So angry! Found neighbor's bunny at shelter!

[SnowyShiloh]

Ohhh, I am SO mad right now. Every once in a while I check out Petfinder/Pet Harbor and look at the kitties and other animals. I was completely shocked to find Howard, my former neighbor's bunny, on the website tonight! I have written about Howard here on the bun forum before. He is an amazing, incredibly cute 4 year old chocolate Nethie boy. Very sweet little guy. He has had 4 homes in 4 years and has now been abandoned at the animal shelter. He DOES NOT deserve this! No bunny does of course, but little Howard really doesn't

Here he is if anyone wants to see: http://petharbor.com/pet.asp?uaid=FNSB.A092183

And some pictures of him that I took in our yard:

I feel so guilty. Our irresponsible neighbor originally got him because she met our rabbits and fell in love with them. Oh and BEFORE she got him, a friend of mine (who was friends with Howard's previous owner) asked me if I wanted him and we turned her down. Said owner happened to work with my neighbor and that's how she got him.

Sadly, we cannot take Howard in. I feel awful and that I'm letting him down. This poor darling boy, I can't help but cry I'm so sorry, Howie! The neighbor promised to give him to us if she decided not to keep him, but she moved away a few months ago. Oh and did I mention that we have her cat?! Her cat ran away, she didn't care or try to find him, then we found him at the shelter a couple of months later after looking for him the entire time and we adopted him.

I am trying to talk my husband into taking Howie in as a foster. I owe it to him, poor baby!

 

[bunnyinabox]

That's awful. On one hand though, I'm sort of glad that they at least had the presence of mind to take him to a shelter, and didn't subject him to what the bunny I found went through. (taped box, side of the road, you get the picture) :|

Hopefully you two can agree to foster him or he finds a great family! Every bun(and human!) deserve one!

...Ugh, people..

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Bunnyinabox, it would have been a death sentence for him if she'd left him in a box on the side of the road since I live in Alaska and the temperature is well below 0! Last month, my friend saved a cat that had been left to die out in the cold. She's 12 years old and was so skinny and her ears fell off because of frost bite, but she's in a foster home now and is recovering.

 

[Bunnylova4eva]

That's horrible-I can't see how people just give up their pets like that, especially after they've already been through so much. I know sometime people need to rehome an animal due to unchanable reasons, but I think its best if they can find a friend or someone they know will do a good job caring for the bunny. Not that the shelter wouldn't b ut the bun could be put to sleep there.

 

[Tuckerbunnies]

Oh how very sad and Howard just look's like our 5 year old Chocolate Nethie cross Jamie ( below) she has just recently lost her companion 'Chudleigh Flint' who can be seen in the photo below at the back.

 

[whitelop]

I can't believe they dropped him off like that! But I'm glad, like someone else said they didn't just set him free in the Alaskan wilderness. It HAS to be cold up there! Ugh, I don't know how you handle that crap.
Anyway! I hope your husband lets you foster him until you can find him the perfect home. Maybe you could find someone in the continental US who might want him and be willing to ship him.

Awww...I wish the best to little Howard, he is such a cutie and so deserving of a good forever home!

 

[SnowyShiloh]

I'm not going to give her any credit for not abandoning him out in the wild. Only a true idiot would think that was safe for a rabbit in winter in Alaska, plus I explicitly told her to never do that if she decided she can't keep him.

It's true that there might have been extenuating circumstances behind why Howard is now at the shelter. But this is what I know happened to the other 3 pets she had in the year she was our neighbor:

Cute baby Holland Lop (a male that she purchased to be a friend for Howard, even though I told her how hard bonding would be and that she absolutely had to neuter Howard first, which did not happen, and that she'd stand a better chance of success with a girl): Died suddenly on Christmas from pneumonia or some other respiratory issue (not sure what it was). I don't blame her for this one. But she came over to our house right after he died and was petting our bunnies when she told me what happened. I about had a heart attack and had to ask her to stop petting my babies in case what had was contagious!

Cute orange tabby: Cat ran away and she didn't bother trying to look for him because she said she didn't care. When I offered to try to find him, she said that was fine and that we could have him if we found him. She moved away and after she moved, I found him at the animal shelter. He is now our Deckie Cat!

Cute Husky: After the cat ran away, she went down to the shelter and adopted a young Husky even though she lived in a place with no yard and wasn't home much. Said dog proceeded to chew up her house, tried to eat Howard on multiple occasions, and howled all day and night because the poor thing was soooo bored and didn't get taken on walks. She had him for about 2 months and then ditched him at the shelter. I really hope he got a better home the next time!

As for Howard, she knew we would take him because we offered to many times (didn't say, "Can we have your rabbit?" but reminded her to just let us know if she couldn't keep him), including the last time we saw her before she moved away. She knows where we live since we are still in the same place. How easy it would have been to just swing by and ask if we would take him! She also had (don't know if she kept it) my e-mail address and phone number, so there were other ways to get ahold of us. Don't think she was afraid to or anything- we were nice neighbors and we exchanged cookies and stuff at Christmas and would chat whenever we saw each other, she brought Howard over to play in our bunny play yard multiple times. In spite of her obvious failings as a pet owner, she was actually a pretty sweet girl.

I'm so sad for Howard, he doesn't deserve this. The good thing for him though is that when the shelter opens at 9:30, my husband and I are going to be standing outside the doors so we can adopt him! He will be our foster bunny and we will try to find him a home, but he can stay here as looooong as he needs to, uh, even if that ends up conveniently being the rest of his life. Hopefully the right adoptive home will come along, but if not, he will be loved and spoiled by us for the rest of his life. We're also going to get him neutered since he hasn't been yet. While we had decided our bun family was complete, we have to make an exception for Howard. After evaluating things, we DO have enough space for him and certainly enough time and love, and enough money to care for him, plus we promised him that we would be here if he needed us.

