Welcome Mama & the Piggies!

We know...you've never seen anything so cute before in your life. Introducing Mama & the Piggies! Poor Mama had countless babies in her lifetime- but these will be her last! She came into the county shelter with 8 others and Mama was pregnant! She gave birth just days after getting there. She is a wonderful mother and the sweetest guinea pig ever. Oh, and these babies...definitely the cutest animals we've ever seen! Luckily, we already have an adopter (one of our past adopters and foster moms) who is interested in ALL 3! What a happy ending that would be for this amazing trio. Stay tuned for updates! ♥

Congratulations Benny!!!!

A BIG congratulations to Hug-a-Bunny Benny on finding his "forever home" with the wonderful Lauren! Benny was left in a cardboard box outside one of our foster mom's homes (one reason we do not meet at our homes). He was in horrible shape and it was obvious he had endured a life without a lot of love. Luckily, Benny was a resilient boy with an amazing spirit! He gained weight immediately and quickly became one of our happiest and most laid back fosters ever! Finally, Benny has a home of his own who will cherish him forever! Congrats to Benny...enjoy living the "good life!"

Congratulations Chex!

A big congratulations to Chex (one of the "Miracle Babies") on his wonderful new home! Chex's new human brother made this card for us (with the help of his mother) to thank us for bringing Chex into their lives. We wish Chex a lifetime of happiness in his "forever home!"

OUR 260th ADOPTION!

Thanks to all of your support, we were able to attain another goal that we never thought possible. Yesterday, we had our 260th adoption! This was a huge accomplishment for us and we are so proud! Most importantly, we're happy for all of our 260 rabbits who have found amazing "forever homes!" Each one has touched our hearts and will remain there forever. Take a minute to browse through our "Hoppy Tails" section of our website(hugabunny.petfinder.com) to see all of the amazing animals who have been lucky enough to find permanent homes! Our incredible Benny was our 260th adoption. Congratulations to Benny and all of our 260 adopted Hug-a-Bunnies!

Introducing...MAYA!

 Introducing...MAYA! Naming entry by Jaaini Brinckerhoff, mom of our amazing Smuckers (adopted in 2008). Maya was named after Maya Angelou-for being fearless and for the courage and perseverance she showed over her year outdoors on her own. Thank you everyone for entering the contest!

 Maya settling into her foster home

Maya will be sharing her quotes with you as often as she can. 

Today's quotes directly reflect Maya's journey!

"The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned." -Maya Angelou

 "I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow." -Maya Angelou

Enjoy your new name and new life, sweet Maya! 

A Whole New World

Jess and the newest Hug-a-Bunny...right after being rescued

This sweet girl has been living outdoors for a year! She was abandoned by her family when they moved away a YEAR ago! Apparently, they had other rabbits and 4 cats- all who were let outdoors when they moved away and didn't want them. The cats are still in and out of the abandoned house, but all of the rabbits vanished- except one. For a whole year, which amazing girl has been living outdoors around her former (now abandoned) home and never left the property. She would go one house to the left or right, but never went farther. For a full year, she's been fending for herself. It's amazing that she survived this tough winter!


Some sweet and caring neighbors noticed that she was outdoors and wanted to do something about it. For days, they set traps with carrots inside, but she was too smart to fall for that. They reached out to us late last night and by this afternoon, we had 4 Hug-a-Bunny volunteers show up to get to work- me (Jamie), Tammie, Jessica (in picture above), and Jeri (a talented bird rescuer) all dropped everything to be there. The rabbit gave us some nice exercise to make sure we deserved to get her. We needed a few extra hands, so we asked some boys from the neighborhood to help. We all got the sweet bunny safely into one area (using my window screens, of course) and Jeri was able to get her into her net! I immediately picked her up and gave her a BIG kiss...today was her lucky day! Today, she felt love for the first time in her life. Right after I hugged her, Jess took her and hugged her too- see above picture for proof! So many people seamlessly bonded together to make sure she was safe and secure. Goes to show you what a little teamwork can do! Tonight is the very first night this sweetie will be indoors in a loving, warm home. Even before she was "homeless" she was living outdoors in a shed. This truly is a rags-to-riches story. She's on the search for her "forever home," but there's a long road ahead before that happens. Let's take it one step at a time! 

Enjoy your first night of the rest of your life!!!!

Stay tuned for updates on this sweetie- and for her name! We're currently having a naming contest on Facebook to see who comes up with the perfect new name for her! 

Tribute to a Wonderful Woman

It is with great sadness and a heavy heart that we share this news with you. Our vet and personal friend, Dr. Cheryl Welch, passed away this week on Wednesday, February 23rd, after a brave fight with cancer. Cheryl was diagnosed on January 13th, only a little over a month ago. Losing Cheryl is a great loss to our community and to the whole world. She was a true advocate for animals and loved and respected every creature. We will all miss her greatly. 

