Persephone and her seven precious babies are in foster care and being cared for in Memphis, TN. These eight rabbits are just a few of the over 60 who were rescued from the home of a middle-aged, sickly couple in McMinnville, TN. The rabbits were becoming ill and conditions in the home were deplorable. With over 100 rabbits, the couple prayed with their minister who helped them come to the realization they had lost control of the situation and agreed that most of the rabbits needed to be removed. The minister worked with the District Attorney's office and the state to take care of the situation before it worsened.

Bunny Rescue of Nashville, TN ( http://www.bunnyrescue.net ) director Laurie Montgomery and members of the organization worked with Warren County, Tennessee officials on Friday, October 28, 2005 to remove around 60 or more rabbits from the home of the couple. Of over 100 rabbits, many had already died of pneumonia or other illness and the owners were allowed to keep around 30 if they allow Bunny Rescue to shuttle them to Nashville for spays and neuters.

Karen Warren of Bunny Rescue says, “Along with other members of Bunny Rescue, I have been working with them (the rabbits) quite a bit, and they have already stolen our hearts. I especially have a huge crush on a sweet boy with a minor head tilt. He has a severe ear abscess, and we're hoping that is the cause of his head tilt - once that's cured, hopefully his tilt will disappear also. He seems perfectly happy to look at the world a bit cock-eyed, though.

Rabbitwise-Memphis ( http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/TN349.html ) manager, Patricia Brainard, who cares for chinchillas as well as rabbits, says Persephone and the babies are terrific pets and are ready to be adopted into permanent homes. She says “One of the amazing things about Persephone and her kits is that they all use the litter box properly; the babies use the litter box. That they figured this one out, coming from that charnel house, is an excellent example of how easy it is to litter box-train rabbits!”

Rescuing animals from a hoarding situation always puts an unexpected and serious strain on the rescuing organization, it’s staff and volunteers. Monetarily, taking in so many animals at once can break smaller groups. It is estimated that this rabbit hoarding case could cost them about $8,000.00 for spaying and neutering and the long term care for this group over the next year could be almost $20,000.00.

The Farm at Natchez Trace in Franklin, TN is providing temporary housing for the bunnies until they are spayed, neutered and put up for adoption. Karen Warren says, “We have some sweet bunnies looking for good, loving homes. Adoption would be ideal, but we also need foster families. We will also still need some volunteers (out at The Farm) who can help us clean cages & litterboxes, feed bunnies, and help them socialize within the next couple weeks. And, of course, donations of supplies or cash are always appreciated.

To offer assistance to Bunny Rescue, view a list of needed items or see about adopting a rabbit, see their Website at http://www.bunnyrescue.net

For more information and a list of needed items and to learn about responsible rabbit care, see The House Rabbit Society at http://www.rabbit.org

For more information on Hoarding Rabbits from The Wisconsin House Rabbit Society, see: http://www.wisconsinhrs.org/Articles/Animal%20Hoarding.htm

Article by Kathy Sumpter
West Tennessee Animal Coalition - www.WestTNAnimalCoalition.org
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