Dear Friends of the Rabbit Center,
Welcome to our first Fair Share for Rabbits Newsletter. We will be using
this space to share information about what's going on at some of our Bay
Area shelters regarding rabbits, with reports from Fair Share volunteers at
those shelters. Please consider volunteering at your local shelter; the
rabbits and other animals at the following shelters can really use your
help! Contact information for our fabulous volunteers follows each shelter
report; please feel free to contact those volunteers if you can help in any
way.
------------
Watsonville Animal Shelter:
In November 2004, Santa Cruz County took over the City of Watsonville Animal
Shelter. The good part is that they have continued to let me do what I need
to do to keep our rabbits safe and find them home. The bad part is that we
are now accepting animals throughout the whole County and not just the city.
The pressure is constantly upon the rabbits due to the numbers and the slow
adoption rate compared to cats and dogs. The Friends of the Watsonville
Animal Shelter (FOWAS) has decided to be proactive and we are now offering
FREE spay/neuter assistance for low income families in the City of
Watsonville or Freedom. I believe this is the first of its kind in the
Country.
Recent news: The Watsonville Shelter has a new small animal room with 6
cages for rabbits. Unfortunately, we have 19 rabbits due to a large rescue
in May. I am also anticipating another rescue with similar circumstances
shortly. Since May, we have received over 40 rabbits so I don't necessarily
feel horrible to have 19 left. Due to the discounts from HRS, we have been
able to set up a lot of foster homes and as of 8-3-05, we had 9 rabbits in
foster homes. We are also receiving discounts from For Other Living Things
and The Busy Bunny Company so the foster parents and I chipped in to get
some toys for all of crew. I will get started on posting our rabbits right
away and look forward to working with this program.
Lara Walker
Rabbit Volunteer-Watsonville Shelter
http://www.scanimalservices.us/rescue4.htm
---------
Fairmont Animal Control:
Friends of Fairmont is a small shelter in San Leandro that only has three
rabbit cages. However, the staff does what it can to make more room when
needed. Currently, we have four bunnies, one of which has been here several
months, but I'm happy to report that she is moving to an HRS quarantine cage
this weekend! The wonderful Fairmont volunteers spay and neuter all animals
that pass through the shelter (thank you thank you thank you!), so right now
we have one neutered boy named Picasso, who is ~six months old and maybe an
English spot. He's very sweet and loves to play. We have a tiny little
firecracker named Rose Bud (she'll be Rose when she grows up), white with
pink eyes, maybe 10-12 weeks old, and alreadly spayed. She's still figuring
out how to dance and keep her feet underneath her, so she ends up doing lots
of somersaults. Rosie is a real sweety who loves to cuddle with both humans
and other bunnies. Don't you need her in your home? Our third is a spayed
female named Blue, who is 5-6 months old, and has an irrepressible
personality. She is always cheerful and ready for loves, though she's been
having a bit of trouble keeping her bottom clean. The sparkle in her pretty
blue eyes tells me that she feels ok, though, and maybe just needs better
living conditions.
I've started bringing hay and carrots, but the shelter feeds whatever
pellets have been donated. We could use a consistent supply of quality
pellets, as well as another volunteer or two who could help with bringing
fresh vegetables, cleaning, feeding, grooming, and playing.
Karen Johanson
Rabbit Volunteer-Fairmont Shelter
KJohanson@MENKE.com
http://www.fofas.org/display.php?menutype=others
---------
Berkeley Animal Care Services:
RabbitEARS rescued 2 bunnies from Berkeley Animal Care Services (and two
rats), one a very young and tiny male Jersey Wooley and one young chocolate
lop. We had already rescued the chocolate lops brother and was treating him
for fur mites. I had been treating the lop at the shelter for fur mites for
three weeks too. There were 2 bunnies left last Sunday: one BBWB really
beautiful rex with violet eyes and a young bouncing brown bunny. We take
fresh veggies and carrots, all washed and ready to eat, to the shelter every
week.
