Adopt A Disapproving Rabbit Month
Ever wanted a Disapproving Rabbit of your very own? Here are some candidates looking for homes.
"I don't approve of you not scratching my nose. It's gray and wiggly for cryin' out loud, get to work loving my nose!"
According to the House Rabbit Society February is Adopt A Rabbit Month. Yesterday the Golden Valley Humane Society and the Minnesota House Rabbit Society were holding an adoption event and a bunny agility demonstration. I would have blogged it sooner but didn't find out about it until last minute. I did take advantage of a free afternoon to get some more photos for the Disapproving Rabbits book.
The rabbit at the top of the entry is Truffle and is the current "star" of the GVHS. She was hands down my favorite rabbit and if Cinnamon weren't such a butthead about other rabbits I would have adopted her.
When I stepped inside her play area to take her photo, she was in full loaf mode, completely relaxed. I sat down, aimed the camera at her at which point she got up, nudged the camera out of the way and forcibly shoved her head beneath my hand--she wanted me to stroke her head. The photo above is Truffle in mid-nudge of the camera. I stroked her face and ears for quite some time. This is such a well mannered bunny, it is a matter of time before she will get a home. You don't often find cuddly bunnies like this.
Distrusting bunnies. This was a bonded pair of angora rabbits. I can't find their profiles on either the GVHS or the MCRS pages, I wonder if they are new? The little gray guy was recently shaved and is very curious and gregarious, the white puffball was more shy but did welcome some head scratching. The suspicious look these two gave me reminded me of introducing myself to the person running the adoption event. I had on a Disapproving Rabbit shirt but if you haven't seen the site, it's really hard to explain. I asked if I could take photos for the website and she looked cautious and asked, "And what do you do with the photos?"
"I take photos and then put up captions on what the rabbits don't approve of you doing, like I don't approve of what you do outside." I answered.
The woman still looked unsure but luckily for me many of the volunteers at the event have seen the site and stood up for me. One guy even said the website was tasteful, so I was free to take photos at that point.
Here we have two dwarf rabbits named Lucy and Ricky who are naturals when it comes to disapproval. Dwarf rabbits are great--permanently tiny and cute bunnies. But don't let the tiny size fool you, Lucy lifted the corner of the litter box more than once.
This willful little thing is named Oreo--very playful and full of energy. Oreo is bonded with Carmel and I tried to get some tag team disapproval but they seemed more interested in mischief. I finally decided to take a photo of them individually. As I would be concentrating on Carmel, Oreo would sneak behind me and yank one of the belt loops on my pants. Very much like Cinnamon buttheadery.
Here is a very young male named Alfred. He's only eleven weeks old but already he can disapprove of what I'm doing while simultaneously cleaning his toes. Can't you just hear him say in a French accent, "I don't approve of how you smell. My toes smell better than you, you peasant."
Interesting to note that the bunnies I photographed earlier this month, Serena and Buster have already found permanent homes. Whoot! Hope these other bunnies find the same soon too. The MCRS did a great job of running the event. The bunnies were getting lots of attention and lots of exercise. One dedicated volunteer was taking the time to keep all the angoras in good coat condition, and all the socializing they do really shows with these rabbits.
"I don't approve of you not scratching my nose. It's gray and wiggly for cryin' out loud, get to work loving my nose!"The rabbit at the top of the entry is Truffle and is the current "star" of the GVHS. She was hands down my favorite rabbit and if Cinnamon weren't such a butthead about other rabbits I would have adopted her.
When I stepped inside her play area to take her photo, she was in full loaf mode, completely relaxed. I sat down, aimed the camera at her at which point she got up, nudged the camera out of the way and forcibly shoved her head beneath my hand--she wanted me to stroke her head. The photo above is Truffle in mid-nudge of the camera. I stroked her face and ears for quite some time. This is such a well mannered bunny, it is a matter of time before she will get a home. You don't often find cuddly bunnies like this.
Distrusting bunnies. This was a bonded pair of angora rabbits. I can't find their profiles on either the GVHS or the MCRS pages, I wonder if they are new? The little gray guy was recently shaved and is very curious and gregarious, the white puffball was more shy but did welcome some head scratching. The suspicious look these two gave me reminded me of introducing myself to the person running the adoption event. I had on a Disapproving Rabbit shirt but if you haven't seen the site, it's really hard to explain. I asked if I could take photos for the website and she looked cautious and asked, "And what do you do with the photos?""I take photos and then put up captions on what the rabbits don't approve of you doing, like I don't approve of what you do outside." I answered.
The woman still looked unsure but luckily for me many of the volunteers at the event have seen the site and stood up for me. One guy even said the website was tasteful, so I was free to take photos at that point.
Here we have two dwarf rabbits named Lucy and Ricky who are naturals when it comes to disapproval. Dwarf rabbits are great--permanently tiny and cute bunnies. But don't let the tiny size fool you, Lucy lifted the corner of the litter box more than once.
