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Adoption Flyer

HRC FLYER CONTEST

We are holding an easy contest open to House Rabbit Connection members. The purpose of the contest is to increase HRC awareness in the states where most of our activities occur (Connecticut and Massachusetts), including increasing adoptions and gaining foster sites (as well as increasing our financial base to support rabbit care, upcoming advertising and various HRC expenses). We held this contest two years ago and had wonderful results. Thank you again to our winner Lynne Bodon and all the members who hung so many flyers all over!

The winner will receive a choice of a $25.00 gift card to Stop & Shop supermarket or Dunkin Donuts (donated).

Please download our HRC flyer. It is in PDF format, which requires Adobe Acrobat Reader (a free program—you may already have it installed on your computer) to open and print (black and white is fine).

The contest will run from today through Wednesday, October 5, 2011.

Contest Rules:

1. The member must post/hang the attached HRC flyer in ten (10) locations (such as grocery store, vet office, and pet supply store bulletin boards) in Connecticut and Massachusetts. (Please be sure to gain permission prior to hanging the flyer.)

2. The member must then email (only emails will be accepted) the list of locations to Paula Raposa at paula@hopline.org by 8 pm on Wednesday, October 5, 2011.
The list format for identification of all ten (10) flyer locations is required as the following:
Name of place of business (or other site), street name (or shopping mall/plaza name or address), town, state

3. A flyer cannot be hung at a spot if an HRC flyer is already visibly present.

4. The member may submit an entry of ten (10) separate locations in CT and MA as many times as he or she is able to accumulate group flyer postings of ten (10).

Special Threshold for Two (2) Winners!

If twenty-five (25) individual members (all entries must be from different people) submit entries, HRC will gratefully and happily add a second winner prize of a choice of a $25.00 gift card for Stop & Shop or Dunkin Donuts.

The winner, (or 2 winners if over 25 entries are received), will be drawn at random at the HRC Board of Directors meeting on October 9, 2011. The winner(s) will be notified through email by October 10, 2011. The choice of Stop & Shop or Dunkin Donuts gift card will be mailed to the winner(s).

If fewer than seven (7) entries are received, we may decide to notify HRC members and to extend the flyer contest so that the goal of at least ten (10) qualified entries is met.

Please participate to help HRC achieve the goal of cascading our flyer across Connecticut and Massachusetts to increase awareness of HRC. Thank you and good luck!

Paula Raposa, Vice President

House Rabbit Connection was treated to a presentation and demonstration on How to Clicker Train Your Rabbit.

Our Guest Speakers were Sheri Gustafson and Kelly Ornell from the MSPCA Nevins Farm. We had two bunnies present to assist in the initial step in the clicker training. The crowd loved it! Rebecca the Rabbit was adorable.  (She was available  for Adoption and found her forever family that day!)    I think she figured out to move past the trainor and just eat the treats from the bowl!!! President Marlene’s companion rabbit Jesse came to the meeting to be part of the clicker training demonstration as well. He was friendly and adorable!!!!

The trainors taught the group that it is a step by step process. They explained that the first time should be under 10 minutes and only 3 or 4 treats. They also reminded the group to be careful on the treats we give our bunnies! She recommended parsley or a favorite yummy green. President Marlene had brought her homemade treats that were special “cookies” with healthy only ingredients. The two bunnies loved them!

This  book is available for sale on our website.

While we don’t have a video from the Annual Meeting, we did search YouTube and found an adorable video to give you an introduction of a Clicker Trained Bunny!   This is an already trained bunny filmed back in 2009 when he was 2 years old.

Enjoy!

Ladies and Gentlemen, may I introduce:  Filip from Sweden.

Great video from our friends across the Pond:

Great video about choosing a toy rabbit or candy over real rabbits for Easter gifts:

One on MA Pike in Chicopee MA and one on RT 91 in Hartford, CT

Mayor Sarno has taken the efforts of the House Rabbit Connection and Dakin Pioneer Valley Humane Society (with which we work very clcsely) one step further and declared February 22, 2011 as “Spay Day.” Thank you, Mayor Sarno! It’s nice to know the efforts of the organization don’t go unnoticed and that countless animals will be helped through this special day!

Read his proclamation here.

Marlene Wilhelm, our president, appeared with her bunny, Jesse, recently on Mass Appeal to talk about house rabbits and HRC. She also explains what to do if you can no longer keep your house rabbit. Valuable advice from a TV pro! Thanks, Marlene!

House Rabbit Connection: wwlp.com

The House Rabbit Connection will be staffing a table during the Manchester, CT PetSmart’s November Adoption Weekend to be held on Saturday, November 13th and Sunday, November 14th. PetSmart is located at 1520 Pleasant Valley Road, Manchester, CT.

Stop by to just say hi or you can “shadow” an HRC educator and learn how to do events yourself in the future. HRC members help with educating the public about basic rabbit care and HRC’s adoption process. We typically bring bunnies to indoor events and our volunteers get lots of smiles and supportive words from customers!

E-mail Laura Belmonte, Education Chairperson to let her know you will be visiting and to get the hours HRC will be covering the event.

Exact hours for The House Rabbit Connection will be posted closer to the event.

HRC table at PetRock 2010 (l to r: Laura Belmonte, Jack Lotko, John Lotko)

Laura Belmonte, and Tracy and Jack Lotko with their son, John, held down the fort at a dusty and slightly windy PetRock Festival at Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester, MA today. PetRock, the largest animal expo on the East Coast, celebrated its 12th year this year. In case you’re unfamiliar with the event, it’s a daylong festival of fundraising fun for the entire family, including LOTS of dogs. Pet Rock’s primary purpose is to promote responsible pet ownership, bring attention to animal cruelty and educate humans on a variety of animal related issues. Proceeds benefit New England animal welfare organizations.

Our volunteers were fortunate to be seated right next to the House Rabbit Network, which serves the eastern part of MA, NH and CT, while HRC serves CT and western MA. So bunnies were well represented!

The HRC crew even brought a game with blocks — one side named a veggie and asked “Safe or not?” for bunnies. The flip side gave the answer with a short description. For instance, cabbage is not safe for bunnies because it causes a harmful buildup of gas in their system.

Thanks so much to Laura, Tracy, Jack and John for coming out and representing HRC and educating the thousands of PetRock 2010 attendees about house rabbits!