House Rabbit Society Singapore & Our Hoppy Tails!

Add comment April 2nd, 2008

HRSS Sponsor-A-Bunny Initiative - Updates & Changes

Dear sponsors and friends,

Since the conception and establishment of HRSS’ Sponsor-A-Bunny initiative in late 2005, we have received tremendous support and interest from the caring public (yes people like you)! The donations through this initiative have certainly gone a very long way to helping abandoned rabbits and giving them a second chance at life in new loving and permanent homes, while at the same time helped HRSS carry out many of our educational activities over the year.

We deeply apologize for the delayed responses to everyone who has written in to become a sponsor with us or have made inquiries regarding the initiative. We are happy to announce however that we will be having a re-vamp of the program this year to improve on the current initiative and to help you better understand the work that goes behind HRSS and of course the plights of our dear rabbits.

We faced a daunting and sad record high number of over 60 abandoned rabbits in our foster care from early 2006. But our dedicated adoptions/fostering team’s relentless determination to provide a better future for these rabbits have led to many good news for us to celebrate and cheer about.

In summary, from June 2006 to January this year, 36 bunnies have been adopted (yay!).

Here are a few quick updates about our foster bunnies:

* April 2007
7 bunnies were adopted: Snow, Caramel, Toffee, Kiki and Flipper and 2 baby bunnies from the special appeal
(http://www.hrss.net/abt/rescue/rescue_specialappeal.htm).

2 others, Dickie and Bunny, whom we were helping their owner to rehome, have also been adopted.

Unfortunately, we also took in 3 abandoned rabbits. 2 were left without food and water under a TV box and surrounded by cats. The rescuer found them almost motionless.

* Dec 2006

Just as over 30 rabbits are adopted, we welcomed 20 rabbits into our foster care that we need to find homes for.

Gaby & Midnight, Chaddy & Holly, Lele & Flurry, Coco and Gigi were adopted in December.

* September 2006 - More successful adoptions and hoppy endings!

Blue & Bella
Rico & Leo
Apple & Spottie
Philip & Cutie
Ocean & Eleven
Felix & Harvey
Peanut & Ryan
Popcorn & Candy Floss

Thanks to the united hard work of our adoption/fostering officers, the HRSS team as well as your support, this has all been made possible.

We do have an urgent appeal at this moment that require alot of help in every way, from fostering to sponsorship of sterilization. More details here:

http://www.hrss.net/abt/rescue/rescue_specialappeal.htm

Help us help rabbits!

Once again, on behalf of all our sweet foster rabbits, thank you!

Add comment May 17th, 2007

Fostering Pair - Tam and Tammie

This lovely pair are rescued and passed to us in January 07. They were dumped at the HDB corridor and a kind rescuer came by. I remembered how relieved they were when they are released from the small cage - I guess they have not been stretching for a long time because when they are placed in the playpen, they not even know how to hop around but moved in tiny little steps! And each step they took, they turned and looked at me! I couldn’t figure out what’s the meaning but I guess they wanted to tell me how happy they were. When they were very sure it is safe to move around, the next few days are heaven to them, imagined they simply do nothing but hoping around exploring the playpen areas till they were tired.

They are such a lovely pair with superb sweet nature. That’s why I named them Tam (Boy) and Tammie(Girl).

We are grateful when Janet came forward as foster parent and right now Tam and Tammie are in such a good hand under her fostering care. Right now we really hope they can find a lovely permanent home soon.

1 comment April 6th, 2007

Snow Angel

After Stitch, my mom made it clear that I should not have more rabbits so I could not continue to foster rabbits as much as I’d like to. But, being ME, it didn’t stop me from continuously working in the Adoptions & Fostering field.

Snowy is my second “client”. She needed a home badly, urgently and desperately. She was abandoned at an animal hospital by an irresponsible and disgusting person (curse whoever it was) and the hospital kept her in hopes of being able to adopt her out.

It became 2 years when Snowy was finally brought to the attention of Jackie. The animal hospital decided not to keep her longer and was about to *ahem* her. It’s not fair! So Jac spread the news like wildfire in hopes that someone would come forth to adopt or foster her.

There was no one at such short notice so in my desperation, I asked Wendy. After telling her about the situation, even though she has never had much experience with rabbits then, she agreed to foster Snowy.