The staff at BACS is extremely nice and helpful to us. They care deeply for
the rabbits. They really want to participate in more mobile adoption
opportunities and have invited RabbitEARS to conduct a monthly Adoption Day
campaign there for parents and kids to learn about rabbit care and have a
little fun too. We'll be setting that up as soon as we have some breathing
room and some volunteer help. We really enjoy working with them. We believe
they will phone us or Marcy if there are any reasons that the rabbits need
immediate help.
Shelter needs: BACS always needs hay. The shelter staff would love to have
some Bunny Basics Training. They would love to start spay/neuter for the
bunnies. They NEED to charge more than $5 for adoption fee. They need an
adoption contract just for bunnies. They are interested in showing the
bunnies at mobiles, but don't have the volunteer staff to pull it off
regularly. If we didn't supply veggies, they would need these too.
Berkeley East Bay Humane Society simply needs to take in bunnies.
Judy Hardin
Rabbit Volunteer-Berkeley Shelter
judy@encounterbooks.com
http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/animalservices/adopt.html
---------
Hayward Animal Shelter:
Hayward Animal Shelter has been having a hard time lately. Basically
it's just me fostering now, I have 15 fosters at my house right now, and
people keep dumping bunny families in the night boxes. Last week we had
8 very young bunnies left in one day, and the shelter can only
accomodate 5-6 bunnies at a time. I've been trying to rescue bunnies
that are particularly cute and personable, but we've lost a lot.
Adoptions have been very slow this summer.
We need hay and fresh greens. The staff could really use some
training--I know they're tired of getting bitten, and I think at least
some of them might be happy to learn strategies to minimize conflict
with the buns. But most of all, we really need adequate cages--something
with solid flooring, large doors, and easy to clean. I've been nagging
people about this for nearly a year but staff seem to be convinced that
bunnies are always very messy and will soon be standing in pools of
urine if they're put in a solid bottom cage. So this is a problem of
education as well as money.
On the positive side, we get all our bunnies spayed/neutered when they
are adopted, so adoptions cost $55-$60. And many people willingly pay
the fees even though they know they could get a bunny at the flea market
for $10. We have a shelterwide adoptathon coming up Aug. 19-20 focusing
on the high death rate at shelters.
Elizabeth Berg
Rabbit Volunteer-Hayward Animal Shelter
elizabethberg@earthlink.net
http://www.ci.hayward.ca.us/webware/Default.aspx?Message=209&t=-1
-------------
Solano County Animal Shelter (Fairfield):
The biggest development at the Shelter in recent months is that we've been
able to move all the bunnies inside to the new "cat room." This has been a
HUGE change as until now the bunnies have always been outside in a barn area
next to chickens, goats, pigs and an assortment of other animals. With the
heat like it's been we are very grateful to have our guys inside!
A couple weekends ago we were able to participate in a video production
about the shelter that will air on the local public access station. Patrick
did a great job showing off our bunnies and talking about how to properly
handle and care for them. This will be a regular event that we will get to
be part of. We are hoping to use it to both promote our rabbits and educate
the public on different aspects of rabbit care & behavior. We also have a
new website featuring our rabbits..... http://rabbits.ieasysite.com We've
had five adoptions in the last couple months which is always a wonderful
feeling
Probably our biggest need right now is volunteers who would be willing to
staff adoption events. Patrick and I purchase and provide nearly all of
the supplies, food, care & cleaning for the rabbits and this leaves us
stretched pretty thin when it comes to doing extra events. There are two
new pet stores close to the shelter who are willing to host, but we could
really use some rabbit-savy volunteers to take rabbits there on weekends.
Of course, we would also welcome any help during the week to care for,
clean, and socialize the bunnies.
Joanna Brewster
Rabbit Volunteer-Solano County Animal Shelter
JBrew41784@aol.com
http://rabbits.ieasysite.com
-------------
Oakland Animal Services:
Things are very busy at the shelter as we are, once again, overcrowded will
marvelous rabbits. We have a good team of volunteers who are able to cover
most of the days the shelter is open but, of course we could always use more
hands. Most importantly, we could really use people to come in and socialize
with the bunnies. Some of the bunnies have been there for several months and
the inevitable depression has set in.
Sargent Dave Cronin, our wonderful interim shelter director, had an enormous
outdoor run built so the bunnies can exercise in the fresh air and sunshine.
