By Deborah Taylor-French

From abandoned to adopted

Three years of blogging about pet rescue, animal welfare and making daily efforts to get shelter pets a home, we surrendered our foster care rescue rabbit, Yoshi to the Sonoma County Animal Care and Control.

Photo Credit: Marc Hoffman

Alex saved Yoshi + his left paw

About a year ago, Alex rescued and saved an abandon a white rabbit’s life.

Alex named him, Yoshi, which means lucky in Japanese.

Alex paid Vet bills she could afford. She nursed the rabbit every four hours for five or six weeks. Her care and effort saved Yoshi’s crushed and infected left front paw.

___Alex kept Yoshi in a pen in her landlord’s garage. Although this began with mutual interest, the rabbit became a source of argument. Alex lives a busy life, working a job and taking college courses, she did not have the room or the time Yoshi needed.

Marc gave Yoshi foster care

So we crated Yoshi and our rabbit, Tuxedo, and drove to  Rohnert Park Animal Shelter. RPAS has knowledgeable and friendly bunny volunteers and staff. for a bunny date

After Yoshi’s first nail trim, we put her in an Ex-pen. But when we added Tuxedo. Tux took off like a bullet train, making tracks over poor Yoshi.

Marc, Alex and I had been asking people who had indoor rabbits if they wanted Yoshi. No one followed through.

We turned down offers of people who kept their rabbits outside. Indoor rabbit live longer, healthier lives. Mosquitos and fleas infect USA pet rabbits with an incurable disease. Our USDA has not approved the vaccine, so all we can do is keep the insect disease carriers away from pet rabbits.

All the rescues and most local animal shelters were full of rabbits. Mickey Zeldes, Director of Rohnert Park Animal Shelter, told us that after contacting her network this past summer, the majority were all suddenly full of abandoned pet rabbits.

Surrendering Yoshi

Because someone abandoned Yoshi in a cage, outside city limits, the only place to surrender Yoshi was the county animal shelter. They promised that Yoshi would never be euthanize. They planned to put Yoshi on their Website and make him ready for adoption.

Marc and I surrendered Yoshi, after questioning the staff and inspecting the shelter’s rabbit pens, I paid the surrender fee.

But SCACC just has a sheltered outdoor rabbit section. Although that November winter turned freezing cold, we knew Yoshi needed a forever home.

 We worried & visited Yoshi

Had we done the wrong thing?

• We drove back the next day to see Yoshi. More than once.
• Yoshi hopped about lively. He recognized us!
• The shelter Vet put Yoshi on a special diet.

Felt ashamed + guilty, sad and helpless

All the while, I kept blogging, posting to Facebook and Twitter trying to get Yoshi a home.

After two long months, good news came via Sonoma County Animal Care and Control on Facebook. Not only had Yoshi been adopted, his new pet parent knew all about house rabbits.

On his special diet, Yoshi had lost the gray smudges on his nose and ears.

White as new snow, Yoshi is now a Sonoma County Animal Care Calendar Pet.

Yoshi is the only rabbit who has his own month of the year!

Would I do it again? Take a homeless pet to a shelter?

Hope I never have to.