Harry and Natalia, Theodore, and Meisha came to us from city shelters, but they were lucky. Many shelter rabbits don't make it this far. The Shelter Outreach Project helps us extend our reach to rabbits in need across the state. Photographs courtesy Heartland Rabbit Rescue.
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Heartland Rabbit Rescue reaches out to Shelter Rabbits Thanks to
RabbitStop.com
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We often devise grand schemes but lack the funding to bring them to fruition, as is the plight of many animal rescues. This time is different. With the help of RabbitStop.com, our Shelter Outreach Project has been given the breath of life.
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Heartland Rabbit Rescue is centrally located in Blanchard, OK, just south of Oklahoma City, and we are the only rescue dedicated to domestic rabbits in the state. Like most rescues, we are often at full capacity. We needed a way to extend our reach to rabbits across the state who are dumped at shelters and have little chance finding a forever home. With the Shelter Outreach Project, we can accomplish this goal.
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Essentially, the Shelter Outreach Project is an educational initiative designed to educate the public and shelter employees about rabbits as companion animals, change the paradigm of rabbits as livestock, and increase adoptions. By agreeing to participate in our program, shelters will receive an initial mailing that includes a laminated poster donated by the House Rabbit Society, a shelter copy of our adoption packet, and up to ten adoption packets to be provided to people who adopt a rabbit from the shelter. The adoption packets include information sheets and a multitude of other goodies to help new bunny parents start off on the right foot. We plan to offer ongoing support to participating shelters and establish a line of communication to help us stay better informed of the needs of abandoned, abused and neglected domestic rabbits across the state.
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We have already made our initial contact with 103 Oklahoma shelters inviting them to participate in the program and have responses coming in every day. The posters have been laminated and the packets are just about ready to be printed. With Easter just around the corner, our goal is to have posters and packets in place at participating shelters in time to help all the abandoned Easter bunnies who need a helping hand.
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We are very excited about the potential of our Shelter Outreach Project. It wouldn’t have been possible without the understanding and support of RabbitStop.com. Thank you!
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