This willful little thing is named Oreo--very playful and full of energy. Oreo is bonded with Carmel and I tried to get some tag team disapproval but they seemed more interested in mischief. I finally decided to take a photo of them individually. As I would be concentrating on Carmel, Oreo would sneak behind me and yank one of the belt loops on my pants. Very much like Cinnamon buttheadery.
Here is a very young male named Alfred. He's only eleven weeks old but already he can disapprove of what I'm doing while simultaneously cleaning his toes. Can't you just hear him say in a French accent, "I don't approve of how you smell. My toes smell better than you, you peasant."Interesting to note that the bunnies I photographed earlier this month, Serena and Buster have already found permanent homes. Whoot! Hope these other bunnies find the same soon too. The MCRS did a great job of running the event. The bunnies were getting lots of attention and lots of exercise. One dedicated volunteer was taking the time to keep all the angoras in good coat condition, and all the socializing they do really shows with these rabbits.
posted by birdchick at 8:03 AM
11 Comments:
i don't know how you do it sharon - i'd have come home with several rabbits... but that got me into trouble already with my "bunny butthead" archi who also doesn't tolerate any other buns!
i like how your site raises the awareness of how cool these little critters are and can even help get some adopted. anyone living on the left coast like me could check out www.bunnybunch.org for a great rescue org in southern california if they're looking for their own disapproving rabbit to enjoy :-) that's how i found a dutch male to bond with my netherlands dwarf female (all fixed of course). it's worked out real well.
thanks for the great pics. i bet you had fun!
-carri ann
aka archi's mum
Glad you enjoyed the event. There will also be an adopt-a-rabbit month event at the Minnesota Valley Humane Society in Burnsville on February 24 and 25 that will be cohosted by MVHS and the Minnesota Companion Rabbit Society. The two puff-ball buns probably weren't on the Golden Valley website because AHS has tons of bunnies downstairs that don't even make it to the website. They only put the bunnies on the website that are out on display on the adoption floor. So, there are tons of other bunnies just waiting to get a turn on the adoption floor and on the website. At these big events, sometimes they bring bunnies upstairs and then those bunnies go back downstairs after the event to continue waiting for a space to open. So, you won't find them on the website but they are still at the shelter if you are interested in them.
Thanks for the clarification, megj! That is a good point about how many more there are, I didn't post all the photos I got of the several different rabbits that were available at the adoption event.
And, carri ann, thanks for mentioning the bunnies in California. Any bunny people that would like to mention adoption events going on around the country in the comments section, please feel free. Adopt A Rabbit Month is a national event so there are bunnies in need all over.
Also, even if you cannot take home a bunny, donations are always needed to bunny societies for hay, supplies, spay and neutering, toys, etc. Anything you can give is appreciated. $5 can buy a bag of Timothy Hay.
and as you always say... since bunnies (or birds) aren't known to have good health insurance it's good to drop a check when you can :-)
Sharon, thanks for the info on bunny adoption. We have four cats and as much as we might want to, we really don't think adding bunny disapproval would be a good idea at this time.
I read most of the bunny backgrounds and it just gets to me how irresponsible people are. Two of our 4 cats are rescued felines and while I am grateful we now have them, I am irrated that someone thought they should get a cat and then just disposed of it when it got inconvenient.
I know that's not always the case, but the reasons why the animals are there always upset me. Arg!
Anyway people, adopt pets! And spay! And neuter!
I think a lot of bunnies end up in shelters for a couple of reasons. First, people don't realize that rabbits live 8-12 years. They think it is like adopting a hamster, not a long term committment. Bunnies also go through a difficult "teenager" phase at about 6 months of age. So, a lot of people buy adorable baby bunnies for Easter and are then faced with a terrible teenager at 6 months. Instead of giving the bun a couple of months to get through the phase, they just take the bunny back or dump it at a shelter. I think what bugs me the most is when people return bunnies just because they have "lost interest."
PS did you see the bunny steeplechase on Cute Overload? OMG! You can teach a bunny to do anything!
If I didn't have a permanent dog, a dog I am trying to find a home for and 5 cats and 2 kids, I would be a bunny-adopting fool.
Here's my pipe dream for when Geoff's book goes on the best seller list:
Build a rescue shelter that can hold about 3000 animals and take in any animal I am given.
But for now, I have to ooh and ahh on your blog.
susan gets native - i'm right with you woman! my kid sister and i dream built about what our ranch would be like and how we would house all the animals - dogs, cats, wabbits, birds etc etc etc - what fun it would be to be able to afford to do that!
re the mad cardinal granny: PETA has contacted the USFWS.
http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=9500
Oh, I want to adopt another bunny! But my current Disapproving Rabbit would definitely disapprove of an "outsider;" he thinks he's a cat. He even attacks Pitchers, the little black rabbit we bunny-sit for our neighbors - we have to keep them separated.
It's a shame more people don't understand what great pets rabbits make! I'm going to gank the link to the organization and put it on my blog.
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