations of rabbit food and toys, volunteers, and of
   course fosterers and adopters. To find out more, go to
   http://network.bestfriends.org.


   ** HRS Chapter and Educator Updates

   * Saving Lives in Monterey

   House Rabbit Society Educator, Susan Stienstra, recently
   saved five rabbits from a local Monterey county shelter
   after being given 2 weeks before they would be euthanized.
   With the generous help of some friends, Susan was able to
   get the 5 buns out in time. Two have been adopted already!
   Congratulations Susan!

   * Las Vegas Fundraises with Puppy Paws!

   The Las Vegas House Rabbit Society Chapter will be
   hosting a jewelry fund raising event on March 26th. One of
   the participants, Puppy Paws (http://www.puppypaws.com),
   donates 20% of their gross sales to any non-profit animal
   rescue. Maria Perez, the president of LV-HRS, invites
   other House Rabbit Society chapters to consider this fund
   raising opportunity.
   http://www.bunnyrescuefund.org/pages/1/index.htm

   * Tampa Bay HRS Holds Bunfest

   Tampa Bay HRS held a successful Bunfest on February 12
   at the Tampa Bay SPCA in Largo, including a Rabbit Habits
   Presentation and a Bunny Boutique.

   * Missouri HRS Gears up for Veterinary Conference

   Veterinarians and Vet Techs, be sure to make your plans to
   attend Missouri HRS's 2nd annual Rabbit Veterinary Conference.
   This important, educational event will be held on Sunday,
   March 26 and will provide 9 full continuing education units
   for attending veterinarians and vet techs from the Missouri
   Board of Veterinary Education. For information and curriculum
   see http://www.rabbitvetconference.org.

   * Madison, WI HRS Held Successful Bunny Day
   On February 26, Wisconsin HRS had a successful Bunny Day featuring
   talks by veterinarian Joanne Paul Murphy, Margo DeMello, George
   Flentke, Sue Smith, as well as a tremendous Bunny Boutique,
   snacks, grooming, and lots of Wisconsin members' rabbits.

   * Colorado HRS Assists with Terrible Cruelty Case
   In early January, Longmont (Colorado) Animal Control discovered
   a dozen rabbits lying on the side of the highway, all of whom
   had been thrown out of a moving car. Miraculously, all of the
   rabbits survived, and Colorado HRS took in eight of them. To
   read the entire story, go to http://tinyurl.com/nq7bd.


   ** Shop `til You Drop and Support Rabbit Rescue

   Help support House Rabbit Society's rabbit rescue and
   education programs by shopping at our cafepress shop:
   http://www.cafepress.com/hayward_rabbits
   Are you a BWB (Big White Bunny) fan? Then by all
   means, check out the new HRS BWB tees at:
   http://www.cafepress.com/BWBSHOP


   ** Become a Member
   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, House Rabbit Journal. Please go to:
   http://rabbit.org/hrs-info/joining.html


   ** This newsletter is dedicated to Herman, a gentle little
   boy, who patiently awaited his turn amidst hundreds of rescued
   animals.

   ** On behalf of the rabbits, thank you.

Dear Friends of House Rabbit Society,

   Welcome to our second edition of the Rabbit Stories
   newsletter.  This is a new feature that will be sent to
   the HRS-Announce list approximately once a month. Please
   send any comments, questions, suggestions, or stories
   about your own rabbits to me at laura@....

   Laura L. Barnes
   Rabbit Stories editor

   ----------------------------------------------------------
   Rabbit Stories #2: 22 February 2006
   ----------------------------------------------------------
   A Bunny In The Bag : A True Story
   Author: Paige Caves
   Member, Australian Companion Rabbit Society
   Story Editor: Laura L. Barnes, laura@...


   Once upon a time there was the very cutest little bunny
   named Willow. His very favourite thing in the whole wide
   world, apart from eating of course, was to play with paper
   bags. He would run around in circles, do a hop, skip, and
   a jump with utter excitement, as soon as he saw that his
   human had a paper bag for him to play with!

   When Willow's human came home from shopping, he would say
   hopefully to "EyeBrow," his fat little guinea pig friend,
   "I think that my human may have a paper bag for me today!"
   Then he would stand tall on his hind legs, stretching as far
   as he could, to see if indeed she had any paper bags for
   him to play with.

   On most days she didn't bring any home because the stores
   in their country of Australia only ever seemed to use those
   horrible yucky plastic bags! Willow hated those bags, as
   they were far too slippery, too cold and they made a horrible
   noise when you stepped on them. He also knew that they would be
   very dangerous if he were to chew on them, not safe like good
   old paper bags.

   On those rotten days when there weren't any paper bags
   after a shopping trip, he would be very sad and just flop
   down on his bed sulking, looking oh, so depressed. EyeBrow
   would try to cheer him up in her own funny sort of way,
   obviously she could only speak squeekaneeze, (That's the only
   language guinea pigs speak of course, but rabbits easily
   understand, because rabbits are so clever. They are
   multi-lingual creatures you know.)

