Languishing in Southwest Wi

[myheart]

Angieluv, does your shelter mind doing long-distance fosters?

myheart

 

[Xila]

What's the story with Pete? I'm not sure if I'm totally caught up on his drama. Although, I just wanted to say:


Aww, Biddy is so adorable. I'd Looove to foster her, and socialize her, but I'm not sure if the shelter will approve of it- The facts that They couldn't meet me, and I couldn't meet her, they couldn't check my house... (But I do have a webcam, a camera(with video function), money to pay an adoption/foster fee, stamps to mail letters, etc... So if they'd be willing to try a little, there are ways around the signing of the papers and interviews and home visits and such.)
You live about 15 hours away from me, by the way.
Anddd... As far as my parents know, this rabbit doesn't even exist... if you know what I mean...
Also,
I really have no experience with trying to socialize a rabbit that really doesn't like humans (and has a pretty good reason for it, by the sounds of it- kept in an outdoor hutch, and when she /was/ inside, there were kids trying to pick her up and poking at her and stuff...), but the way you made it sound- like, she let you even /touch/ her because you talked to her for a bit and calmed her makes it seem like there's a chance that she could relearn to like humans. Like said, thoguh, I really have no experience with dealing with shy buns- I just know how to do some simple bonding routines (Lay on the floor and read a book or something and wait for them to come to you, gain their trust enough so they can take food from yer hand, and the like), but, hey, you've got to start somewhere, right?
ANYWAY, like said, I'm not sure if the shelter would approve of some stranger picking her up and taking her to some other stranger.
ETA: I wonder if the fact that this rabbit is, basically, considered "Unadoptable" will change anything? Make them a bit more lenient? I mean, if she'll probably get enthused due to being "Unadoptable" anyway, What would they loose would it be to let someone /try/ to save her? Not like they'd pay for her- In fact, by getting her out of the shelter, they'd just have one less mouth to feed, one extra cage, and a bit of extra space for another abandoned animal.

But... If the shelter agreed, and there was a way to get her here...


ETA(Again)
Also, AngieLuv, is there any way you could buy these two some more time if you told the shelter you had potential foster homes for them?

ETA(Again Again)

I guess that's basically what I'm asking.
myheart wrote:

Angieluv, does your shelter mind doing long-distance fosters?

myheart

 

[xoxolovable]

Oh he is so adorable I wish I could help

 

[Maureen Las]

Omg someone from la crosse on RO ..please call me even if you cannot help with the buns
608-784-4391
maureen

 

[Maureen Las]

usually a foster has to be hooked up with rescue, however please call me if you feel that you can help these rabbits in any way
608-784-4391 or pm me
maureen

 

[Xila]

It's probably not a good idea to give out your phone number on a public board- maybe you could PM the people your number, than edit it out of the post... While everyone here on RO is nice and all, you never know when a troll will show up.

And I'll PM you... I don't think My mom would approve of a phone call all the way to WI... Especially at Midnight(where I live)

So, anyway, I'll PM you.

 

[JadeIcing]

angieluv wrote:

We've got about 5 guinea pigs.. no one every puts a guinea pig down and that's good but..

You want a guinea pig ,jade icing i can give, you the guinea pig of your dreams


http://www.petfinder.com/search/search.cgi?pet.Animal=Small%26Furry&pet.Breed=guinea+pig&pet.Age=&pet.Size=&pet.Sex=&location=54601


harriet and dakota are the nicest

Dakota is so CUTE!

We are very full. Plus once my numbers natrually die down I am getting a hedge hog. I also want to help a rescue or shelter around here. So far all my gps have been long distance.

 

[TreasuredFriend]

M -
Beautiful pictures of Pete! Did he transfer to a different cage? You do so much for the shelter rabbits, and more lucky lugs than Oberon can thank you for being there for them. :hearts

Please keep us posted; Biddy, Pete, and the ones who feel your love. I will wish for the best and hope several more adopters come to SRR to inquire. I'd send them to you in a flash.

Yah, amazing like Peg noted, how some aggressive buns can be turned around into trusting companions. :sunshine:

While my slow fingers are typing, I see all these extra messages and photos coming in!! - !!!

 

[naturestee]

Angieluv, I saw your other thread. Is there any hope for Petey?:tears2:

 

[Maureen Las]

I haven't given up yet.....

 

[BlueFrog]

Any news?

 

[Maureen Las]

Animal control was called as someone had 'thown 2 bunnies into a dumpster. ..

so we have 2 more

 

[Xila]

Wow, gosh, that's awful. D=

Names? (aprox.) ages? Personality? Sexes? Pictures...?

I know you told me Biddy went to that rehabilitation center (and like I said in my reply, It's nice to know she's okay), but what happened with Pete?

 

[Maureen Las]

pete may be adopted (it is a ?)

I barely saw the 2 new ones but they are small bucks one is agouti and the other black and white.I only saw them briefly last night. They seem nice but I'll post more later.
maureen

 

[TinysMom]

angieluv wrote:

pete may be adopted (it is a ?)

Yeah - I hope it works out and he gets adopted!

Now if we can just get his new family (if it works out) on the forum - we could all follow his life!

He really looks like a special guy - you had such a way of bringing him to life for the forum...helping us get to know him. Its funny - Art & I kept saying, "no more" (and I've sworn off wanting to adopt any more rescues for a LONG while) - but the way you shared about him....I don't know.

