The abandoned rabbit population is increasing daily in the municipality of Richmond, BC Canada with more bunny dumpings by former owners and new babies being born in this spring month. Here is a list compiled by Bandaids for Bunnies on current locations in just this municipality alone:

• Minoru Park & Minoru running track
• Sports Pavillion
• Anderson Rd
• No. 3 Rd @ Steveston
• Cedarbridge Way North end AND South end
• Minoru Blvd
• Gilbert & Elmbridge
• Steveston Hwy
• Richmond Automall (an estimated 400 rabbits dwell here)
• Animal hospitals
• City Hall (on the municipalities own doorstep)

And many more green spaces, sheds and parking lots.

The blue markers represent known feral rabbit warrens.

A terrestrial view of Richmond. Note the greenspaces.

Interesting enough, the municipalities of Richmond is one of two (the other being New Westminster) that has banned the sale of rabbits from pet stores. So the issue is mainly one of education and advocacy. Bandaids for Bunnies is the first rabbit rescue in Richmond and they are also brand new. As we mentioned last week, proceeds from April sales of The Velveteen Rabbit items will go towards helping Bandaids for Bunnies in their mission to provide medical assistance and shelter to these abandoned bunnies.The abandoning of rabbits is a tricky business because they are NOT wildlife at heart, they are domesticated. Very few survive an abandonment, and what remain go on to breed extensively. Unfortunately the government deems domestic rabbits dumped by their owners to be ‘wildlife’ and pests after 30 days. The problem is that no one knows when a bunny is dumped so they are basically wildlife from that point forward and treated by a municipality in whatever method they see fit.

Here is an Excellent article by the CBC: “Feral rabbit problem growing at Richmond Auto Mall”.

“The provincial government says that as soon as a pet rabbit is let loose, it becomes wildlife and falls under provincial jurisdiction. The province encourages that feral rabbits be trapped and put down, rather than re-homing them.”

Richmond is not the only municipality to have this problem, I was disheartened to hear my in-laws in another municipality have recently seen an explosion of feral bunnies coming into their backyard. Thankfully, we see relief in the way of many individuals from different rescue groups are working hard with each other to eradicate this problem. But the issue of advocacy and education remains, and we need to continue to show the municipalities that we all care about the fate of these rabbits.

April is not only the month of Easter, but also the time at which the most rabbits are birthed and abandoned by their owners. April is a tough time to be a bunny, made even worse often for former Easter present bunnies by competition among rabbits, cold weather, limited shelter and more predators. We are happy to announce that proceeds from the sale of any Velveteen Rabbit item (Collection, Plush Toy or Digibook) from April 1 to the 30th will be going to the promising up and coming charity, Bandaids for Bunnies Society. Please visit Bandaids for Bunnies Society at their Facebook page!

From the Bandaids for Bunnies Society : “The Bandaids for Bunnies Society is dedicated to helping former pet rabbits abandoned in Richmond, BC receive medical care and find shelter.

Bunnies eating some snacks. Only the injured rabbits at this point can be rescued, the healthy must be left in their park until a later date when they can be rescued.

All over Richmond, BC hundreds of pet rabbits have been abandoned to fend for themselves on the streets and in the parks. Many of them end up hungry, cold, injured and even dead. Living on the street is a hard life for a rabbit that was a pet, and has no idea how to fend for itself in the wild. Your help is needed to provide medical care and shelter for these rabbits so they do not have to suffer alone and abandoned. These bunnies need somebunny to love them!”

Rabbit babies in the park and elsewhere are born to abandoned rabbits, and then often in a couple of months or more, the babies "disappear" or their bodies are found. Most of the babies only get to live on this earth for a short time.

Currently Bandaids for bunnies Society is run by two people, Cindy Howard and Krystal Grimm. Between the two of them, an astonishing amount of work has been done to rescue, rehabilitate and find homes for abandoned rabbits. Bandaids for Bunnies Society is only about four months old, and we are so impressed with their progress. Their Facebook page features updates, photos and videos of the ferals they have named and are attempting to rescue. They post follow ups on rescued and injured bunnies, whether they come to a happy or sad ending. They address the reality that precious baby rabbits often are attacked and come into their hands with only the hope that they can meet a peaceful end to their suffering. One of the most challenging and heartbreaking things they deal with is that currently they are only able to save the most in need rabbits. We want to do what we can to make the work of Bandaids for Bunnies Society easier, and hope that one day the rabbit dumping problems will eventually be eliminated.

~

Here is to a happy (hoppy!) ending for Bandaids’ Bunnies.

Meet Adella and Dewey: Adella was found in Minoru Park with an injured eye which resulted in blindness. After being rescued she met Dewey, who had also been rescued after an injury which cost him his leg. So life has been challenging for the 2 little bunnies but they are happy now that they are rescued and together!

A temporary place for the rescued rabbits to live while they wait to be healed and be placed in forever homes.

