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 From MakeMineChocolate.org:  Rabbits are a familiar symbol of the Easter holiday. In the days leading up to it, they appear on television commercials and packages of candy, and stores are filled with stuffed rabbits. It is no surprise that children beg their parents for a bunny of their own. Ill-prepared to care for these unique creatures, their “owners” often quickly tire of them. In the months following Easter, local humane societies and rabbit rescues are flooded with rabbits, former Easter gifts whose “owners” no longer want them. The unlucky ones are dumped outside where predators, cars, illness, and injury virtually guarantee an early death. 
Where It All Began
In 2002, in an attempt to address the problem, the Columbus House Rabbit Society began a campaign to educate the public on the realities of living with a rabbit, and to discourage giving live rabbits as Easter gifts. Using ceramic pins in the form of chocolate bunnies as the symbol, the campaign’s goal is to spread the message that rabbits should not be casually acquired and to educate the public about the special needs of these often-fragile creatures. The pins serve as conversation starters. Comments about the pin provide the wearer the opportunity to share our message with the general public. These informal conversations are supported by a card that is distributed with each pin, and by business cards that can be handed out to interested parties.
Both the pin card and the business card list important facts that should be considered before bringing a rabbit into the home. Our goal is to educate the public of the challenges of properly caring for rabbits and to encourage them to purchase chocolate Easter bunnies (or stuffed toy animals) rather than live rabbits. The “Make Mine Chocolate!™” campaign discourages the purchase of rabbits as Easter gifts faces the unique challenge of educating potential rabbit purchasers before the purchase is made. In order for this campaign to succeed, we must take our message to the American public. We offer attractive, high-quality products that can be worn or displayed as a means to spread our message and to encourage dialogue with curious friends and acquaintances. Our prices have been competitively set in order to encourage purchase by as many people as possible.
Ways You Can Help
Print and send these Make Mine Chocolate postcards! Print and post these Make Mine Chocolate flyers! Hand out these Make Mine Chocolate business cards or post them to community bulletin boards! Check out MakeMineChocolate.org’s extensive marketing packet and share with every animal lover (and especially every person you know considering getting a rabbit for an Easter present)!
For More Information
Visit MakeMineChocolate.org!
One of our favorite sites on the Internet is The Animal Rescue Site, where you can go and click a bit purple button every day to donate .6 bowls of food (the monetary equivalent, of course) to shelter animals at no cost to you. So we click and click and click. The site will even send you an email every day to remind you. It’s a win-win.
The page after you click has an inconspicuous “Vote Today” button above the “Thank you — your click has been counted” message. If you click that Vote button, you get to vote for your favorite shelter (must be listed on Petfinder) and the shelters with the most votes each week (2 per week) win $1,000 towards helping animals. Shelters big and small are winning dough for their charges.
So go click and donate those bowls of food, then don’t forget to vote for House Rabbit Connection (you must select MA as the state in which we’re located). Each subsequent day you click and vote, HRC will show up as an option for one-click voting.
Tell all your friends! Repost this blog post, tweet about it, repost to your Facebook Wall, whatever. We could save a lot of bunnies with $1,000 and the publicity would help us spread the word that rabbits belong inside homes, not in hutches in back yards.
For all of you who need a happy and hopeful story for the holiday season, read this story about how a woman fled her abusive husband with nothing but her rabbit named Ruby Angel. That rabbit helped the woman get through probably the
worst time of her life. Ruby Sue is now in foster care, hopefully to be reunited with her owner, but safe and warm and well-fed in the meantime.
Do you have a special cause that you donate time and attention to? Comment on this post and let us know about the ways you make a difference in the world.
December brings us the holiday season, which means showing people how much we like them by giving them presents. HRC would like to announce the following events, where you can come and let us wrap your presents for you for a small donation.
If you’d like to sign up to volunteer for any of these events, please contact Marlene Wilhelm. We need wrappers!
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Sat., December 5
6pm to 11pm
Barnes & Noble
Shoppers World
Framingham, MA
View Map
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Sat., December 12
4pm to 10pm
Borders
Holyoke Mall at Ingleside
Holyoke, MA
View Map
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Sun., December 13
9am to 4pm
Barnes & Noble
Enfield, CT
View Map
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Fri., December 18
4pm to 10pm
Barnes & Noble
The Shoppes at Farmington Valley
Canton, CT
View Map
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Fri., December 18
3pm to 7pm
Barnes & Noble
Blue Back Square
West Hartford, CT
View Map
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Sat. December 19
4pm to 10pm
Barnes & Noble
Enfield, CT
View Map
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Sun., December 20
6pm to 9pm
Barnes & Noble
Blue Back Square
West Hartford, CT
View Map
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Mon., December 21
3pm to 9pm
Barnes & Noble
Farmington, CT
View Map
Stay tuned to our events page for more exciting educational events for next year!
