Haven of Hope for Easter

Our First Easter Casualty for 2012

It didn’t take long for this tiny baby to be broken.  The real blame goes to the breeder who took this tiny bunny from her mother before she was weaned.  She might be five weeks old, certainly not more.  The first clue that it was from a bad breeder is that they would not let the family see the rabbits in their cages.  They insisted they would bring them into the house.  They said there were only two rabbits left, this tiny baby and another larger baby, not from the same litter.  So these babies were purchased and taken home by a family that had never had rabbits before and readily admit they didn’t educate themselves about rabbits before buying them.

This past weekend on the Monday after Easter, her son was petting the bunny and being gentle when his mother told him to be careful.  Thinking that he understood, the mother left him alone with the bunny for just a short time and in that time, he picked up the rabbit by the back leg and broke it.  She was devastated.  They didn’t have the money for a veterinarian and thought they might just have to have her euthanized.  However, the mother decided to try to find someone to help and emailed NTRS.  We arranged for the baby to be dropped off and she is going to Dr. Effie.  We don’t know what will happen at this time.  Perhaps Dr. Effie will wrap the leg to try to see if it will heal because operating on her at this age might be very risky.  We will have to see.

It is a sad way for this caring family to learn about bunnies.  They have another rabbit which they are keeping, and will build a condo with a clasp that the son can’t open.   They have also agreed to come to the sanctuary with their 6 ½ year old daughter to learn how to correctly handle the other bunny.  We can teach them what they need to know so this second rabbit will have a happy life with them.  They are not bad people, as many of us have done things out of ignorance that may have caused danger to an animal and it is a sad way for us to learn.    

Please help us by educating your friends and family if they decide to get a bunny, or any pet for that matter.  Ask them to do their homework first and make sure that the pet is right for them.  

Update on Easter

Dr. Effie examined Easter and determined that her front right leg appears to have a healed fracture, which occurred before she was purchased.  The break most likely occurred while at the breeder.  Due to the most recent accident, she will lose her back leg; however, she is too tiny at the moment to undergo surgery.  Once she grows a bit more, Easter will undergo an amputation in the near future.

September 2012

Easter, renamed "Sneakers" made a full recovery.  Dr. Effie gave her a clean bill of health and the break healed on its own.  No amputation was required.  In fact, this cutie has now been adopted.  NTRS wholeheartedly thanks everyone who donated towards what was going to be her surgery.  Since the amputation was not required, the contributions have been re-allocated to the needs of the other Haven of Hope bunnies.