   She would say, "Look here Willow, my large floppy eared chap,
   I honestly don't see what all the fuss is about, really! I
   admit that paper bags are quite nice to hide in, or maybe
   take a little nap in occasionally, but that's about all!
   Frankly, I think they are quite over rated myself!"

   But on this one particular day Willow was feeling so very
   fed up, because he hadn't even had a SNIFF of a paper bag
   in weeks. He felt so very annoyed with EyeBrow, even though
   he knew she was only trying to help.

   With a mixture of consternation and impatience on his face,
   Willow sighed and said "But EyeBrow, you are JUST a guinea pig,
   what could you possibly KNOW about a rabbit and his bags?
   We are very philosophical creatures you know and you MUST
   understand just how important these issues are to all us
   rabbits! After all, every creature on earth has an inner
   child, which needs to be looked after, nurtured, that needs
   to explore and play!"

   EyeBrow replied curtly, "Well! I may look stupid, but I'm
   not, you know. Just give me food and lots of it and I'm
   happy!"

   "What a shallow life you guinea pigs must lead, that's all
   I can say!" Willow replied. He thought for a second and then
   went on to say "and ... it's YOUR life's ambition and dream
   ... and may I add, all you care to talk about, is to be
   trapped inside a huge box of Coco Pops, so you can eat
   your way out! REALLY! What an ambition!"

   With that, EyeBrow walked (well, more like wiggled) off in
   total disgust, squeaking something under her breath. They
   weren't feeling very friendly toward each other right at
   that very moment. That was O.K. because friends make mistakes
   sometimes, don't they?

   Just a few seconds after that whole little episode, before
   Willow even had time to think about how he had offended his
   poor little friend, Willow's human (called Paige) came over
   to him. She gave him a gentle kiss on the nose and said,
   "What's the matter with you then, you Wascally Wabbit?"
   (Such a silly name, but his human insisted on calling him
   that for some reason only known to herself. Humans obviously
   aren't very intellectual creatures, not like rabbits!)

   Willow looked up at his human with huge soft brown eyes.
   She said to him gently, "I have a surprise for you,
   Willie Willow!"

   Willow hopped up, ears half cocked, hardly daring to
   believe that she may have, a ...no, it couldn't possibly be,
   could it?...Not a paper bag?... Just for him!

   Up he hopped, following his human to the pantry cupboard.
   When she opened the door, lo and behold the most beautiful
   sight greeted his eyes. His eyes opened wider and wider in
   sheer wonderment. There was the hugest, biggest, loveliest
   brown paper bag that he had EVER seen! It EVEN had twisted
   paper handles, his VERY favourite sort of paper bag! He
   hopped, skipped, danced for joy and did skids around the
   carpet. He hardly could wait for his human to get it out
   for him to play with!

   He jumped up and down and danced his bunny dance, around in
   circles! When he finally got to the bag, he excitedly rushed
   inside, he sniffed. A long deep sniff of...mmmmmmmm,
   PAPER BAG! He rummaged around, quickly checking out every
   corner.  He tried to head butt the other end, to see if he
   could break through it, without chewing.  That was always
   a good sign of the best quality bags, didn't you know?
   And this was the best. He was in bunny heaven!

   He rummaged for simply ages, exploring every nook and
   cranny, inside and out.  He carefully chewed off one side
   of each of the paper handles, savouring each and every
   little nibble with total delight. He was saving the other
   side of the handles as a little treat for later; he certainly
   held some restraint, did this rabbit! Oh, how he just loved
   his paper bags, especially this one!

   Then began the serious task of tearing, ripping and
   shredding, he was in his element, his sadness long gone
   by now, he was having such a splendiferous time! He had
   quite forgotten the squabble that he had with poor old
   EyeBrow, just a little time earlier.

   After some while though, Willow began to feel just a little
   bit sleepy, after all, wouldn't you, if you exerted so
   much energy into such a serious business? What with all
   that rough and tumble beforehand, all that tearing and
   ripping, it's bound to catch up with one sooner or later,
   isn't it?

   His shiny new paper bag looked a little the worse for wear
   by now, but was still heavenly to him. He began to snuggle
   and nuzzle inside it for a little rest and maybe to dream
   dreams. Dreams of living in that perfect place, a place
   where paper bags grew and where large fresh dandelions
   sprang from the tops of the paper bags as handles.

   As he lay there thinking about such a very place, his
   thoughts soon turned to his dear little friend EyeBrow.
   He did feel a little ashamed of himself, he admitted,
   for being so mean to her. He really didn't need to speak
   to her in such a way. He then decided and made it firm
   in his mind, that as soon as he woke up from this nap, he
   would go straight over and apologize to her. Maybe he
   would even take her a dandelion or two, she loved them
   as much as he. After all she couldn't really help being
   just a guinea pig, how could she possibly understand
   such personal RABBIT matters?  As he pondered this
   question, he realized that he still loved his fat
   little guinea pig friend very much and was very glad
   of her friendship!

