Make Mine Chocolate!

It's Easter, and you know what that means-jellybeans, egg hunts, and...abandoned bunnies. As a volunteer with Alabama EARS (a rabbit rescue in the Birmingham area) and a pet lover, I thought I'd take a moment to share the plight of the real live Easter bunny with everyone. Here's where my story begins:


It's Memorial Day 2009: Ken is finishing up at work, and I am rushing around the house getting things ready for the cookout we have planned. I start slicing the watermelon, casually staring out the window, and there she is again-the tiny snowy white bunny that's been hanging around my deck for about 3 days. I decide "this bunny *must* be someone's pet! No wild bunny is pure white with red eyes and brave enough to hang out this close to where people live!" So, I slowly head outside with some watermelon to see if I can catch her and find her people.

I catch the cute little bundle of fur and get her set up the best way I know how. See, I'd never had a rabbit before. The best I could do on short notice was try to convert Ken's old rat cage (it was really big) into a bunny-friendly area and put in the only veggies I had on hand-an iceberg salad mix. I notice her teeth look odd. I put up fliers all over the neighborhood, at grocery stores and pet clinics, even local pet stores. And I wait.


After a week, it becomes clear that nobody lost this bunny. I take her to the nearest vet that sees rabbits, where he determines her age to be about 2 months and assumes she was once an "Easter bunny". I find out she has malocclusion (her teeth grow in odd directions) and that eventually the best option is to remove her incisors. This is the most likely reason that her first family let her go. Lucky for me, my husband is amazing and agreed on the spot to let me keep my new friend. Since that first day, I had done tons of research and gotten her the proper food and better housing.


Almost one year later, she has brought me so much joy (and a cranky friend that's fun to tell stories about...I'm sure I'll share some of his later), and I can't fathom how someone can just turn an animal loose like that. Yes, bunnies do live in the wild, but not domestic rabbits. It's pretty much a death sentence. The problems with her teeth made it even worse for her.

So, for Lexi, I am sharing the message of the House Rabbit Society's "Make Mine Chocolate" campaign: A rabbit is NOT a toy, and should not be purchased on a whim as an Easter gift for a child. If your kid really wants a bunny, please make it chocolate!


For more bunny information, please visit www.alabamaears.org and www.rabbit.org

Here's the link specifically to the "Make Mine Chocolate" campaign: http://www.makeminechocolate.org/