You do a great job sharing about the rabbits - you have a gift for it. Maybe there is some way you could write up things and see if the local paper would run it? Or even a Craigslist post?

I guess what I'm saying is - you have a gift for making people "see" the rabbits - you certainly made Pete seem special!

 

[myheart]

TinysMom wrote:

I guess what I'm saying is - you have a gift for making people "see" the rabbits - you certainly made Pete seem special!

I second that....I think Angieluv's gift extends to all of the fuzzy-babies in her care. They all deserve guardians as loving and caring as yourself as well asmany of the other forum members who have an extra big heart for these creatures.

Thanks for all of the work you folks do caring for your own and those in need!!!!

myheart

 

[GoodBunny]

Angieluv,

I know that this won't help you with your current situation, but I have a couple of suggestions for you based on my own personal experience.

I'm not sure if you are staff or a volunteer at the shelter, but I've found that the key to getting things done is to organize a local bunny brigade. The idea is to get the shelter to both see you as a force to be reckoned with and for them to become dependent on your organization. You can build yourself some leverage in that way.

A few years ago, my local humane society had no one looking after the rabbits. The shelter didn't really know much about them and they were in little cages and were adopted out unaltered.

Then, one of the volunteers took it upon himself to improve their lot in life. I hooked up with him about six months later and it all snowballed from there.

The first thing that we did was to get a local pet store to donate some larger cages. We also started providing pellets and hay for the bunnies on our own. This took the burden off the shelter in that aspect. We built a relationship with a local vet and we get 50 lb bales of Oxbow hay at cost. We go with Rabbit Chow from whatever supplier we can get it cheapest from.

They have a staff member who cleans the bunny cages during the week. We worked with her on proper bunny care and feeding and now she's awesome with the buns. Since she's off on weekend, our group handles cleaning the cages on Saturday and Sunday. Again, taking the burden off of the shelter.

They now defer a lot of inquiries from the public to us.

The bunnies are getting spayed. We just had three get altered yesterday. At our suggestion, they've even raised the adoption fee to $35 (I think it should be $45) to help offset the cost of the surgery. Of course, we check in on the bunnies regularly to make sure the their recovery goes well.

We foster bunnies for them. Especially the ones that need medical or socialization assistance. We do educational programs. We contribute to their newsletter. Whatever it takes.

We have monthly "margarita" meetings where a bunch of us sit around at a local mexican joint and talk shop, where shop of course means bunnies.

We recently incorporated and are working on getting federal tax exempt status (finally found a lawyer, hooray!). We can then officially raise money and even hit up those with deep pockets. We hope to eventually offset medical and spay/neuter costs, food and hay costs, buy even better cages and even *dare we dream* an outdoor bunny exercise area.

This all started out with one person. Then two. Then three. Some flyers posted around town netted a couple more. It's now to the point where the volunteer coordinator mentions us at all of the volunteer orientation sessions. We've gained some members that way as well.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that we're ordinary people with full time jobs who like yourself are freaky crazy about bunnies. It's amazing what you can do in a few short years with a lot of elbow grease and some patience. "One little victory at a time" is our groups unofficial motto.

There are probably more bunny lovers in your town than you'd think. The hard part is getting them talking to one another.

My apologies if you've heard this before. And, I recognize that things would be rougher in SW Wisconsin VS SW Ohio since google maps didn't reveal any significant population centers in your area.

 

[slavetoabunny]

Do I ever hear you on this! We have forged an alliance with our local shelter and are now overrun, but not sorry. We cannot imagine how many rabbits were PTS before we got involved. We created such a stink over one rabbit that was PTS unnecessarily that they do not make a move where rabbits are concerned without calling us.There has not been a single bunny PTS since westarted flexing our (meager) muscles in April. We are affiliated with Gainesville Rabbit Rescue and they provide an incredible support network for their volunteers.

GoodBunny, like you we buy all of the pellets and hay for our shelter buddies. Without us, they would get crud food.

Long story short.....the shelters DO want to work with you.You just need to make your voice heard.

 

[Maureen Las]

This community is basically 4H, hunting and fishing.
There is a not a plethora of rabbit lovers lurking here waiting for me to discover them and give them the privilege of cleaning cages and exercising shelter rabbits.
The shelter has many volunteers and only one person was interested in rabbits to help me. ..and that person was Lissa
Lissa also told me about RO so that's how i found this group.!

Unfortunately Pete went to St paul with 4 other new rabbits. I have been given info that Minnesota Companion rabbit society is heavily involved with Animal Humane Society and I will learn whether that is true in the coming weeks. The info was straight from Joanna Campbell's mouth but I am still very uneasy asI have read several articles re. Animal Humane society and its out of control euthanization of animals.

I am hoping that the the presence of a large group like Minnesota companion rabbit has infiltrated this shelter organization and created enough pressure to at least have a really good rabbit program (which i have been told)

There is extreme anxiety (on my part re. our rabbits ( perhaps unfounded) and this is one reason why I could not send Penn and Daisy.
let's pray for the other rabbitsray:

 

[myheart]

Angieluv, you made a very difficult decision. I do not know what I would have done myself in those circumstances.

My prayers go with Petey and the other who traveled to Minnesota. May they find the best forever homes any of us could ever imagine for them. (Including a little treadmill for Petey...) ray:

myheart