TH E B U N OL OGIST

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November 2011

Foster bunny saves girls life Hoppy Christmas in Sydney Myxo campaign 2011 World Vegan Day, Melbourne Summer & your bun Lucky bun Rabbit fur kicked off stage Life at the Do Hop Inn Toxic plants for rabbits

Foster bunny saves young girls life twice

17 November 2011 Central Coast News (US) California - A Seaside girl is still alive and her family credits their pet rabbit, Hammie. The Hudgens family fostered Hammie through Rabbit Rescue, but this seven month old rabbit is very special. "It was about two in the morning and I was awoken by a thumping and when rabbits thump, it's really loud," said Aundrea Hudgens, Emily's mother. "I didn't register what the sound was though. Heard it again and I got up to come to Emily's room to see what was going on." Aundrea's 14-year-old daughter Emily suffers from type one diabetes and sometimes her blood sugar plummets at night. Once Hammie woke Aundrea up, she decided to check Emily's sugar level. "I checked her blood and it was really low," she said. "And she usually wakes up for that but she wasn't awake this time. She was really pale and sweaty and so it was actually really dangerous that she didn't wake up. She could have died." Once Aundrea was able to treat Emily, Hammie stopped thumping. "It didn't occur to me that he was thumping because of her until I checked her blood sugar," she said. "Then I thought, oh my gosh, I wonder if that rabbit knew!" Aundrea said the same thing happened just a few weeks later. "Those two times he alerted us that something was wrong," she said. "I don't know how he could sense it but he did." Research shows rabbits have good hearing and there's a chance Hammie heard Emily having issues while sleeping. All we know for sure is this bunny who got a second chance at life, saved a life, twice. Central Coast News Reporter Katelyn Sykes asked Emily if she thought Hammie saved her life. "Yeah, because I wouldn't have woken up," she said. "I can't remember either of those two incidents. I didn't know they happened until my mom told me."

Christmas in Sydney Sunday 27 November 2011

Myxomatosis Campaign
With summer fast approaching, we need your help to remind Mr Joe Ludwig in Canberra that we still want the myxomatosis vaccine for our bunnies. He may have forgotten our beloved bunnies, but we havent!! You can write, email and send him something to remind him of our bunnies (toy bunny, photo, painting, whatever you like!). Joes email joe.ludwig@maff.gov.au Write to: The Hon Joe Ludwig Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry PO Box 6022 Parliament House CANBERRA ACT 2600

World Vegan Day

6 November 2011 http://www.wvd.org.au/ by Karen (BOING/Radical Rabbit) www.boingonline.com www.radicalrabbit.org Nimal and I had a fabulous time at World Vegan Day meeting lots of people and talking about bunnies as we LOVE to do!

Summer & your bun

by Karen (www.boingonline.com) Its time to start giving your bun a little bit of extra special attention before summer arrives. There are so many issues that happen over summer that need to be addressed to keep your buns happy, healthy & safe during the warmer weather.

Moulting
Im sure many people have noticed their bunny heavily moulting at the moment. The change of seasons means your bunny will need to shed their winter coat. This may show as a few small tufts. Sometimes it looks like someone has pressed a button and your bun has exploded. When bunnies moult, this is the danger time when they ingest too much fur for their digestive system to handle. Ensure that you groom your bunny daily to remove loose fur. This can be just pulling out loose tufts by hand, combing or brushing fur or using an electric set of clippers to remove long fur from angoras & cashmere buns. Ensure that your bunny has unlimited good quality hay to eat and lots of fresh water to drink at all times.

World Vegan Day is a yearly event all around the world to celebrate a cruelty free lifestyle without using animals. The bonus of these days is to highlight the most fabulous and tasty food not containing any animal products. Its a great day showing that vegans never miss out on anything. I had TWO of these fantastic gelatos from Fritz Gelato. YUMMM! Cant recommend them highly enough. This years World Vegan Day, I would say, was the most successful I have been to. The number of stalls was sensational, the food was fabulous and the music, art and entertainment was brilliant. If you have a chance to come along to a World Vegan Day event next year, please give it a go and enjoy the experience.

Calici vaccination
Make sure you keep up to date with your buns yearly calici vaccination, particularly if they live outside or play outside. A yearly vaccination against calici at least rules out one of the fatal introduced diseases that we can control. Use the yearly vaccination time with your vet to make sure that your bun gets his or her yearly checkup whilst you are at the vet clinic.

Insect proofing
If you have a bunny that lives outside, ensure that you have insect proofed all outside enclosures. Myxomatosis is going to start popping up again in the next few weeks so ensure that your bun is safe from this fatal contagious disease. Better still. bring your bun indoors to live with you!

