What to consider and tips on opening a Rabbit Rescue

[ilovetoeatchocolate]

Hi there,

As some of you know I am passionate about rabbits, I am passionate on talking to pet stores to try to get their staff more educated so that they are not sending people home with false expectations and the rabbit ends up in a shelter, I am passionate about talking to people who breed rabbits and telling them about how many rabbits come into the Winnipeg Humane Society, show up on the internet sites or back at the pet store.

I have also thought about opening a bussiness to educate people about rabbits. People can come to my home to see how rabbits interact, get the facts about rabbits and make a decision based on these facts. A lot of times in a pet store they are given incorrect information. This way I can show them how to hold a rabbit, how to cut their nails, how to play with them. Hopefully this will lead to a reduction in homeless rabbits. I have a strong belief that people treating an animal like an object, a thing has to stop. It seems as soon as someone's situation changes like the new baby comes or school is starting it is time to get rid of the family rabbit. Hopefully with education this can stop.

It is with this thinking that I have been thinking about opening a small home based Rabbit Rescue. This would be Winnipeg's only rabbit rescue. The purpose of posting this would be to ask any people who currently have a rescue to contact me. I am hoping to correspond with you to ask questions, if you could give me tips and such. I don't even know where to begin besides fundraising.

Shannon

 

[SilverBirchRabbitry]

I don't have any suggestions at the moment, I have to run outside and check on the buns and piggies but I will be thinking about this and I will post some things to consider when I come back in

I'm going to open a piggie rescue next year

 

[ilovetoeatchocolate]

Well for the rescues in Canada who are strictly for rabbits my questions would be:

Where do you get your funding? Can you request some government money? Also do I need a permit? The obvious things to consider are the room/space to run around and house them, a quarentine thing etc but those are not what I am talking about. Such things like what are some tips that you didn't consider when you first started up? What was helpful to know when you first started etc.

Thanks for all your help,

Shannon

 

[Korr_and_Sophie]

I think with permits, it depends on where you live and is more about numbers than actually having in rescue. Lots of areas limit the number of animals allowed on a property, but allow more with permits or for rescues. You would have to check local by-laws and contact city hall about it. Asking some local rescues about it can help too. I am not sure how it would work if you have foster homes.

Not sure about fund raising, but you could consider working with larger rescues on it. Getting people to donate things you can raffle off or sell. Ask some stores if you can put collection boxes by the cash register for donations. Don't forget to ask vets if they can help with the costs of care and spay/neuters.

Holding regular rabbit seminars would be a good idea. My local SPCA has a Bunny Basics course that goes over general care of rabbits. I think they charge about $10 for it and have one every few months. You could either do it on a set schedule (like once a month) or do individual sessions with people. Depending on how you choose to do it, you could use your rabbits (or those up for adoption) or allow the people to bring their rabbit and have a more personalized course. Of course, you could do a combination of both. Hold regular courses, but also do individual sessions with people who have specific concerns.

I would probably start with taking in a few needy rabbits and adopting them out. As you get comfortable with it and get a network of foster parents, you can expand the number you can take in.

 

[Heather Designs]

I ran a reptile rescue out of my home for a few years so while the animals are very different here are some of the things I think you might want to consider.

1) Money - where are you going to get it for food, litter, hay, dishes, vet bills, etc...

2) Time - Do you have the time to dedicate to cleaning up cages, feeding, watering, observing the animals so you know their personality and can match bunny to adopter, and don't forget you need time to advertise. You can't find homes for bunnies if no one knows you exist.

3) How many rabbits will you accept? Are you just going to accept all that come your way? If not, what will you do when you have to turn people away, do you have a backup place for them to take their rabbits.

4) Drop and runs - Get ready to find animals in boxes on your doorstep at all hours with no warning. Do rescue long enough and it will happen to you.

5) Quarantine - you should set aside a space in the rescue for new animals to stay until you determine they are healthy. And be sure you research proper quarantine sanitation practices. There's nothing more discouraging than finding out that new animal just gave all your healthy animals fleas, mites, or something worse.

6) Sick animals - will you have the time to dedicate to nursing sick animals back to health or will you just have them put down? Something you may want to decide as a rescue policy or you may choose to go case by case. With rabbits you'll have more options for care but for reptiles I was often forced to put them down for seemingly minor things because there are few effective treatments available for them.

7) Heartbreak - Are you ready for it? I occasionally got some animals in that were in such horrible shape there was no other choice but to put them down. If you run your rescue long enough I guarantee you will have it happen to you too.

8) Anger - Everyone I personally know who's done rescue has had situations arise where they had to hold back their anger at a human who did something incredibly callous, stupid, or reckless which resulted in them surrendering their pet. I'm not talking about the people who loose their house and have to give up their pet to move into an apartment, that's heartbreaking for all. I am talking about the stupid people who don't clean their lizards cage in 3yrs and give me an animal with abscesses that go all the way to the bone, or the person who put a 22ft python in a box and left it on my doorstep in November (I live in Wisconsin, it was 30 degrees out), or the woman a friend of mine wanted to throttle who gave up her apricot toy poodle because she'd redecorated and the dog no longer 'coordinated' with her decor.

If you start your rescue you will probably have horror stories like these too. People just don't consider the responsibility sometimes when they decide to get a pet. They act on the spur of the moment and then expect a rescue to fix their mess.

9) Adoptions - how are you going to handle approving a home for a bunny, and are you going to be able to let them go? A dear friend of mine fostered her first and last dog in August. When the time came for it to be adopted she couldn't let it go and it is now hers.

All this being said, if you do decide to open a rescue I wish you the best of luck. I ended up getting out of reptile rescue because I ran out of money and was getting burned out on stupid people. Hopefully you'll be more successful on the money side. Rabbits are cute so people are willing to donate money to cute animals. Reptiles still have that ewwww factor for many people so donations were in short supply.

Heather

 

[Heather Designs]

Sorry about the book, but if you have any questions about anything I mentioned or maybe want to know about something that I didn't mention but may have dealt with just let me know. I'm happy to help.