First Bunny Volunteer Experience

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Amy27

Task Force
Joined
Oct 29, 2008
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Location
Columbus, Ohio, USA
So I went to orientation last night at a local humane society. You are not suppose to volunteer until you have went through training. But at orientation, we didn't even get a tour of the place. So tonight my friend and I went back to explore.

We ended up checking out a rabbit my friend is interested in and spent a lot of time with her. Then the rabbit lady came in and was talking to us. She told me how she is the only one who really cares for the rabbits. She brought them in some veggies. We ended up putting the rabbit back we had out and she was in the rabbit/cat room. We noticed several rabbits had no water. She was cleaning cages and getting them water and I asked if I could help, even though I hadn't been through training. She showed me where stuff was and I helped out. It was so much fun. I volunteered before with cats and dogs but rabbits are so different. I loved every second of it. But it really bothers me that rabbits didn't have water. I am happy to know though that I can help by volunteering.

I noticed the rabbits had no toys. So I went to a store they have at the shelter where the money goes to the shelter and bought all the rabbit a willow ring and they all went crazy over it. Well, except the crabby bunny Alfred who tried to take off my hand off. I ended up cleaning his cage and it was not easy. I would move my hand to one side of the cage and he would come after it. He ended up calming down so I could change the paper. He has been at the shelter along time and as the lady said, "just likes his space". He is a cutie though.

The rabbit my friend is interested in is the sweetest thing I have ever seen. If my friend doesn't adopt her and she doesn't get adopted soon, I may have to get her. She was just so calm and loving. I have really never seen a rabbit like this. I can't let her stay in a shelter. I would foster her but I have to have 20 volunteer hours first. We will see what happens. Ireally should not get another rabbit. I don't have the money. But she just pulled at my heart. I can't believe anyone would get rid of such a sweet thing.

Oh forgot to mention, when I got there I asked to get a specific rabbit out. The people there told me no one knew how to pick up the rabbits that was working. I was like What?!?! They asked me if I knew how to pick up a rabbit and I said yes, I own two. They said it would be safer and better then for me to pick the rabbit up and take it to the play room.

Though I am so happy with my experience. I can't help but wonder how a shelter has animals with no water or toys. I felt so bad for the bunnies. How do the people there not know how to pick up a rabbit? I just felt like it was all about the cats and dogs and no one did anything for the rabbits. I know I will be a regular there and make sure that changes. I still can't believe some didn't have water. This is the humane society we call about animal abuse and their own animals don't have water!

But I do want to say anyone thinking about volunteering should do it. I was so scared to after my experience volunteering with cats and dogs. The dogs I would take for a walk and they wouldn't want to go into the shelter and I would stand outside and just cry. They cats, well I got my dad to adopt two of them. But working with the rabbits was so different. It wasn't as if I don't love them as much. May be it is because I felt passionate about them. I really don't know but it was different and I left feeling happy, not sad. As I was walking out to the car with my friend I said what is all over my shirt? It was rabbit urine. I guess I need to work on my skills of cleaning cages lol.

Sunday I am going for my offical training so after that I can get the rabbits out and clean cages as I please. I can't wait. I think I am going tomorrow and Sunday because I just loved it so much.

BTW, just wanted to say there are only 7 rabbits there. Most have been there along time. I thought when I got there they would have tons of rabbits but I think most go to Columbus House Rabbit Society.
 
Amy27 wrote:
I just felt like it was all about the cats and dogs and no one did anything for the rabbits.
Sadly, this is what I commonly hear about. Usually if there is a good bunny rescue in the area they will educate the animal shelters. I've seen/heard of quite a few that just flat out do not care as much about the rabbits. I can never really wrap my head around why.

It's wonderful that you want to make a difference! I'm happy you had such a great time volunteering too. Maybe bring up the no water incident with the person in charge of volunteers? Perhaps someone is slacking on their duties or they need to make sure someone is watering them.

Thankfully the bunnies have you to help now. :)
 
Erika, actually since I am meeting with the head bunny person Sunday to do my training, I think I will bring up the no water thing. Not sure why I didn't think of that. Thanks for the great idea. But the lady I talked to tonight, basically said the training lady is just good at talking and does nothing else. But I still think I will bring it up to her in a nice way. May be she isn't aware that sometimes the rabbits don't have water.

It is sad the rabbits are the primary concern. But I guess that is because there are more cats and dogs? I am not sure. But all animals deserve water!

But I feel really good about this. I feel like I can make a difference.

Also, something I forgot to mention in my first post. All the rabbits but one where white. Out of 7 rabbits, 6 were white. Isn't that strange? The lady said that they took on 25 rabbits awhile ago and that is where all the white rabbits came from. But I still found it strange that the majority were white.
 
Do they have hay? Bunnies who eat a lot of hay drink a ton of water, it's tough to keep up.