We need hardwood chips to cover the area. Our requests to tree trimming
companies have gone nowhere as, most companies mix their chips and we need
hardwood only (no Redwood, Pine or Cedar). If you have any connections with
someone in the business and are willing to make a call or two, it would be
enormously appreciated.
One rabbit of particular concern is Randy, an unneutered boy bunny who
arrived yesterday. I have never seen such a depressed bunny. Randy was
obviously very neglected. He was covered in mats and bite marks (most of
them well on their way to healing) and his toe nails were worn to the
quick.. Oddly enough, Randy was well fed and his tone feels good. Randy has
a serious case of ear mites (OAS vet is treating them). It would be
enormously helpful if someone could foster Randy until he was more
"presentable" to the public. In the state he is in now, no potential adopter
would consider him. Randy is very easy to handle and would benefit greatly
if someone could take him in and show him what love is.
Lastly, please consider making a donation to our Rabbit Fund. The money goes
to spaying and neutering costs. We currently have five who need surgery.
On behalf of the rabbits at Oakland Animal Services
The OAS Rabbit Volunteer Team
Connie Cwynar and Tim Burns
c.cwynar@sbcglobal.net
http://www.oaklandanimalservices.org/index.php?z=4
-------------
Alameda Animal Services:
"Rabbit Row" at the City of Alameda Animal Shelter has had another busy
summer, with several new arrivals and a handful of adoptions.
Summertime always sees a big increase in the number of dogs and cats at the
shelter, which stretches the kennel staff to the limit. Fortunately, we
have a small number of volunteer foster homes in Alameda where we can
temporarily house some of the bunnies. If not for our foster families, we
would be forced to euthanize. Buns in foster homes are indicated as such on
the web site.
We were also able to transfer two bunnies, Napoleon and Ranger, to Hopalong
Animal Rescue, headquartered in Oakland. Napoleon has already been adopted.
Rich Sievers
Volunteer Rabbit Wrangler
City of Alameda Animal Shelter
www.RabbitRow.org
---------
San Jose Animal Care Center:
San José's Animal Care Center is the newest, largest, and highest volume
shelter in the Bay area, serving not only San Jose but also Cupertino, Los
Gatos, Milpitas and Saratoga. The shelter houses up to 6 altered adoptable
bunnies in plexiglas display cases in a high traffic area and up to 15 buns
in tiny steel kennels out of public view, where they either wait to get
altered and put up front for adoption, wait for rescue, or...
The inadvertent euthanasia of 6 highly adoptable bunnies this Spring
warranted an immediate and strong rabbit rescue group presence. HRS, Rabbit
Haven, and SaveABunny (the SF/Marin chapter of HRS) answered this call by
meeting with shelter management to develop the foundation of a successful
rabbit rescue program: good communication and trust, a rescue protocol,
training support, willingness to volunteer, and just establishing a caring
but watchful presence. In addition to building this rescue foundation over
the past 4 months, these rescue groups and other rescuers have practically
eliminated euthanasia by saving almost 100 bunnies.
Despite the progress made at the shelter and construction of an ultra low
cost spay/neuter clinic, the tremendous volume of animals received (close to
2,000 animals a month during kitten season), many forms of assistance from
this rabbit loving community are needed to prevent "rescue" by farms and
seriously eliminate euthanasia at San Jose. The greatest needs which
directly prevent euthanasia are: several fosterers who can house even just
one bunny, a few shelter volunteers to provide TLC, grooming, and
vegetables, and financial donations to these rescue groups (imagine paying
for the spay/neuter and medical care for 100 bunnies!). Other needs are
volunteers to transport the lucky (saved) buns to foster homes and marketing
of the SJ shelter as not many know it is exists - just introduce the SJ
shelter to anyone you know that lives in San Jose, Cupertino, Los Gatos,
Milpitas and Saratoga. If you would like to be part of this great mission
of bunny mercy, please contact Anna Kim, the HRS SJ shelter outreach
volunteer, at akim@cisco.com.
Much heartfelt appreciation to everyone involved in saving so many lives,
especially Marcy Schaaf and Heather Bechtel, the directors of SaveABunny and
Rabbit Haven, who have taken in the majority of these bunnies and offered
tremendous direction and support! We would love others to join this
incredible team!
