01/09
Jasper was adopted by his great foster parents!
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9/17/08 UPDATE
Jasper is doing really well.
He looks good, eats well and yes, we've even seen a binky or two!
So, he's ready now to find a great home.
Maybe with you?

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Note from Marcy, SaveABunny Founder

Jasper is a very cute, neutered dwarf mix boy who seems to have lived a hard life. From the little we know about him, he lived alone outside in a hutch in Oakland and was not treated very well. He has the saddest look in his eyes and he cringes when you touch him.

He looks like an older gentleman. His teeth are not fabulous and his eye is weepy---perhaps from an issue with his teeth? He will see a veterinarian soon and we will know more. Our goal is to do what we can to make his golden years be filled with love and not disappointment in people. Jasper didn't ask to be someone's unwanted pet. How tragic to live his entire life being neglected,or worse---mistreated and then left alone at a shelter to be euthanized.

It is the "throw away" bunnies like Jasper that make rescue work especially sad and challenging for me. As I walk through the shelters every day...passing row after row of bunnies each needing rescue or they will be euthanized...who do I pick if I can only save one or two out of the dozens?! And the rabbits all know and sense who I am. They pick up on the energy that I am the rescue person who both understand and hears them. They sense I could save them, so they run to the front of the cage and call out to please save them. They all want to live.

Bunnies like Jasper though are often so beaten down from heartbreak that they sit hunched in a corner as if they have given up hope that life has anything good to offer them. They know that their time left on Earth is limited, and like others around them, they will be euthanized because no one wants them any longer.

So, they slowly raise their heads and look at me---half expecting that I too will turn away from them and the other half desperately hoping I will see them and save them. All I can say is that it is devastating to leave these sweet little beings behind. It makes me really angry that our little volunteer run group is their only hope and that we simply do not have the space and resources to save them all. It is truly haunting to remember all the little faces and I can tell you that it doesn't get better with time. It's been ten years of this intense work for me and I still cry and remember each and every rabbit.

So, that brings me back to Jasper...Yes, I picked him for rescue over another healthier, younger rabbit. It was a very tough choice, but I feel strongly that our commitment to help the special needs rabbits who others leave behind is part of what gives SaveABunny our integrity, passion and uniqueness as a rescue group.

It is expensive, lonely and heartbreaking to rescue rabbits, however I can tell you with all certainty that some of the most incredible, resilient and loving rabbits we have ever met are the ones that had the worst situations. With love, patience, conventional and alternative healing we see miracles. Even in a very short time I have seen a brightness start to return in Jasper's eyes.

However, the reality is that most people will ultimately only want to adopt a cute, little bunny without issues. So a bunny like Jasper will need to stay here for as long as it takes to find him a forever home. Perhaps he will live his days out as a SaveABunny sanctuary rabbit surrounded by volunteers who love him, or maybe we will be lucky to find him a person to love him.

Either way, that's what we do here at SaveABunny. We love each rabbit. Thank you for supporting our work on behalf of these amazing little survivors.