Make Mine Chocolate!

As a rescue focused on rabbits, every Easter we face a big challenge with people purchasing rabbits for the wrong reasons, since the rabbit is the symbol of this holiday. Many people like the novelty of having a young rabbit at their Easter party or as a gift for their kids. People buy baby rabbits for their children (who often beg for the cute fluffy bunny), then realize that they are a big commitment and get rid of them when the rabbit grows and reaches sexual maturity. Even shelters see an influx of potential adopters around this time of year.

About 2-3 months after Easter, there is a huge increase of rabbits dropped off at shelters. We call these rabbits "Easter rejects" since they are the poor victims of people buying or adopting rabbits for the wrong reasons and then dumping them when they no longer want the 8-10 year commitment.

In 2002, the Columbus chapter of the House Rabbit Society created a movement to put a stop to this pattern. They call their campaign, "Make Mine Chocolate." The focus is on just that- encouraging people to give chocolate rabbits as gifts rather than an innocent live animal. Their aim is to educate people on rabbits and their specific needs and to discourage people from buying or adopting rabbits as Easter gifts. If people gave chocolate bunnies to children instead of needing to buy a real bunny, many lives would be saved. Click here to visit the "Make Mine Chocolate" website.


As a rescue who cares about education and welfare of rabbits, we fully support this mission. Sadly, we do have some rabbits in our rescue who are victims of this horrible situation. One of them is Sunflower, who was purchased in Easter of 2008 and dumped at a shelter soon after. She is still on the search for a permanent, loving home. Even though this message relates to Easter and a specific time of year, this campaign helps people realize that rabbits should never be used as a gift. Even though fall is upon us now, this campaign has a great message that we wanted to share with everyone.