Anna Kim
Rabbit Volunteer-San Jose City Shelter
akim@cisco.com
http://www.sanjoseanimals.com/adoptProgram.asp
---------
Marin Humane Society:
On Saturday, August 20, in support of National Homeless Animals Day, Marin
Humane Society is having the "PAWS-atively Yours Adoptathon" featuring the
shelter animals waiting to be adopted into their forever homes. Adopters
will receive a special gift adoption package. For more information, call
415-506-6225. To increase adoptions at the shelter, the rabbit adoption fee
was lowered from $50 to $35 to compete with local pet stores.
The shelter is crowded with many wonderful rabbits who need loving homes.
The most at risk right now are Smokey and Snickers, a gorgeous, bonded pair
of neutered rex boys. They groom each other, snuggle and love each other
very much. They must be adopted together. The only thing they enjoy more
than tossing their toys and playing with each other is human attention!
Rodney, is a sweet chocolate and white Dutch boy who enjoys attention. He
loves to sit next to you and would bean ideal companion for someone looking
to sit and watch TV or read a book with a bunny!
Sarah is a friendly, beautiful gray and white dwarf bunny who was
transferred to the Marin Humane Humane from the Silicon Valley Humane
Society, along with another bunny who has been since been exchange, Marcy
Schaaf took in two NZ white lab rabbits considered unadoptable at Marin
Humane Society. One of those bunnies went to Margo and the other is awaiting
adoption at the SFMarin HRS. His name is Winter.
Another bonded pair-Grace and Thumper, are beautiful Siamese point bunnies.
While friendly, they are shy and would do best going to live with a rabbit
savvy person.
Marin Humane Society has had some staff changes in the past few months, and
so we are working to build the same type of mutually beneficial relationship
we had established in the past. Currently, we are no longer notified prior
to the euthanization of rabbits, so finding good foster homes and adopters
is very important..
Marcy Schaaf
Chapter Manager
SaveABunny, San Francisco/ Marin House Rabbit Society
www.saveabunny.com
http://www.marin-humane.org/main_adoptions.html#Small
---------
San Francisco Animal Care and Control:
San Francisco Animal Care and Control continues to be one of the most
progressive and responsive shelters we work with in the Bay area. They
routinely spay and neuter rabbits, consult with our Chapter on health and
behavior issues, and contact us if euthanasia of a rabbit is being
considered.
They work closely with our Chapter to assist other shelters when possible
often sending injured, or unadoptable rabbits to our Chapter, and assessing
with rabbits from other shelters we work with---with the guarantee that our
Chapter will always step in if they need help become overcrowded.
The shelter is now over capacity and we are seeking to place 5-6 rabbits.
Our Chapter took in a sweet, neutered gray chinchilla lop who had originally
come from the Silicon Valley shelter. A very cute, little white dwarf girl
will be going to HRS Richmond for a space in the quarantine cage room. There
is a wonderful selection of rabbits just waiting for loving homes still at
SFACC, including lops, dwarfs, Dutch and the all-round perfect basic bunny.
Low cost spay/ neuter is available through SFACC for adopters only.
The shelter has experienced city budget cuts and lost the veterinary
technician spot until they rehire someone in late September. So animals are
going out on spay/ neuter contract , instead of being done right away. This
shelter has consistently been a very good friend to House Rabbit Society and
especially our Chapter. They rarely ask for help, but when they do, we make
it a priority to help them. Adopters and good foster homes are needed.
Please contact Marcy at saveabunny@aol.com or 415-388-2790
Marcy Schaaf
Chapter Manager
SaveABunny, San Francisco/ Marin House Rabbit Society
www.saveabunny.com
http://www.sfgov.org/site/acc_page.asp?id=6610
----------------
Please visit http://shelters.saveabunny.com/ and
http://www.rabbit.org/rabbit-center/fair_share/index.htm to find out more
about Bay Area shelters and to see rabbits from shelters all over the Bay
Area. Thank you for your compassion and caring!
The HRS Fair Share for Rabbits Team
|