Don't worry, Howie, Auntie Shiloh is coming!

 

[whitelop]

Ohh Shiloh! I'm so thrilled that you're going to get him! Like, brought tears to my eyes because I know he'll have a great home to live in!

I would like to thank you for being such a kind soul and loving those who haven't found love before! He'll live a happy life now and hopefully you'll be able to find him a great forever home with someone else, if not though, he'll have a great forever home with you guys!

 

[kirbyultra]

Edit: I just finished reading the thread - Whoa! What a turn of events!!!! Good luck to you and Howard

 

[Tam O Ham]

oh. I know someone that's a pet revolving door too and poor little Howie almost broke my heart. I'm glad I didn't read it until everything was already resolved. But now I'm going to want Home Again Howie updates! :clapping:

 

[Nancy McClelland]

If we were closer we would take him for sure. When we lived in CA one of our neighbors had a bunny in a hutch in their back yard--two story house and I'm nosy. About two months later, she showed up in our front yard and came right to me. I kept her for a couple of days and when I saw them I asked about her--"Oh, we gave her to some friends". Some people should be punched so hard their mother would get a nosebleed!

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Oh my gosh! Did you end up keeping her?

If it's okay with the mods, I'm going to make a thread for Howard in the "Rescue Me" subforum.

It's kind of interesting timing on Howard's part. The night before last, as Paul and I were falling asleep, we were talking about our sweet Nomi. For those that don't know, we found Nomi, the mother of our Max and Macie, and took her in as a foster. That was just about exactly 1 year ago. We both became smitten with her VERY quickly because she was an awesome rabbit! The smartest bunny we've ever known. Sadly, she passed away in March We were talking about when we got her though and how nice it was to have a bedroom bunny. Looks like just about exactly 1 year later, we are getting another sweet foster and bedroom bunny!

Shelter opens in half an hour. I have everything ready for Howie and the carrier is ready, too. Will update when we get home Expect pictures of an adorable little chocolate bunny in about an hour and a half!

Edit: Whoops! Shelter doesn't open its doors until 11, though the office opens at 9:30. Guess it will be a few more hours, then!

 

[Imbrium]

he is SUCH a lucky bunny that you troll shelter websites, recognized him, and are opening your home to him! I'm sure he'll have a wonderful life with you or with another family you select for him

 

[SnowyShiloh]

Called the shelter to make sure Howard is still there before we head over, and he is! Apparently he was ditched because his owner did not have time for him Poor baby, taken care of just until his owner lost interest in him. The fact that this has happened to him MULTIPLE times is just heartbreaking. And he originally came from a breeder, he has a tattoo in his ear.

Oh and the lady on the phone bragged that Howard is litter trained. I do believe I can take credit for that one as I helped his owner get him litter trained because she didn't know how to do it!

 

[SnowyShiloh]

He's home He came with his cage but the cage is empty so we'll go get him a new litter box, water bottle, toys, and dishes tonight, and see about getting him a bigger cage! I'm a little worried because he's thinner than he used to be and his poop is very soft. Silly me didn't check what his poop looked like at the shelter, I just asked if he was healthy and they said yes. His butt is clean though and he looks just fine, aside from being on the skinny side. The soft stool might just be temporary since it's of course stressful to be at an animal shelter and then go for a car ride and end up in a new home. If he's still experiencing this in a couple of days, we'll take him to the vet!

Anyway, what everyone really wants- a picture of the handsome little man himself! He's so tiny, less than 2 pounds for sure! He makes Kerensa, formerly our smallest bun, look like a lumbering elephant.

Right now he's bouncing around his cage and playing with the toys I gave him. He comes to the door and pancakes for pets

 

[whitelop]

Awww what a sweet baby! So glad he found a great home, he definitely deserves it!

 

[Chrisdoc]

Good on you Auntie Shiloh, little Howie looks as though he certainly deserves a better than he´s had, I hope it all works out. He looks like such a gentle, lovely little boy and I hope he enjoys his new home and all the love he´ll get there. I do so love happy endings, for once.

 

[ldoerr]

That is sooo great that you found him and rescued him I am sure that he will have a great life with you now. He is really cute for a nethy (not a fan of the breed).

 

[indianavex]

Oh, if you weren't so far I'd take him! Unfortunately, I'm all the way in the south in the east coast. Best of luck finding him a home, and foo on your neighbor! Sometimes the most irresponsible people think they can treat pets like last seasons shoes and it drives me nuts.

 

[SnowyShiloh]

The sad thing (well, not that sad of course, just ironic?) is that his owner spelled out "I :hearts Howard" on the side of his cage with stickers. No, obviously you do not Poor baby boy. Wish we'd just taken him in when he was offered to us a year and a half ago, but we had JUST adopted Max and Macie. At that point I didn't know anything about him, my friend just told me about the adorable brown bunny named Howard that her friend wanted to get rid of. Said friend then gave him to the neighbor, and now he's here! Then he had at least 2 homes before those 2 homes... man! Oh and it's kind of funny. I had no idea there was any connection between my friend and my neighbor, but one day the neighbor rang our doorbell with her new bunny, Howard. Of course I recognized the name, and asked my friend, and sure enough her friend had given Howard to her coworker, who ended up being the neighbor!

Wonder if all of this was just meant to be?