 Click to enlarge Download or listen to Hopline, episode 7: Flyer packs spread rabbit education.
Posting a flyer is one of the easiest ways you can help house rabbits and the House Rabbit Connection. Community bulletin boards are still a great resource for education and interest. In this episode of Hopline, we share the story of how Jean Beckley, Advertising Director for the Willimantic Chronicle, got her graphic artists to help us create an educational and eye-catching flyer and how you can get a flyer pack to spread the word about house rabbits in your neighborhood.
Thanks to Jean Beckley for helping HRC. Thanks to Marlene Wilhelm for sharing this story with us. Thanks to Sarah Seger for putting together the flyer packs, so posting them is as easy as possible. Thanks for Deb Young for coming up with the flyer concept.
Download the House Rabbit Connection flyer, print it out and share it with your community! Or email us for a flyer pack.
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Did you know you can get text messages to your cell phone about Hopline.org updates? Just fill out the form on the left and follow the confirmation instructions that are sent to your phone and you’re in!
We won’t bother you every day, but we’ll post when we think we add something to the site that will catch your attention.
We hope you find this utility useful! Let us know by commenting on this post.
Download or listen to Hopline, episode 6: Second opinions from vets.
Obtaining a second opinion is not an adversarial move and shouldn’t be made into one. Your veterinarian may appreciate the help with a difficult case and may learn a different approach or treatment for your rabbit’s condition. When should you request a second opinion from a veterinarian? How should you prepare for the referral visit?
Visit the Association of Exotic Mammal Veterinarians website for a listing of certified vets.
Here are the 3 steps you should take when seeking a second opinion:
- Research the credentials of the prospective vet.
- Prior to your visit, obtain or have sent directly to the second-opinion vet, a copy of your rabbit’s previous treatments, including:
- physical examination results
- hospitalizations
- lab results
- prescriptions
- X-rays
- ultrasound results
- Bring 2-3 days of your rabbit’s diet — hay, veggies, and pellets — in case your bunny needs to be hospitalized. Having their diet available may also provide a sample to test, if the vet deems this step necessary.
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If you’re an early bird and a proficient planner, you may be thinking to yourself, “Wouldn’t a rabbit be a great gift for my kids this holiday season?!” We discourage this kind of decision because most bunnies that are given as gifts during the holidays (whether it be December or Eastertime) are given up shortly thereafter because the family doesn’t realize what a commitment the animal requires.
Here’s a short list from our own Paula Raposa that explains why rabbits aren’t Easter (or Christmas, Hannukah, etc.) presents.
- House rabbits can live for 10-12 years. In some cases, they can live for 15 years.
- House rabbits require a rabbit-savvy vet.
- House rabbits require at least four hours per day of exercise (that means out of a cage). Six to eight hours is preferable.
- Female house rabbits need to be spayed. Males should also be neutered.
If you’re ready to adopt a house rabbit, call our Hopline (413/525-9222) and we can set up an appointment for you to meet some of our adorable adoptable house rabbits.
Download or listen to Hopline, episode 5: How herbs can help rabbits’ health.
Pat Franklin, an HRC member, wrote this podcast in memory of her Sweet Pea. Learn how herbs helped her dutch house rabbit and what the herbalist, Deb Hoyt, needed in order to make remedies that helped Sweet Pea live a long and happy life.
If you’re not familiar with the Rainbow Bridge story, we’d like to share it with you now:
Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.
When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.
All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.
You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.
Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together….
Learn more about Great Greens.
We encourage you to send us stories of your house rabbits! You can email us or comment on any of the posts in this blog.
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Download or listen to Hopline, episode 4: When to call the vet.
Many house rabbit owners wonder under conditions would warrant a vet visit. Dr. Paul Chase, DVM, lists the 11 conditions (other than regular annual checkups) under which emergency veterinary care should be sought.
These 11 conditions are:
- Hemorrhage
- Lack of appetite
- Pain
- Abnormal breathing
- Straining to urinate
- Gastric statis
- Eye injuries
- Birthing difficulties
- Broken bones
- Lacerations
- Neurological problems
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