YOUR SHOP IS A COLLECTIVE GROUP OF PEOPLE RAISING MONEY FOR RABBIT RESCUE. PLEASE TELL US ABOUT HOW YOU CAME UP WITH THE IDEA.
We have a lot of crafty people who volunteer for our rescue. Some people sold items on our website and/or at pet events that the rescue attended that allowed fundraising. I already had my shop Beads for Bunnies on Etsy which was pretty successful so I tried to get some of the others to create shops as well. Well it ended up that they liked the idea of selling their items on Etsy, but they didn't have the time or computer skills to manage a shop on their own. Everyone has the password and can do as much as they want to help, but so far I've been running the shop mostly.
PLEASE TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT MAGIC HAPPENS.
Magic Happens Rabbit Rescue was founded in 2004 by Wendy Lincoln. Although she had been helping to find homes for rabbits dumped at Petco where she worked before that, in November 2004 she got her first volunteer and the independent rescue was born. MHRR is named after the rescue's first bunny ambassador, Magic. He is also featured in our logo. Our bunny ambassadors or resident rabbits are rabbits that meet certain qualifications and are adopted by the rescue itself. MHRR is run entirely by volunteers and donations. We have no shelter building and no large corporate sponsors. We are non-profit, but have not yet received our 501(c)(3) designation. To date we have found new homes for over 500 animals, the vast majority being rabbits, but also including other small animals such as guinea pigs and rats.
HOW DO YOU HELP TO FIND RABBITS IN NEED?
Most of the time they find us. We get the word out about the rescue by posting flyers, passing out business cards, putting bumperstickers on our cars, wearing MHRR tshirts, having a large web presence, attending pet events, doing educational presentations, doing adoption days at Petco, and networking with other rescue groups and shelters. We have also been featured in local magazines, newspapers, and tv news programs. People contact us about stray rabbits they have found, personal rabbits they can no longer keep, and accidental litters that need homes. Other rescues and shelters that receive more rabbits than they can handle or can't handle rabbits at all also contact us for help. The only time that we actively go out and try to find them is in the case of a feral colony of rabbits living in Lafreniere Park in Metairie, LA. Most of the rabbits live in tunnels and are unapproachable. But people see the rabbits in the park and think "Hey I should dump my rabbit here too." These newbie rabbits often approach people looking for food and are easy to capture. Some of our volunteers live near the park and visit often to try to capture these rabbits.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DOING RESCUE?
I started volunteering for Magic Happens Rabbit Rescue after Hurricane Katrina, so September 2005. I've never worked with any other rescue organization.
WHAT KINDS OF SITUATIONS HAVE YOU FOUND THESE RESCUES FROM?
There are good situations: owner really cares for and takes good care of their pet but unfortunately can't keep it due to circumstances out of their control, owner cares about the wellbeing of their pet and feels that their home situation is not the best for the rabbit anymore, misidentified gender leads to accidental litter and owners have learned their lesson so babies find new homes and parents get snipped. There are bad situations: owner didn't do enough research before buying their pet rabbit and it's not acting like they wanted it do so they just want to get rid of it often with preventable minor health problems such as extremely long toenails, earmites, urine scald, and sore hocks, kind citizen finds a stray rabbit that someone has let free to survive in the wild (which they usually don't). And then there are the really bad situations: rabbit found taped up in a box in a parking lot, two rabbits found in garbage bag by the curb, a rabbit found inside it's cage by the curb for the trash, stray white rabbit found dyed hot pink (like that's not a target for predators), very ill rabbit dumped on Wendy's doorstep, rabbits left behind in backyard hutches after owners moved away, cruelty cases received from animal control often very emaciated or ill (these don't always make it).
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CHALLENGES THAT YOU ENCOUNTER WHEN DEALING WITH RESCUED PETS?
We have a hard time adopting out individuals that were not properly socialized when they were young and are fearful or aggressive with people. Wendy does not have enough time for the one of one attention they need. Luckily recently we have gained more rabbit savvy volunteers who are willing to take on the challenge and have adopted out some rabbits have have been with the rescue 2, 3, even 5 years. Sometimes by their foster parent.
