A rescue group with a BIG heart for some
of our smallest pets: rabbits.
There is a rescue group in North Port,
Florida (approximately 45 minutes
southwest of Tampa) that caters to the
“little guys:" Little Miracles Rabbit
Rescue, a rescue group dedicated to
“saving lives one little life at a
time.” They are dedicated to rescuing
domestic house rabbits affectionately
known in the rabbit-loving community as
“bunnies, buns, and bun-buns!”
The 501-C non-profit group was started
over 10 years ago by the very young lady
Kristie Corson. Kristie first become
involved with rescue completely by
accident. She was working at a pet store
and watched in horror as rabbits were
dying by the dozens. She soon found out
about the mass breeding that running
rampant to supply pet stores. It was as
bad, and sometimes worse, than the
now-infamous “puppy mills” so often
heard about on national and local news.
Kristie is not only the President and
Founder of Little Miracles; she is also
a police Officer with the Charlotte
County, Florida Sheriff's Office.
Kristie Corson is seen here with one of her own “Big
Buns:” Winston,
a Flemish Giant that can weigh in at as
much as 28lbs!
Domestic house rabbits are just what
they sound to be: Rabbits that are house
pets. Unfortunately the number of people
that decide to purchase or take in one
of these wonderful little creatures
often do not educate themselves on the
upkeep, care and expectations of owning
a house rabbit. This is where groups
such as Kristie’s become involved. Her
group has been involved with picking
them up from shelters, finding/trapping
them from someone who has dumped them
into the wild to care for themselves
which could be one to twenty or MORE!
Little Miracles, not only seeks to
improve the lives of domestic rabbits
through adoption efforts but they seek
and coordinate local volunteer-driven
education.
The do this by providing resources to
educate the public on the benefits of
rabbits as companion animals, rabbit
behavior, and rabbit care. By attending
adoption events, and pet expos, they are
able to provide education to the public
and create a larger network for finding
foster and adoptive homes.
To help with costs they collectively
fund raise locally, as well as online in
order to provide for the day-to-day
costs, spay/neuter fees, medical costs
and other needs of the rescue. They’ve
recently started utilizing some of their
“buns” for photograph shoots – recently
for Easter and a “Beach Bun” shoot for a
future calendar!
Through the rescue of rabbits from
individuals looking to surrender,
strays, and shelter rabbits needing
placement, Little Miracles has placed
and saved close to 1,000 bunnies! This
is huge accomplishment when you consider
the foster the rabbits, provide medical
care if needed, spay and neuter and only
then do they adopt them according to
their group’s standards.
The group offers this information about
House Rabbits:
If there's one thing they’ve learned in
years of rescuing rabbits, it's this:
most people looking to “get rid of” a
rabbit are doing so because of what they
consider to be behavior problems.
If your rabbit is not spayed or
neutered, it is completely normal for it
to bite, spray urine, hump everything
that moves, chew up your carpet and
furniture, growl, grunt, refuse to
litter train, lunge at you, smell bad,
and more. They ask that you reconsider
surrendering and try the spay or neuter
method first for it may very well solve
the problem
Whatever you do, don't be tempted to
"let go" of your bunny into the wild -
this is a death sentence! Domestic
rabbits have no means to defend
themselves, and no ability to hide. They
will be killed, most likely within 24-48
hours of release.
So if this is an emergency, please call
your local humane society to take your
rabbit then search online under “rabbit
rescue or house rabbit” for a group near
you.
If you have found a stray rabbit, please
put it in your bathtub with a towel as a
temporary solution. Give the bunny a
bowl of water and if you can, plain
rabbit pellets (sold at most pet
stores). We encourage you not to pick up
the rabbit after placing him/her in the
bathtub to avoid possible injury.
Contact Little Miracles as soon as
possible and they will direct you from
there.
If you’d like to help this wonderful,
selfless group you can do so many
ways:
Go Shopping!
The sites you already order from -
Amazon, Home Depot, Best Buy, Office
Depot, etc. - will give LMRR a
percentage if you shop from their
GiveBackAmerica.org page.
Help with their Veterinarian Debt
One of their greatest limitations is the
ability to spay and neuter the many
bunnies that come to the rescue. They
have secured a very low cost
veterinarian that is willing to perform
this task, however there is still a
cost. As low as $5 from each of their
visitors would mean so much.
They could also use things such as:
* Home Depot gift cards
* Cordless drill
* Shop Vac
* Insulation for our attic
* Tractor Supply gift cards
* Hay, food, and litter
* Toys and wicker baskets
* Towels
* Industrial quality mop and bucket (on
wheels with ringer)
Short on $$? Then Volunteer Your Time!
The organization could use:
Foster Homes: If you live in the
Southwest Florida area, preferably
between Hillsboro County and Lee
Counties, consider becoming a foster
home. They provide cages, food and start
up supplies, while you get the joy of
helping, all while only housing a few
bunnies. They especially need homes for
"special needs" rabbits, those that may
be sick, injured, or otherwise
unadoptable.
Call Takers: People to volunteer to
check their phone messages one or two
days per week, every week on their
designated day(s). Call takers need to
respond to every phone call by directing
the matter to the responsible person via
email. The group gets calls about
surrendering rabbits, adoptions,
questions, and requests for emergency
help. Basic training is provided.
Kennel Help: Volunteers in the Port
Charlotte / North Port area to help
clean cages and feed and water the
rabbits on a regular basis, weekly or
monthly.
Drivers: People to pick up and transport
rabbits to and from shelters, homes,
veterinarian appointments, etc. If you
live anywhere in South or Central
Florida and are willing to drive to
their facility when the need arises,
please consider being a driver.
Public Relations, Marketing, Fundraising
and Newsletter: attend events and help
promote the rescue, do online
advertising, research, search for
grants, contribute to online message
boards, organize/plan events,
fundraising ideas, or help
write/create/distribute their quarterly
newsletter. There are LOTS of ways to
get involved that don’t involve $, just
your time and skills.
Important Links
* House Rabbit Society
www.rabbit.org
* Rabbit Care Info at
www.QRabbit.com
* YahooGroups Discussion Forum
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/HouseRabbitDiscussion/
* BunSpace Page
http://www.bunspace.com/view_bunny?bunid=3615
* MySpace Page
http://www.myspace.com/littlemiraclesrr
To contact:
littlemiraclesrr@aol.com
www.littlemiraclesrr.org
North Port, FL
(941) 240-6412 |
Fax: