Silly title, serious topic. From longterm commentor and rabbit owner Redshift:
We’ve got a local rabbit emergency that I would appreciate it if it could be publicized on Balloon Juice. Animal Control in Howard County, MD, near Baltimore, has taken in 79 rabbits from a hoarder case, and our local House Rabbit Society is desperately looking for temporary fosterers (or if people are interested in adopting, even better.) Since it’s an animal control department rather than a private shelter or Humane Society, we don’t know how long they will keep them, so we’re working hard to get the word out and get as many rescued as we can.
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All the details are written up on the House Rabbit Society website here: http://rabbitsinthehouse.org/?p=710
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There are lots of additional photos here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?fbid=10150091603777793&id=188431552792&aid=272408
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Amazingly, even though there were 79 of them living in a townhouse, the staff say they are mostly quite friendly and sociable.
(Facebook link may be NSFW if adorable bunny pics make you go squeeee. So cute!)
KG
I’d get a bunny for my niece, but I suspect my sister would likely kill me, and feed the bunny to the dog.
SST
Not rabbit-related, but: did all you all see this? I really enjoyed it.
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2011/01/face-4.html
Yutsano
Wifey shall haz mad squees over this. Unfortunately she and I are too far away to offer fostering assistance.
KG
@SST: so, Ronald Reagan is a Time Lord?
General Stuck
Bad joke bait. “bites thumb”
edit – though I love bunnies a lot. And they are cute and cuddly varmints. 79 is too many though, in one place. Things could quickly get of hand.
Yutsano
@General Stuck: WABBIT SEASON!!
(c’mon, it was only a matter of time. And I’m keeping things clean for the kiddies.)
WereBear
Anyone local should know:
They are probably litter box trained; or can become so quite easily.
Bunnies are the cuddliezt.
If you have big dogs; probably not a good prospect. But if you have cats, no problem; my kitties regarded bunnies as “slightly retarded” cats and wouldn’t dream of bringing up the big ears and social cluelessness… they are good guys! Leave them alone!
So please… Foster the Bunniez!
Cap'n Phealy
If nobody else can take ’em, I know a chef who’s dying to experiment with hasenpfeffer…
tim serbo
@KG: pity. they’re wonderful pets, though “pets” seems the wrong term for such amusing company. i’d love to find a buddy for my Hoppipolla, but our one experience at bunny blind dates nearly did us both in. i wish howard county, md, weren’t three and a half hours away via the wretched jersey turnpike, or i’d take in one of those little furballs.
MikeJ
@Cap’n Phealy: Rabbit isn’t exactly exotic. Any decent butcher should have it or be able to get it.
tkogrumpy
Tasty!This is not my idea of a serious topic.
TaMara (BHF)
Posted to my facebook with request to repost, so hopefully it will make it around the world in a couple of hours. All too, too cute.
tim serbo
@tkogrumpy: then find another thread, arsewipe.
Blogreeder
Ha! NSFW.
Zach
Good luck! Dog sitting next to me came from a very similar situation in Hartford County.
SST
@KG: Yeah, something like that. I still like Lewis Black’s idea of re-electing the corpse of Reagan to demonstrate our national craziness and deter people from ever fucking with us.
Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther
Tweeted it — which, given my Midwest locale is about all I can do. But I hope they find homes! Poor little things.
eemom
Y’all, this really isn’t funny.
Anne Laurie
@efgoldman: One advantage to adopting through a rescue group, in my experience, is that the people involved are willing & able to answer newbie-questions and help you work through any “issues” in a way that harried shelter volunteers can’t. If I were looking to adopt a house bunny (not while we have the 20lb. rescued dog who’s still gotcha-ing our feral cats, of course) I would definitely look to the local House Rabbit Society!
FoxinSocks
Sending this out to my pet rescue contacts, including an experienced bunny owner!
Keith G
60? I only see three.
Ed Marshall
I could be totally wrong, and anecdote isn’t evidence, etc…
I’ve never seen a rabbit that liked being a pet. They are going to be domestic to the extent that if you turn them loose they are just going to die. That’s not an answer either, but in my experience, they lead terrible lives as pets. Yeah, they are cute, and they don’t enjoy socializing with humans and the rest of their weird existence as pets.
