Advocacy : Please help bunnies in NY! See areas in red for what you can do!
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Grassroots Efforts and Legislation to Protect those who are least protected
NYS BILLS A.06298 and S.04234 NEED YOUR SUPPORT
Through intensive advocacy efforts, there are bills in the NYS legislature which propose to PROHIBIT the sales of dogs, cats and rabbits in pet stores. Your help is urgently needed, to support these bills by calling your representatives. All you need to do is make the call. Say, “I’m seeking his/her support on the ban on Rabbit sales in NY. The bill number is A.06298 and S.04234”, or “I’m seeking your help to place a ban on selling dogs, cats and rabbits in pet stores”. Don’t be nervous - these people are elected to represent you. You represent the animals you care for. You can save so many animals by taking 5-10 minutes to call.
If you don’t know who they are, or their numbers click the link below to your politicians’ phone numbers.
http://action.humanesociety.org/site/PageServer?pagename=electedOfficials_federal
You can also copy, paste, complete and mail the following form with or without your personal input...
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Memo in Support of A.6298/S.4234
Prohibits the Sale of Cats, Dogs and Rabbits by Retail Pet Shops
Rabbits, like puppies and kittens, need a great deal of care and attention. A pet store is not the place to meet these needs. Rescues understand the need to educate people about their pet over time and typically become resources for concerns, questions or emergencies which happen. By choosing to continue to sell these animals in their stores, and keeping problem pet mills in business, stores like Petland are bucking the tide toward a humane marketplace. Pet stores no longer need to rely on selling animals. Large chains like Petsmart and Petco do not sell rabbits, cats or dogs, and instead focus on the lucrative market of pet supplies.
Consumers are also growing more aware, and many now look toward rescues or shelters when they adopt a pet, or deal with small breeders where they can observe the conditions under which the animal was raised. Rabbits are a prey animal which requires specialized care and displays behaviors which need to be explained. I’ve seen firsthand the problems of unwanted rabbits that were purchased from pet stores due to impulse buying. I’m urging the law makers to support A.06298 and S.04234 proposed bills that will save many animals by making adoption the preferred option for acquiring a pet.
Sincerely;
Name:
Organization:
Address City/State:
Contact info:
Moravia Rescue - Summer 2016
Hoarding and Huge Rescue Situations
Many years back, those of us in rabbit rescue dreaded Easter time and it’s aftermath as the beginning of the surge of unwanted bunnies each year, peaking in late summer with the injured survivors coming to us. That pattern has changed significantly over the last decade. Now we are being contacted about strays, cruelty and abandonment situations all year round. Some theorize that it might have to do with economic swings – that people have fallen upon hard times financially, or that when shelters lose precious funds from their states and rely upon public generosity, and ask a surrender fee – guess what happens? Someone not wanting their rabbit in the first place is unlikely to pay $30 for a shelter to intake him/her. So that rabbit gets dumped.
Another major tsunami has hit rescues in the form of hoarding/neglect/abuse cases. Years back it was the usual to hear of maybe 20-50 rabbits in filthy conditions, poor caging, with no food or water or shelter. That has also dramatically changed. Now we are hearing nationally of situations with literally HUNDREDS of bunnies dumped or uncared for and in need of safety and care. In just the past year, several hundred have been rescued from a Nevada site, and very recently, a shelter in Washington state took in almost 300. National HRS is now helping with the over 450 just taken in from one hoarder in Texas. The need is so great, and the individual rescues are so overwhelmed, that incredible volunteers transport cross state and cross country to get these rabbits into foster and adoptive homes, no matter where they are.
Right now, we are putting out a plea for help in NYS for the Texas situation. Transports are being coordinated. Please contact us and apply to foster or adopt, or connect us with a reputable rescue that might have some space. The chapter manager can be emailed at hazelbert@roadrunner.com. Fostering and adoption applications can be found here on our website.
Here's a video about cuterebra made by Amy Chase and other students from SUNY Delhi...
1/2015 - Sgt. Snuggles Rescued!
9/2014 - A rescue THE Rabbit Resource and others were involved in to save and transport 8 bunnies!
Dangers of Cuterebra
8/2014
Please view these videos of what a bunny must go through to have a Cuterebra removed.
This is why bunnies should be kept indoors and NOT in hutches outside. Also see Dahlia's Story on our website.
Caution - this video is graphic...