The donation box full of bunnies

In the spirit of “The Velveteen Rabbit”, every holiday season we participate in an act of giving here at the bunny basecamp. “The Velveteen Rabbit” tells a beautiful story of love and second chances to those who need it. Last December, we auctioned a Velveteen Rabbit Autographed Digibook with 100% of the proceeds delivered to Precious Life Animal Sanctuary in Sequim, Washington where 75 rescued feral rabbits from the University of Victoria campus were transferred. The wonderful folks at Precious Life were able to use the donation so that the rabbits would be able to benefit from a high quality of life sanctuary existenceinstead of being euthanized at the campus where they were running feral. Read about the 2010 donation here!

We enjoyed working with the bunnies in need last year but we decided this year, we would do something too help some kids in need. Every year, there are children who do not receive gifts during the holidays and in the Province of British Columbia where we live, the Province has the unfortunate designation of having the poorest child poverty rate of any other Province in Canada. 137,000 children (or 16.4% of our children) live in poverty. This year we donated 30 Plush Velveteen Rabbits to the Lower Mainland Christmas Bureau where toys end up in the hands of children that are most in need.

Kids in need can receive Velveteen Rabbits this year!

Nothing makes us happier than the thought that the Velveteen Rabbits can be loved and become REAL, and that a child gets a new buddy to enjoy!

THERE was once a velveteen rabbit, and in the beginning he was really
splendid. He was fat and bunchy, as a rabbit should be; his coat was
spotted brown and white, he had real thread whiskers, and his ears
were lined with pink sateen. On Christmas morning, when he sat wedged
in the top of the Boy’s stocking, with a sprig of holly between his
paws, the effect was charming.

There were other things in the stocking, nuts and oranges and a toy
engine, and chocolate almonds and a clockwork mouse, but the Rabbit
was quite the best of all. For at least two hours the Boy loved him,
and then Aunts and Uncles came to dinner, and there was a great
rustling of tissue paper and unwrapping of parcels, and in the
excitement of looking at all the new presents the Velveteen Rabbit was
forgotten.

Christmas Morning

For a long time he lived in the toy cupboard or on the nursery floor,
and no one thought very much about him. He was naturally shy, and
being only made of velveteen, some of the more expensive toys quite
snubbed him. The mechanical toys were very superior, and looked down
upon every one else; they were full of modern ideas, and pretended
they were real. The model boat, who had lived through two seasons and
lost most of his paint, caught the tone from them and never missed an
opportunity of referring to his rigging in technical terms. The Rabbit
could not claim to be a model of anything, for he didn’t know that
real rabbits existed; he thought they were all stuffed with sawdust
like himself, and he understood that sawdust was quite out-of-date and
should never be mentioned in modern circles. Even Timothy, the jointed
wooden lion, who was made by the disabled soldiers, and should have
had broader views, put on airs and pretended he was connected with
Government. Between them all the poor little Rabbit was made to feel
himself very insignificant and commonplace, and the only person who
was kind to him at all was the Skin Horse.

Continue Reading

The Velveteen Rabbit story teaches us about the value of love, and also the act of kindness and second chances in life. Here at bunny basecamp we decided to do something for the feral rescued rabbits from the University of Victoria campus. An unfortunate but all too common story where a couple rabbits turned into a few too many and were then left to fend for themselves. After their population grew too large, the University decided the situation must be dealt with. In an extraordinary feat of kindness, rabbit advocacy groups around North America pooled their resources to help the 1000 rabbits in need. After a rescue that included mandatory spay and neuter, the Precious Life Animal Sanctuary has volunteered to house 75 rabbits on their lovely one acre rabbit run.

Precious Life Animal Sanctuary, Sequim Washington

We quickly took a copy of our The Velveteen Rabbit Digibook (movie and storybook) and had it autographed by the movie’s director Denise Quesnel, the star of the film Connor Stanhope, voice of The Velveteen Rabbit actor Rennard Lusterio, and musician/photographer for the movie Jim Boraas. The Digibook auction was a hit and 100% of the proceeds went to Precious Life to help maintain their rabbit run. We were so pleased that the generosity from so many individuals resulted int his happy event taking place just in time for the holiday season!

The Velveteen Rabbit Autographed Digibook

The rabbits are now settled into their new home and enjoying a great quality of life. You can see the bunnies enjoying their new life in this video- ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wwpq5AyjwSM ) watch for them at the 7:25min mark where they make their appearance right after the piggies!

Thank you everyone!

The rabbit used in the movie was a Rex Rabbit, who was adopted to a loving family by the Vancouver Rabbit Rescue & Advocacy, a chapter of the House Rabbit Society

The Rex Rabbit breed is also known as the “Velveteen Rabbit” because its’ fur is very dense, plush, and often described as having a velvety texture.  This “velveteen” coat is caused by short guard hairs that stand perpendicular to the skin that are no longer than the rabbit’s undercoat.

Historically the rex rabbits were not the rabbit that inspired Margery Williams as the breed originated in France in 1919 and was first shown publicly at the Paris International Rabbit Show in 1924.  In 1922 Margery Williams was in the United States when she published the book, where no rex rabbits existed.  One breed of rabbit that could of inspired the rabbits in story is the English Spot.

The English Spot was present in both England and the United States during the 1920s and is known by its six different types of body markings: butterfly, cheek spots, eye circles, colored ears, herringbone, and chain of spots.

Do you have a Velveteen Rabbit?  Send photos of your rabbit to: info@thevelveteenrabbit.ca