A Day in Rescue

Sadly today (7.12.09) more bunnies arrived into rescue.

Eight kits upon arrival from the pound

A mother rabbit had been brought into the pound a couple of days earlier, with her eight very young kits. The pound called us to see if we could take them, as they were not getting the care required in a pound environment. When we heard about their situation our wonderful volunteer, Jennifer, went over after work to assess the situation and provide rescue under Duty of Care for the mum and babies. Duty of Care allows animals to be taken from the pound when they are at risk. Baby animals do not have as strong an immunity as adults, and at the age of 1-2 weeks the baby bunnies were very prone to infections and needed to get out as soon as possible. It had been a very hot day, and sadly mum and bubs were in a metal cage that overheated. When our volunteer arrived the mother was in severe heat stress and the bile had risen inside her stomach so that she had drooled all over her front paws while shaking. The babies had been so small, five had fallen through the cage and were crawling on the floor about one meter below their mother. They were extremely lucky to not have wandered in to one of the cat cages that were near-by! Immediate attention had to be given to the mother, and she was cooled down in an air-conditioned car. The babies at this stage were quite weak with dehydration. With the stress of a pound environment it could have been a while since their mum had fed them. On our volunteers way out, trying to not look at all the needy bunny faces as she left, she did spot a little bunny in a cage. He would have been weaned, but was still so young and small. Scared, he was in the back corner as many rabbits will be when at the pound, and he’d been badly mauled. He too had just come into the pound, and as there was no vet on site he was untreated. He also came to rescue under Duty of Care, it was just impossible to leave him there.

Mauled baby bunny upon rescue

It was over an hour before the bunnies arrived at our home. In that time the mother had cooled down enough not to be critical. Her fur is stained by dried urine, and she is very frightened. Her babies are asleep, they do not have much weight on them and really need to get a good feed off mum if she will let them. The mauled bunny has sores all over him, and one ear has been so badly chewed that although it is supposed to lop it is twisted in a grotesque way over his back. The blood is dry, so there is not a lot we can do tonight except make them all comfortable until our vet can have a look at them all. They’re treated with revolution to kill the fleas that are all over their bodies, and put them into clean and cosy enclosures.

Mother rabbit, scared and urine stained

We do not know how this story will end. As always, we have high hopes, but in reality we may loose some of the babies. I have put this online for people to realise our rescue is not at all easy, we’re invested emotionally and physically trying to save their lives. Remember those bunnies we left at the pound? They will continue to haunt us while we race against time to find foster care for them, and call the pound to find out if perhaps they were lucky enough to be adopted. The bunnies that come here are often in a terrified state, they need lots of rehabilitation before they appear on our “adoptables” page. Please, please support rescue! If you have a good home to provide, there is a rescue animal waiting to join you! The petshop is not the only way to get a bunny, check frequently enough and I’m sure you’ll find him/her on our website. Don’t be impatient, you could find the one you're looking for here.

If you would like to help us continue to save lives, just like with these bunnies, we would really appreciate a donation. As a self-run, not-for-profit rescue, we are always facing medical costs associated with animals in care.