Love blossomed between them. Snowy was a gentle and sweet little angel. Wendy loved to cuddle and feed her and fussed over her like a doting mother. Snowy was adopted. Everything Snowy thought she may have lost from the day she was abandoned at the hospital was renewed. I think that is such a good feeling, knowing that you gave something as simple as Love to a bunny. It didn’t cost a thing and it’s priceless. It comes from the heart.

When you find such a giving and loving heart, present it to a unwanted and needy animal. Those 2 hearts will start to beat together.

As a third person watching it all, it brings tears to my eyes every time I think of Snowy and Wendy. I burst into more fresh tears whenever I think about how Snowy did not manage to enjoy more of Wendy’s Love longer.

Sadly, Snowy passed on in less than a year in Wendy’s care. Snowy had had a weak digestive system all the while. Her defaecation was always small no matter what we fed her. Or how we forced her to take more fibre. Her appetite was always smaller than your usual ravenous rabbit.

Snowy was an angel. Through her, one more rabbitlover was born. Wendy’s got another albino rabbit now named Okie. Albinos rock!

2 comments December 2nd, 2006

V.eve & Topaz

Um … I lied. I need to squeeze in just one more post before I go into the DIY details.

Like I said, I kept all my rabbits. Not one was abandoned. Not one was deserted. I kept all my rabbits. Until Steffi adopted V.eve and Topaz.

That was some time during the process of littertraining all the rabbits. You people will probably laugh at me but I stayed up one fine night - all night - in the playpen with the rabbits just so I can monitor them 24-7 (talk about literal terms) and shoo them into the litterbox when I spied a lifting tail. I am such a pathetic owner.

Anyway, Steffi and her parents came to my place to view the rabbits and - smart girl - she picked Topaz and V.eve who were then the MOST littertrained (though not completely but nonetheless) of my rabbits. Good on her.

They live a pampered life at her place. I know that because I’ve seen it with my own eyes and Steffi keeps in touch with me. She is such a wonderful girl. She loves and cherishes them, and pops in on events to support HRSS as well as to grab stuff for the kiddos to chew/eat/munch/destroy.

Their names have been corrected to Toppy and Eveie, by the way. But they’ll still be the little red and black wiggly things I first set my eyes on on February 13th 2003.

1 comment December 2nd, 2006

Stitch

Okay, I officially feel like a grandma telling longish bedtime stories about “Long before you were born …” so I thought I shall make this post something a little more worthwhile before I fill Cyberworld with dodgy details about my rabbits from hell.

Anyway, this is about Stitch, a dear sweet rabbit I could never forget. 3 days into volunteering to be a foster parent for HRSS and I was phoned to pick up an abandoned rabbit from Simei. A kind dude found a ditched rabbit on the stairs of his flat and took it in while finding out what to do with it.

Honestly, when I had 6 rabbits then, like ONE more would make any difference. That’s why I agreed to foster. WITHOUT my mom’s permission again, no less. *sigh* I don’t know when will I kick away this nasty habit of not obtaining prior permission.

Right, so I went down to Simei and picked up - I swear - the most horrible creature I have ever seen in my life. Well, biologically, it was a rabbit. Physically, it was something plagued with a serious disease and was crusted at the ears, nose, feet and tail. Geez, it didn’t even look half a rabbit to me then.

I was so shocked but I took it anyway. My mom was so taken aback by the look of it when I brought it home that she almost wanted me to chuck it out immediately had I not insisted that it was going to the vet’s and all is well. Anyway, we named him Stitch.

Stitch went to the vet’s the next day and the time that followed thereafter was amazing. Despite being physically and most likely emotionally battered, Stitch was a happy-go-lucky rabbit. He ate with a ravenous appetite and binkied whenever he was let out of his cage. He was the best self-littertrained rabbit, even better than my own rabbits.

When the crusts that plagued him all fell out and his fur started growing back, I loved him more. He would always greet me with interest and a binky. He was like a puppy. He would follow me into the lift to go downstairs to collect the mail then back up to the 7th floor in the lift. He was an absolute darling.

If I hadn’t already had 6 devils in the house, I would definitely have kept Stitch as well. Even my mom had a change of opinion of him. He was THAT endearing.

After 3 months in my care, Stitch found a loving home with Lynette Chua and family. Their little girl loves Stitch to bits. Stitch allowed himself to be clumsily cuddled by the then 6-year-old.

I miss the little dude. He will always have a place in my heart.

1 comment December 2nd, 2006