Great Lakes Rabbit Sanctuary

Protecting Rabbits & Others


P.O. Box 7, Whittaker, Michigan 48190
(734) 461-1726
email: info@rabbitsanctuary.org
www.rabbitsanctuary.org

March 20, 2007

Ellen McDowell
Public Relations &
Program Development
RabbitStop.com
FerretDepot

Dear Ellen:
We at Great Lakes Rabbit Sanctuary were quite thankful to be selected for a 2006 Rabbit Stop grant. On December 5, 2006 we received 511 rabbits from Best Friends Animal Society’s Great Bunny Rescue in Reno, Nevada. In preparation for their arrival Best Friends built a hospital building we knew we would need as the rabbits established their territories, which always results in fighting. They outfitted a huge existing barn with rabbit proofing, and two adjoining yards for the rabbits to hop about in. We hired a full-time sanctuary manager to live on-site in the farmhouse, along with an additional animal caretaker we also added to our staff. We purchased the property on which we were located, a longtime dream for us, as now the rabbits own their own home! We had several tons of rabbit feed specially made and delivered; we stocked up with several hundred bales of straw and 500 bales of hay – expecting this to last just three months. With a population of approximately 635, we knew we would be going through an unbelievable amount of food!
The hay and straw presented a little problem. We have a huge old dairy barn with a loft designed for storing hay and straw. The problem was we did not have a hay elevator to get the bales up there. The farmer we bought the hay from was kind enough to do a great deal of tiring work to help us out – he nearly single-handedly threw each bale up to the loft from his trailer, and the rest of us, who are not strong enough to do that, stacked it all in the loft. When he told us that we needed to get a hay elevator as he can’t do this every time, we knew this was a reasonable request, and a true need that we had not anticipated. New hay elevators cost about $1200, but we knew that there have to be used but working ones forgotten in barns somewhere near us. With the grant from Rabbit Stop towards the purchase of a hay elevator, we have been searching for a used one we can afford. While we haven’t found that elevator yet, we have managed to get by with purchasing small amounts of hay at a time, which we are storing on the ground in another barn. This is not ideal, as most of the farms around here have run out of hay! But our sanctuary manager has been able to find enough to get by for a few weeks until we find another source. We’re keeping our paws crossed that we’ll get that elevator before this season’s hay crop is baled in June.
2007 has already been a busy year at Great Lakes Rabbit Sanctuary. In December we discovered that we had a big problem with the yards for the Reno rabbits. They were in a flood zone, something we had no idea about, and after a very heavy rain the yards became Lake Reno! The rabbits had to be moved, so in January Best Friends staff returning to GLRS and helped us prepare a new yard and barn for the Reno rabbits, and then worked tirelessly with us to catch and move all 511 bunnies. In addition, we have been having a difficult time treating the Reno rabbits for e. cunniculi, which they arrived at our sanctuary with. We have fed them treated feed and have had as many as 36 rabbits in our hospital at a time, rabbits that are too sick to stay outdoors and need daily medications. We’ve also had a large number of injured rabbits, and a few that arrived with pre-existing conditions that worsened and required surgery.
Despite these unexpected issues, Great Lakes Rabbit Sanctuary has continued to take in additional rabbits, as spaces open up as rabbits are adopted. Last fall we took 10 rabbits from Catskill Game Farm in New York, which was closing and auctioning off all the animals to the highest bidders. In March of 2006 we accepted 7 rabbits from a dying woman in New Jersey, and they were transported to us via RabbitWise’s Bunderground railroad. Our spokesbunny, Gabe, and a few of his rabbit friends appeared on a local TV show. We are offering free Bunny Basics rabbit care classes prior to Easter, held in our local Petsmart store. And of course we have also held a couple of adoption events in pet supply stores. We have a couple of videos of our rabbits on youtube.com, and are planning a series of amusing and educational videos over the next few months. Finally, last fall we rescued two baby potbelly pigs, and are awaiting the arrival of two more who were abandoned. There’s always something new and exciting happening at GLRS!
For the animals,

Lake Jacobson
Executive Director
www.rabbitsanctuary.org
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