I wouldn't start off on the wrong foot with the rabbit person or any other volunteers by complaining about this. If they continue to be short on food, water, toys or what have you, bring it up when you have a better idea re: why this is happening and offer solutions.


sas :twocents:
 
Pipp wrote:
I wouldn't start off on the wrong foot with the rabbit person or any other volunteers by complaining about this. If they continue to be short on food, water, toys or what have you, bring it up when you have a better idea re: why this is happening and offer solutions.


sas :twocents:
Great suggestion :)

Wonder if the white bunny thing is unwanted Easter bunnies? :(
 
I've been volunteering with my animal shelter for 4 years now and the bunny room is my favorite. Our buns don't get a whole lot of attention either. I usually fix the breeds on the id cards and trim nails and such when I'm there.
I love volunteering. It's so rewarding and a great way to get my animal fix without actually getting more animals.
 
Sadly I dislike volunteering at my local humane society because the rabbits are in the same room as the dogs. The dogs are very, very annoying and who knows how stressful the noise and smell is for the rabbits.

Amy - you have me curious about Alfred! I wonder if he would become a nice fellow if someone would spend enough time with him. Between my bunnies, Pancake is definitely the most sensitive. If she doesn't like what I'm doing she isn't shy about growling and lunging at me, though she never bites. On the other hand, she likes me enough so that I get bunny kisses almost every day. I like to think rabbits who are mean just need someone to love them.
 
I agree I don't want to get off on the wrong foot and offend anyone. I am just going to ask what days they need me the most. May be if I can make sure to be there on those days the rabbits will always have water.

Jeff, I have been thinking a lot about Alfred. Trying to figure out how I can get him out of the cage or to see if he really would bite me. The sad thing is he is really cute. I think he would be adopted soon if he was more social. When I was cleaning his cage, he did calm down after a few minutes. I wonder if he has learned his behavior because it makes people leave him alone. And then when I wasn't leaving, he gave in and let me clean his cage. He also has the worst litter box habits of all the rabbits there so that doesn't help him get adopted either. I am going to find out more about him tomorrow.

I never thought about all the white bunnies being Easter bunnies.
 
I know just by being there, you can improve how the rabbits are treated. It sounds like the people there just don't know what to do for them, and are willing to learn. I don't know the first thing about cats or dogs and probably wouldn't know anything about how to take care of them. Work slowly to change how they're treated and if you meet opposition come back with documentation to support your stand.

Also, with aggressive bunnies like Alfred, they may be really scared of being picked up due to being handled badly in the past. Whenever you put your hand in the cage, do the dominant bunny hand on the head technique and pet them on the nose/head. Then go into the cage with your other hand. It's best if you can let him come out of the cage on his own, if his cage is on the floor, and go into an exercise pen, while you clean. Also if they do bite or box you have to let them know it's not ok but don't let them get what you want--try not to move away when they attack, and instead let out a squeal and keep doing what you're doing.
 
Thanks Claire on the tips for handling Alfred. I don't think I reacted appropriatly to him. He kind of caught me off guard. All the other bunnies are so sweet and I just stuck my hand in his cage and he was not happy.

You gave me a great idea. When the rabbits are put in pens it isn't in the cage area because it is too small and people are walking around looking at the animals and it would take up the whole walk area. But I could take one of the exercise pens after hours and hook it to his cage and see if he will come out since his cage is a floor cage. They have all the rabbits in floor cages and the cats are above them.

I think the humane society just doesn't have enough volunteers interested in rabbits. I do think me being there will help. Pretty much everyone there is a volunteer. They seemed excited to have someone who wanted to volunteer for rabbits. Usually training is only once a month per job, but the lady is coming in tomorrow to train me because they are so short on volunteers for the rabbits.
 
I went today and was able to get Alfred out of his cage by using a carrier. I then took him to the lobby area where we set up the xpens. I thought he would be afraid with all the people and animals, but he didn't care at all. I did notice that he scans constantly when he isn't hopping. If he is sitting still he is scanning. I am guessing that is why he acts aggressive. So I just moved slow and he came up to me a few times to sniff me. He was so happy to be out. When I put him back he thumped at me several times. He also has really bad urine stains on his feet. His back feet are all orange and matted. I didn't check them out because I didn't want him to get scared. But when he hopped you could see the mats and how orange they are.
 
Alfred is probably just cage-agressive. I got my second bunny Squints from my local shelter. He'd been there a loooong time because of his eye defect (one of his eyes stopped growing when he was a baby), and he was not the most outgoing guy. He didn't lunge, but he was big on thumping his feet. The lady there said that "his cage is his safe place and that's where he likes to be". He and my other bunny, Jalopy, didn't bond until I fully converted them into house bunnies because of the cage problem. Now he is just the sweetest guy. :)

Sorry for the long post!
 

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