Wendy houses the majority of the rabbits and when they have their free time out on the lawn, bonded pairs/groups and individuals are separated into different ex-pens but we interconnect the pens to make more spaces than the number of pens we have. This can sometimes be a problem as the rabbits can fit the snouts and feet between the bars. We have to keep an eye on them to prevent or break-up fights. Usually it's just some fur pulled and the occasional nose nip. But I remember not too long ago we had a Flemish Giant jump the pen and get into the adjoining pet with two Netherland Dwarfs and started beating them up. One got some nasty bites before we were able to break it up. After that the Flemish got his own 36" tall pen away from everybody else.
DO YOU FEEL THERE ARE SPECIAL RISKS INVOLVED WHEN TRYING TO FIND FOREVER HOMES FOR RABBITS AS OPPOSED TO CATS AND DOGS?
With rabbits, you have to get people to understand that the popular cultural ideals of what a rabbit is like and how it should be cared for are generally not true. Also you can't use things you've learned about cats and dogs and apply them to rabbits. Being a prey animal instead of predator, you have to treat them differently. Also most vets don't know enough about rabbits to properly care for them. Some medicines for dogs and cats will kill a rabbit. You have to get people to understand that they need a specialist vet and that rabbits are very good at hiding their illness. Also they can go from just fine to deathly ill very quickly so they need to understand that they need to monitor their pet's behavior closely everyday and be ready for emergencies.
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE FUTURE PET PARENTS WANTING TO TAKE IN A RESCUE?
Don't just go by looks. One of the best advantages of adopting from a rescue instead of buying is that the rescue can tell you all about an individual animals personality. Tell them what you are looking for in a pet and they will do their best to match you with the animal best suited to what you are expecting. If you just pick out the prettiest or cutest animal, you may not know what you're getting yourself into. Also if you already have a pet, the rescue should let you bring your pet and see if he or she approves of the one you choose. Or as we call "speed dating" at MHRR, the rescue can line up several candidates based on gender and/or personality and your pet can meet them all and you can let your pet choose which one he or she likes the best.
Also your pet is not a blank slate. Rescues have past lives that may have been cruel or scary. Or they may have not been introduced to certain items at all, in that case they are new and scary when you bring them out. Find out what things bother or scare your rescue animal. You may choose just remove them from their life. If they are unavoidable however, work with your pet to ease its fears. Don't become impatient if it is taking a long time, let your pet take its own pace.
WHAT DOES FOSTERING ENTAIL?
A foster parents provides all the care and attention a pet needs. They are important in working with animals that have behavior problems that make them hard to adopt or medical problems that need constant attention (or to be separated from other animals because of contagion). Our organization is all foster homes, but most of the fostering is done by Wendy. Having other foster homes allows us to take in more animals at once and provide some animals the individual attention they need. At MHRR a foster parents may provide housing and food for their foster pet if they choose to or they can obtain these items from the rescue.
IF AN ANIMAL NEEDS IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION, WHAT DO YOU DO? WHAT WOULD YOU SUGGEST TO SOMEONE WHO HAS FOUND A RABBIT IN DISTRESS?
The best situation would be to get the rabbit to an exotic vet ASAP. Call ahead of time to let them know you are coming so they can prepare for your arrival. However, if it is after hours, get the rabbit to any emergency vet and call the exotic vet (they usually have a number for emergencies). Depending on what type of emergency it is, the emergency vet may be able to handle it or they can keep the rabbit stable while they wait for the rabbit expert to get in contact.
ARE THERE ANY WEBSITES OR HELPFUL RESOURCES THAT YOU RECOMMEND FOR SOMEONE THAT WANTS TO HELP OR IS LOOKING FOR A FOREVER HOME FOR A RESCUED RABBIT?
MHRR's website is www.magichappensrescue.com
The House Rabbit Society' has a list of all their chapterswww.rabbit.org/adoption/index.html
They also have a list of independent rabbit rescue groupswww.rabbit.org/links/sections/groups.html
You can also select Rabbit and type in your zip code to rescues near you that have rabbits using www.petfinder.com
Lisa, Thank you so much for taking the time to provide us with so much valuable information and talk about this wonderful group of artists and rescue personnel. I hope you all have learned as much as we have from Lisa and do our part to help animals in need. This can be done not only by shopping, but sharing our own crafts, art, handmade treats and toys etc. to a great cause.
Also, don't forget to check out Lisa's Shop Beads For Bunnies as well as the Magic Happens Rabbit Rescue Facebook Page!
