Many pets are acquired by families between November 1st and January 15th each year. In recognition of this adoption trend, the Helen Woodward Foundation each year sponsors the “Home for the Holidays (H4TH)” adoption initiative. In H4TH, homeless pets in shelters or rescue groups are matched with their forever families.
Indiana HRS has participated in H4TH for 4 years, with 20-30% of all adoptions occurring during the holiday season. In 2008/20009, Indiana HRS is offering a full housing set-up to qualified adopters in exchange for a donation to our group. A full housing set-up consists of the following items:
Cage, Expen, or NIC Grids to build your own cage (the rabbit’s foster care provider can provide a recommendation)
2 litterboxes (1 for inside housing set-up, 1 for run time)
Food crock
Water crock
The minimum donation for the housing set-up is based upon how long a particular rabbit has been in foster care:
> 3 years: $10
2-3 years: $25
1-2 years: $50
< 1 year: $75
Even at the highest price, this is a considerable bargain!
Please help one of our foster rabbits fulfill their Christmas dream of being in a forever home! Please note that the housing set-ups are mostly located in Indianapolis.
It’s been a while since I wrote a Foster Feature post… I guess I’ve just been busy. Lord knows there are still plenty of foster rabbits to write about.
This week I’d like to introduce Poppy. This last spring – May, to be exact – a woman called to report a stray black rabbit that was hopping around her neighborhood. Indiana House Rabbit Society gets lots of calls at all time of year regarding stray rabbits, and most of the time our efforts to capture them have been successful. This time, our volunteers went to do some recon work ahead of time, and while we didn’t see the rabbit, we’re also smart enough to know that bunnies are most active at dusk and dawn, when it’s cool, and predators are less likely to strike. We made plans to come back in the early morning… but the only thing we were able to find was a black cat hiding under a mini-barn. We left some traps, but never did catch the black rabbit.
In the meantime, that same woman called back to say that she had captured a white and tan rabbit that had also been hopping around, and could we take it? I live nearby, so I agreed to foster her until there was room for her elsewhere. She has been with me since then, and I can honestly say I’ve never met a rabbit quite like her. The nicest way to describe her is to say she’s a crackhead. This rabbit literally bounces off the walls when she’s out to play – it’s a symptom of her age, mostly. She’s very young, probably no more than 4-5 months old at the time she was rescued. She’s still growing into her feet and ears, that’s for sure. But she’s a delightful entertainer, and as long as she doesn’t hurt herself leaping around the way she does, she’ll make someone a great rabbit! She has pretty good litter box habits, LOVES to eat, tolerates being petted, and is becoming pretty easy to handle. I kind of like having her around, if only for the fun factor.
If you’re interested in adopting Poppy or any of our other adoptable rabbits, please visit our website at www.indianahrs.org. You’ll find a list of upcoming events we’ll be participating in, as well.
This is Hilo (pronounced HEE-lo), our own little half-pint. She’s just a little bit of bunny, but don’t tell her that. Hilo was adopted out to what we hoped would be her forever family several months ago, and was returned after a pretty short time because the family got a dog and no longer had the time for a wee little bunny. Granted, she’s a wee little bunny with lots of attitude, and they were basically letting her run roughshod all over the place, but still… it always saddens me when we spend time and make the effort to provide education and set realistic expectations about life with a house rabbit only to turn around and have it go all wrong.
Anyway, Hilo now lives at my house, where she is relearning the fine art of being a well-behaved lady rabbit instead of an utter heathen. For the first couple of months she was here she lived in a little smaller cage with the cage closure in the front, and that did NOT go well. She had become very aggressive about hands reaching in for her, and caring for her on a daily basis was definitely not fun. I’ve had aggressive rabbits here before, but not like her. I count five scars on my right hand alone… all from the Tiny Teeth of Terror. Last month after my rabbit, Angus, passed away I moved her down to the bottom of a 2-story Bunny Abode. She hasn’t been the same rabbit since. No more lunging, no more attacking, she lets me stick my hands and arms into her condo without any trouble at all. It’s so amazing and wonderful to earn their trust, and to see such a big change in such a short time, with so little effort! This is one of the primary reasons I enjoy rescue.
Hilo was originally found by one of our volunteers just hopping around a neighborhood all by her lonesome. She loves to be petted, and will sit by you and lift her little nose to have it rubbed for as long as you’ll rub it. She’s really fun to watch, and as long as you approach on her terms, she’s happy to have you around. I will be excited when she finds her real forever home, and hope she finds a person to appreciate her for the spirited little bit that she is.
If you’re interested in adopting Hilo or any of our other adoptable rabbits, please visit our website at www.indianahrs.org. You’ll find a list of upcoming events we’ll be participating in, as well.
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