Why We Do What We Do.....

His name was "Bugs". He was my special friend, one whose was life was way too short. Telling his story always brings tears to my eyes but it helps explain why I am dedicated to rescuing domestic rabbits.

Bugs came to us one Christmas morning many years ago. My family and I were inside our house, enjoying the treasure trove of gifts, when one of our children suddenly pointed out the window. There, in our front yard, was a bunny. One look by my wife and I confirmed that he was not wild but what I would eventually come to know as being one of the hundreds "dumped" by humans every day. The kids immediately ran outside and picked up the soon-to-be-named Bugs. His first abode was in the garage but he soon wrangled his way into my home office, and eventually into my wife's exercise room. My kids played with him but were inconsistent with regards to the care and exercise he needed. My wife and I soon discovered that caring for him was a joy and quickly began catering to his every whim. We loved having th is over-weight ball of fur whose main desire (other than food) was to always be no more than a few feet away from whatever it was we were doing.

Of course we posted "Found: Lost Bunny" signs throughout the neighborhood but no one ever came to claim him. He was totally ours! Eventually we took Bugs to our local veterinarian who, I would later find out, had not a clue as to how we should care for this special baby. "He's fine, middle aged, and in great health. Feed him this (holding up a bag of food) and that's all there is to it", he said. Of course I know now that he was giving me his best educated "guess".

Two years and a day later, Bugs had a runny nose. I called the vet and was told, "no big issue. See you when we have an opening at 3:00". So, trusting him, I went to work. At 9:00 am, the kids called and said my baby was crying. This frightened me as Bugs had never made any noises before. I raced home but it was too late. As I picked him up he took his last breath. I did my best at CPR and rushed him to the vet's office but Bugs was gone.

Although my whole family suffered terribly, Bug's death really affected my wife and me the most. Eventually we decided to try again so we went to a local rabbit rescue and asked for their meanest, most un-adoptable bunny. We named her "Miss Betsy". However, I could not stop thinking about all of the homeless bunnies I had seen and soon began taking in those who were scheduled to be euthanized at the local shelters. Before long, we had a rescue of our own, Virginia Rabbit Inc. (VRI). For many years we financially supported the other organization in addition to our own, but as time passed, we decided to only support VRI.

Today, as we enter our 7th year with bunnies, we consider ourselves blessed for now having the knowledge and resources that could possibly have saved "Bugs". Today we have 12 special babies, all of whom run our home: from our French Lops: Miss Ella and Mr. Jay-Cee(Jimminy Cricket) to our domestic lops: Buzz, Lelo, Stitch, Zippity, Pooh Bear and Piglet to our mixed bunch: Tinker (Tinker Bell), a Holland Lop; Pinky, our Himalayan, and our very special Pixie (Pixie Dust) who I brought home after being found in a dumpste. She sat in my pocket and was only two weeks old!

What we started with "Bugs" has turned into one of the largest rabbit care organizations on the East Coast. Right now, we have many special babies waiting on their forever homes. Thank you for taking the time to read my story.