Saving The Rabbits: House Rabbit Society
I had the good fortune to catch up with Anne Martin at our recent non-profit dinner benefiting the House Rabbit Society, a volunteer-based nonprofit organization with two primary goals:
To rescue abandoned rabbits and find permanent homes for them and
To educate the public and assist humane societies, through publications on rabbit care, phone consultation, and classes upon request.
1. When you receive donations, what does the money support?Donations to House Rabbit Society support the rabbit rescue and education work that we do. We are thrilled to have hit the milestone of 100 rabbits adopted from headquarters this year, in October!For every bunny adopted, a huge amount of work goes on behind the scenes:
We rescue them from the euthanasia lists of local shelters, so we coordinate closely with shelter staff.
Our volunteers transport them to House Rabbit Society and, if needed, we have foster homes who we supply with all the start-up supplies to make space for rabbits at-risk of euthanasia if we don't have a space immediately available on-site.
We take care of any medical needs they might have (from minor to major!) and make sure they are healthy and ready for adoption.
They get spayed/neutered and microchipped.
Our program manager takes photos of them and writes bios and gets them online
Our animal caregivers make sure they are comfortable and cared for while they're at House Rabbit Society.
Our staff and volunteers help adopters to meet the rabbits and educate them on what they need to know to have a happy bunny at home.
Support doesn't end there, though - adopters are always welcome to call House Rabbit Society if they have any questions or need advice.
We also have an Emergency Rescue Grant program where shelters/HRS Chapters/rescues who are doing a rescue of 30+ rabbits can apply for small grants to support veterinary care or spay/neuter. In the last two years we have given almost $20,000 in small grants to help with big rabbit rescues or animal control confiscation situations!
The funds raised from House Rabbit Society's benefit dinner at Sanctuary Bistro will directly support our rescue work and the care of the rabbits!2. What inspired you to do this line of work?While I was in graduate school at Berkeley working on my PhD in City & Regional Planning, my partner and I adopted a rabbit from the Oakland Animal Shelter. We did our homework, reading through all the great educational materials on House Rabbit Society's website rabbit.org, and after having him for a couple months, decided to get him a friend. Rabbits love to have a bunny friend who speaks their own language. When we adopted our second rabbit, we started volunteering with the rabbits at the Oakland Animal Shelter, and learned first-hand how many rabbits end up unwanted.Sadly, in the San Francisco Bay Area, rabbits are the third-most surrendered animal to animal shelters after cats and dogs. After volunteering at OAS for a few years where I was a mentor and trained new rabbit volunteers, I decided to move over to volunteering with a rescue, and began volunteering with Harvest Home Animal Sanctuary. There, I joined the board and spent every evening and weekend trying to help save the lives of rabbits and help them find new homes, as well as to help the other farmed animals that Harvest Home protects. I have had the opportunity to help rabbits with special medical needs, rabbits who have been released from animal testing, rabbits who have been confiscated from being raised for meat, and rabbits from hoarding and neglectful situations.When I finished my doctoral studies, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to join House Rabbit Society as Shelter Director and to then step into the role as Executive Director. The volunteers, staff, and supporters inspire me every day. There are so many people who care deeply about these gentle and often misunderstood animals, and will do anything they can to help. And I draw tremendous inspiration from the rabbits themselves - they overcome tremendous medical hurdles and let go of the difficult things they have experienced, to let themselves love and be loved by people.3. How can people help?There are many ways to get involved with House Rabbit Society!
- Volunteer or foster: http://rabbitcenter.org/ volunteering/
- Adopting a rabbit: http://rabbitcenter.org/ adoptable-rabbits/
- Donate: http://rabbit.org/making-a- donation-to-house-rabbit- society/
- You can also volunteer at your local animal shelter, and help rabbits in need close to your home!
4. Can you give us a couple stories/anecdotes of your most powerful experiences through House Rabbit Society?Last month, we got an urgent call from a rabbit volunteer at Contra Costa Animal Services, Martinez - a rabbit had come in with a paralyzed hind end and a broken leg, and would be put down that day. I called the shelter to let them know we would rescue her. We found a medical foster home for her, and one of our volunteers, Rich Sievers, rushed out to the shelter to pick her up.Then, we learned a little of her back story: A Good Samaritan was out riding his motorcycle and stopped when he saw her, injured, on the side of the road in a rural part of Contra Costa County. He carefully zipped her inside his motorcycle jacket and drove her home on his motorcycle, and arranged for his veterinarian friend to see her the next day. They named her Stacey and his daughter held her on her lap while they watched movies and ate popcorn. The next day he took her to the vet who gave her an x-ray and confirmed the broken leg and hip out of socket. He then took her to the shelter, where we rescued her.The next morning one of our volunteers, Gabby Chavez, drove her to see our vet, Dr. Michele Kim, and volunteer Rich Sievers joined for the exam to learn more about her injuries. She then saw our veterinary chiropractor Dr. Margaret Holiday, and then went home to a medical foster home with Melinda Reed, RVT.Everyone falls in love with Stacey - she is so happy and gives everyone kisses.Now, a month later, Stacey is starting to hop around on the formerly broken leg and move her toes the other leg. She is such a lucky girl - so many kind, caring people went above and beyond to help one little injured bunny. This is what House Rabbit Society is all about. For any one person, taking on a rabbit with this kind of severe injury might feel overwhelming. So many people came together to help Stacey.This year alone, over 100 rabbits have been adopted from our headquarters - each one of them has been alone and afraid, some of them injured or ill. The volunteers, staff, and supporters of House Rabbit Society made it possible for us to save their lives.6. Can you surprise us with a couple facts?What is the biggest part of a rabbit's diet?(Hint: It's not carrots!) It's hay!!Rabbits love carrots, but they're really just a treat because they are high in sugar. Rabbits' teeth constantly grow, and eating hay helps to keep their molars ground down. For that reason they should have unlimited access to hay. It is also important for rabbit digestion, moving everything through their system. Rabbits also eat a small amount of pellets for vitamins, and a salad of leafy greens every day.7. The mission of sanctuary bistro is to help generate compassion and community. We want this to ripple out into the world. How does House Rabbit Society bring community and compassion to the forefront?House Rabbit Society is, at it's core, a community of people who love and care about animals. When someone adopts a rabbit (or finds one in their yard!) they look for information on how to take care of them, and find that we are not just a source for good care information, but also a network of people across the country and the world who care.The more people we can engage in helping rabbits, the kinder the world will be for animals and for people.Also, many people find that once they fall in love with a rabbit, it opens their eyes to many animal rights issues. Rabbits are killed for their meat, so many people who love rabbits discover the benefits of a vegetarian or vegan diet.Rabbits are killed for their fur, so many rabbit lovers understand the horrors of the fur trade on a personal level, and would never wear fur. Rabbits are tested on for cosmetics, household products and other laboratory research, so when many rabbit lovers learn this, they purchase cruelty-free products. When you fall in love with a rabbit, you open yourself to seeing the world more compassionately.8. Any upcoming events we should know about?Save the date for our Holiday Party at House Rabbit Society headquarters on Saturday, December 13! We will have a fantastic silent auction and vegan snacks and cookies!9. Final words?Rabbits are great companion animals - it's like living with a herbivorous pixie-cat. When you adopt from House Rabbit Society, the rabbits are already spayed & neutered and litterbox-trained. Come meet rabbits at House Rabbit Society (rabbitcenter.org) or your local shelter (Petfinder.org) and fall in love!Have any questions for Ann?