I can see rescuing them, but people should just quit buying them for pets.
Redshift
Thanks for all the support, everyone! The more the word gets around, the more people are likely to respond.
SiubhanDuinne
BUNNEHS!! I wish I lived close to MD, I’d take a couple of them in a heartbeat.
O/T but is anyone watvching the awesome combo of Rachel and NancySMASH?
Awktalk
Rabbit isn’t a horrible stew meat. I prefer venison, but rabbit isn’t too shabby.
Redshift
@efgoldman: We try to impress on people that they can live longer than other small animals, so they’re more of a commitment, and that most rabbits don’t like being picked up and can be injured if you drop them, but other than that there aren’t too many warnings.
There can be a temptation to be overly cautious about adoptions, especially around holidays, though.
LGRooney
My wife has long wanted rabbit to join us for dinner. Perhaps…
Redshift
@Ed Marshall: I can depend a lot on the environment they live in. That’s one reason why the House Rabbit Society is dedicated to indoor rabbits only — rabbits in a hutch in the back yard are much more likely to be “boring” and then neglected.
All of our rabbits, and nearly all of the ones I’ve fostered, have been quite sociable. I have to be careful when they’re out running around, because they follow me around so much they are constantly underfoot. They have different personalities; some demand attention, others just like to be around us; some are ringleaders and others are followers.
So I would have to say that my experience is rather different from what you’ve seen.
eemom
If people quit BUYING any animal for a pet, there would be a lot fewer unwanted animals and a lot less suffering.
My opinion is that all breeding of domestic animals is unconscionable while homeless and abandoned ones exist.
Redshift
I almost forgot — many thanks to Anne Laurie for posting this so quickly!
Comrade Mary
I’ve got a theory …
Mnemosyne
@Comrade Mary:
And what’s with all the carrots? What do they need such good eyesight for, anyway?
Maude
@Redshift:
I can’t help thinking that they owner of the 79 started out with 2.
I had a black bunny once. He was very strong. He liked being around people. I was a kid and I snuggled with him alot. He didn’t seem to mind.
JasonF
Pet peeve: people who think telling jokes about cooking my pets is funny.
Anyway, bunnies make great pets. To Redshift’s two warnings in post 27, I would only add that their digestive systems are more delicate than those of some pets, so you need to not feed them a lot of junk food, and you need to get them prompt medical attention if they stop eating. To Redshift’s endorsement of bunnies as pets in post 28, I add a hearty second. I’ve had four rabbits over the years. Each had his own personality and all four were as sociable and friendly as any cat or dog I’ve ever seen.
HeartlandLiberal
This is just too easy, with all due apologies to those who keep bunnies as pets, so, being unable to resist…
I can help. I am reminded of that fine rabbit dinner I had in the revolving restaurant atop the hotel in Vancouver Canada down on the harbor.
Of course I am a cat lover, we have three, who are members of the family, end of story.
But then again at work, our bulletin board hosts items of humor, and one of the favorites is a crude drawing of a cat titled “I love cats, but I just can’t eat a whole one.”
A little googling, and I see that whatever staffer posted the cartoon found it online as a popular meme on tees, etc, e.g. http://www.handhelditems.com/love-cats-cant-whole-tshirt-p-117384.html
Perfect Tommy
@HeartlandLiberal:Hank’s Lookaround Cafe: ”Where you and your food go on an adventure”
My wife would love a pet rabbit, but I don’t think our retired racing greyhound would understand the concept.
kindness
My furry kids have begged me to adopt several. I suspect they have a motive which isn’t really good karma. As such I won’t be helping out here but do wish well for those who do. Rabbits are (can be) very sweet (nibble everything in sight) and actually good pets (my dogs are saying play toys, yea kids, that’s why you ain’t gettin’ any).
Paul in KY
@MikeJ: My Kroger store carries it (frozen). Wild rabbit is best, IMO.