Housing
This is the time when you might want to think about building an indoor enclosure for your bun before the hot weather begins. A rabbit will not tolerate hot weather and can easily die from heat stroke.

Write to Joe Ludwig

Take a bit of time this summer to write or email Joe Ludwig. He is the Minister that can sign the paper to provide us with a myxomatosis vaccine for our Australian bunnies. You might even see us there too! For email & address details for Joe Ludwig, see front page.

Lucky bunny
16 November 2011 - http://www.care2.com Written by Sharon Coughlin of New Jersey (USA) I was driving home at 11:30pm one night after working a second shift. Because we live in a rural area, I usually keep my eyes peeled for animals in or near the roadway. When I turned onto the hilly, windy road alongside a river, I rounded a corner and thought I saw a white fluffy object alongside the road. At first I thought it was a rabbit. But why would a rabbit be on the side of the road? Then, I reasoned that it must be someones cat. Since it wasnt moving, I thought it must have been hit by a car. I quickly debated whether or not I should stop. I knew the sight of an injured or dead animal would bother me a lot so I drove past. But, something inside me twinged. If the animal was still alive and I had not stopped for it, I could never forgive myself, so I turned the car around in a nearby driveway and went back. I made a U-turn and slowly drove up to the white fluffy object. My headlights shone on it. It did not move. I pulled off to the side of road and got out of the car. It was a rabbit! A tan and white rabbit. It was just sitting there, apparently uninjured, looking terrified. I love animals, but knew little about rabbits. I wasnt sure how to pick it up or how it would react, but I knew I had to rescue the little guy. I put my hands around its middle to try to pick it up. His fur was soft and he stretched and slid out of my grasp. Instead of running towards the shrubs near the river, he turned and hopped into the road. I looked to see if any cars were coming and prayed, God please help me to catch this rabbit! I quickly went up to the rabbit and scooped him up. I got back into the car and held him on my lap, while driving the rest of the way home. The next day, I went back to the area where I found him and knocked on some doors. I could not keep him if he was someones pet. One person I spoke with said her daughter had also seen the rabbit on the side of the road last night. She had wanted to stop, but didnt. The daughter had then asked her to go with her to find the rabbit, but the mother had declined, saying it was too dark out and would be difficult to find him. I did eventually find the owner. She said the rabbit had apparently gotten out of his hutch. She felt her children were not paying enough attention to the rabbit and asked if I wanted to keep him. Of course, I said yes! So, now Beasley resides at our house as a house rabbit, inside our home, warm and safe.

Protestors win! Rabbit fur gets the boot

9 September 2011 PETA Australia

After PETA Australia members took to the runway during a Melbourne Spring Fashion Week show, the show's organizers decided to pull all fur from the remaining shows. No doubt worried that more protests would soon follow, Fashion Week organizers directed furry Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology student designer Molly Herben to remove the rabbit fur pieces from her show before they hit the runway. Another designer, Jack Loder, who had planned to show dresses made of impala fur and leather and trimmed with exotic feathers, also pulled his designs. ''As they stormed the catwalk, I thought, 'What does this mean for my work?''' said Loder. ''I spoke to [Fashion Week officials] the next morning and we agreed straight away: it's best if we just take it down.'' While members of PETA and our affiliates continue to educate the fashion industry via their own runways, you can help crush the cruel fur industry's profits by refusing to buy or wear any fur.

Life at the Do Hop Inn

By Karen (www.boingonline.com)

Toxic plants for rabbits

Azalea/Rhododendron

Over the last month weve been very slowly trying to bond our latest bunny Finn with Isabelle. Its going to be a very slow process as Isabelle is a bun that needs lots of time to adjust and can be a little bit like a bull in a china shop and could easily bowl Finn over or bite him. We dont want to overwhelm Finn as he is a very quiet and gentle boy so barriers and swapping over are the way to go. We started with a double barrier and a tall gate so neither could jump over and neither could touch but could see and smell each other.

Azalea

Members of the Rhododendron spp. contain substances known as grayantoxins, which can produce drooling, diarrhea, weakness and depression of the central nervous system in rabbits. Severe azalea poisoning could ultimately lead to coma and death from cardiovascular collapse.

The double barrier Seeing that the buns were interacting well after a few weeks, we removed the second barrier so they now can touch each other. Rhododendron Both of these decorative plants are very popular in gardens around the world. Please be cautious if you have either of these plants growing in your garden & you allow your bunny free range of the same area. If you are concerned that your bunny has eaten any toxic plant in your garden, please seek veterinary attention as soon as possible.

The single barrier (and theyre getting closer)