   He breathed out a huge sigh and if you look VERY carefully
   at the last picture, you can just about see how very thoughtful
   he really was. After all, Willow is such a NICE rabbit,
   of that there is no doubt!

   For pictures of Willow enjoying his paper bag, see:

   http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/hrs-announce/photos/browse/32b3

Dear Friends of House Rabbit Society,

   Welcome to our newest e-newsletter feature. To complement our
   monthly "What's New at HRS" newsletter, which goes out at the
   end of the month, we will also be sending out a mid-monthly
   feature, prepared by HRS Educator Laura Barnes, which will
   include heartwarming rabbit stories, tips, and useful
   educational articles that will hopefully benefit all of our
   members and readers.

   ***

   Living with a Biter
   By Mary Alexander, Alabama EARS volunteer
   Story Editor, Laura L. Barnes

   This story originally appeared in the Alabama EARS newsletter in
   September 2003. For more information about Alabama EARS, visit
   http://www.alabamaears.org/.

   I became a bunny owner quite by mistake. Sophie was a gift from
   a well–meaning friend. My intentions were to find her a good
   home and continue my pet-less life, but a few weeks passed, and
   I was hooked on the little critter. As I learned about bunnies
   and how best to care for them, I began thinking about getting
   a companion bunny for Sophie.

   I had the obvious choice of going to the pet store and purchasing
   a bunny, or contacting a breeder. But the idea of saving a life
   appealed to me, and so I discovered Alabama EARS. I arranged an
   appointment for Sophie and I to meet foster director Linda
   Howard. I was surprised to learn that Linda had some 15 bunnies,
   of all shapes and sizes, waiting for homes. I was immediately
   smitten with a little dwarf male who looked like he'd been dipped
   in various shades of chocolate brown. I reached in to pet John
   Jacob, whereupon he promptly charged, growled, and bit me. I must
   admit, I was taken aback. Sophie's a licker/groomer. I've even
   caught her grooming the toilet! I had no idea that bunnies
   could – and would – bite. After having Sophie spayed, I decided
   to proceed with the adoption, thinking that John Jacob's biting
   would cease when he adapted to his new surroundings.

   Sophie and John Jacob, now called JJ, bonded immediately and were
   quite the pair. However, JJ and I didn't get along quite as well.
   My first mistake was in expecting JJ to be like Sophie. Upon
   arriving home in the evenings, I would let Sophie and JJ out of
   their room to play in the living room. JJ would refuse to come
   out, so I began making him come downstairs for playtime. This
   usually resulted in me chasing him around the room, getting
   bitten in the process. Not exactly what I had in mind. After
   a few days of this, I decided to try a new tactic. I left
   him alone. I'd check on him, make sure he was eating and
   drinking and was bright-eyed, but I didn't try and touch
   him. For about 3 days, he remained under the bed in their room.
   On day four, Sophie and I were in the living room when who
   should appear? A very curious JJ. He explored every nook and
   cranny of the living room before venturing into the dining
   room. Within a few days, he was quite comfortable with the
   surroundings and was hopping throughout the house. However,
   any attempts to touch him still resulted in him biting. One day,
   JJ and Sophie were playing on the staircase landing, where
   one wall is mirrored. Sophie hopped up to the bunny in the
   mirror, and began grooming it. Meanwhile, JJ began biting
   his reflection, his teeth making squeaking noises on the
   glass. I began to wonder if biting was simply JJ's way of
   communicating.

   I decided to try an experiment. I quit trying to pet JJ at
   all, and every evening I would lie in the floor and read
   aloud to the bunnies. Sophie immediately realized the benefits
   of having me as a Big Bunny Toy, jumping over my back, running
   up and down my legs, digging in my hair, and grooming me. It
   wasn't long before JJ joined in, nudging me and chewing on my
   book. Pretty soon he was letting me pet him, even purring, but
   he was still biting. However, the biting behavior had changed.
   Initially he was aggressive, drawing blood when he would bite.
   Now he was relaxed, letting me know when I had violated him
   in some way. As I spent more time with JJ, I began to
   categorize his biting:  there's the "I really like you" bite,
   which reminds me of a dog itching its coat; the "stop petting
   me" bite, which is usually accompanied by a growl; the "you
   shouldn't have done that to me" bite, which I get after the
   weekly grooming session or anytime I have to administer
   medication; and finally, the "leave my toy/food alone!"
   bite – which is when he means business.

   I'm glad I didn't give up on my "biter". JJ has evolved into
   a very curious, mischievous, and entertaining bunny. He
   likes to "bunny dance" late at night, preferably in the
   living room, loves to play with his toss ball, and helps
   open presents at birthday parties. The best part is seeing
   the bond that has developed between Sophie and JJ as they
   play and groom each other. So don't give up on your problem
   bunny, give him some space and time, and watch him develop
   into a wonderful friend.

   ***

   Please send any comments, questions, suggestions, or
   stories about your own rabbits to me at laura@....