 

Our trusted vet, Dr. Cheryl Welch

Dr. Welch was there for Frannie and myself when we started Hug-a-Bunny back in 2006. However, even before that, Cheryl was the vet to my own bunny, Bella (hard to remember a time when I only had just 1!). I had rescued Bella as an adult rabbit from almost being fed to a snake and took her with me to college. I only knew the basics of rabbit care at that point and didn’t realize the importance of having rabbits spayed, which of course she wasn’t when I rescued her. Three years later, when Bella was around 5 or 6 years old I felt a mass in her lower stomach. Being so far away from home, I tried to find vets in Upstate, NY who I could trust. At the time, I took Bella to a nice vet up there who recommended spaying her, but told me it was a very risky surgery for rabbits. I wasn’t ready to put Bella through that. I waited a few months until I graduated and moved back home to New Jersey, where I researched rabbit surgery and knew how routine it was and that it needed to be done. I found the best vet for rabbit surgeries that I could. 

Enter Cheryl Welch- a sweet, kind, bubbly, and wonderful woman. We hit it off immediately and sensing I was nervous about Bella’s health, she took the time to make me feel comfortable- in my case, over an hour. Immediately, I knew this was the person to save Bella’s life. The following week, Cheryl spayed Bella- the whole time I waited nearby and was a nervous wreck! They sent away her uterus and ovaries for biopsies, but Dr. Welch was pretty sure it looked cancerous.  Cheryl said she thought she got it all (in case it was cancerous) but that it was one of the worst cases she’d seen. Bella recovered at home and was back to herself in about a week. Meanwhile, the results came back and we found that there was cancer all over her uterus and ovaries- all they way up onto the horns of her uterus! When I was talking to Dr. Welch on the phone about it (I was even stunned that she would call me!) she explained that Bella’s prognosis was good, since she removed everything she could see. It was from that day on that I trusted Cheryl, and I still tell anyone who will listen that she was the best surgeon I know! Just as an aside, this type of cancer is so common in unspayed female rabbits (one of the reasons we spay and neuter every rabbit we rescue).

At the same time, Frannie and I met when we were becoming therapeutic riding instructors and we realized that we were both vegetarians and that we both had a rabbit (weird) whose name started with the letter “B”- Bella and Bumbalina! Our friendship was sparked then- and soon after we started rescuing rabbits, inspired by our own two rabbits. It started with Lily, a beautiful French lop, who was going to be fed on a dinner plate when her owners no longer wanted her.  We were able to rescue Lily (informally the start of our rescue) and we took her, of course, straight to Dr. Welch, who examined her and gave her a clean bill of health. Soon after, Dr. Welch spayed Lily (at the time we paid almost $400 for the spay) and we found her a foster home and then a “forever” home! Hug-a-Bunny was born! Shortly after that, we approached Cheryl and asked her to help us start our rescue- and to be our rescue’s vet. She was so proud- and never wavered in her support for us and our organization. She helped us set up a wonderful relationship with her hospital and staff. We frequented the hospital on Mondays for surgeries, Cheryl’s surgery day, often bringing 2 rabbits at a time! She was a pro at spaying and neutering our rabbits! Amazingly, my own Bella lived 5 (yes, 5) more long years, and passed in March of 2010, all due to the life-saving surgery of Dr. Welch.

Over the past 6+ years of Hug-a-Bunny, Dr. Welch was always there for us. She spayed and neutered over 80 rabbits (on a quick count) and treated countless others.  She was an amazing champion to animals, large and small, and we never could have saved as many lives as we have without her constant support. She always welcomed us into her animal hospital and made us feel like part of your family there. She even welcomed two of our rescued Hug-a-Bunnies, Tre (who sadly passed away) and Stevie II, into her home! I spoke to Cheryl in January (the last surgery she did for us) about a rabbit she was doing surgery on, and she made it a point, in true Cheryl-style, to tell me how proud she was of us and how far we’ve come, even when she wasn’t feeling well herself. What an incredible woman.

                                  Cheryl's daughter Kyra, with their adopted Hug-a-Bunny Stevie

It's a rare thing when someone can make every client, every friend, and every animal feel special- and Dr. Welch always did that for Hug-a-Bunny and so many others. Through tough times and happy times, she was always there to support us and give us advice. We hope we can do the same for her family and her four children in the days and months to come. Cheryl’s passing has left a huge hole in our hearts, but we know that her legacy will live on. We can see it every day in the faces of all of our Hug-a-Bunnies, both past and present… as she played a part in our creation. Our thanks could never be enough for all Dr. Welch has done for us personally and for our rescue. There aren't words to express our gratitude to her. She was a truly special person and an inspiration to us all. She will be greatly missed and forever appreciated.

Love, 

Jamie & Frannie

Co-Directors, Hug-a-Bunny Rabbit Rescue

For more information about Cheryl or the arrangements, please visit the following site.

Hug-a-Bunny Featured on Petfinder's "Ask the Expert" Forum

This week, from February 21st- 28th, Hug-a-Bunny will be the resident expert on all things "rabbit" on Petfinder's "Ask the Expert" forum! We were asked by Petfinder to reside over the questions people might have about rabbit behavior, health, care, and anything else! Take a look when you have a moment and feel free to ask a question! 

Petfinder's "Ask the Expert" forum

February is Adopt-a-Rescued-Rabbit Month!

Please consider opening up your home to a rabbit in need this month (or any month for that matter)! Rabbits are such wonderful, intelligent, and affectionate animals. There are so many homeless rabbits in shelters and rescues across our country! We have 30 rabbits in our rescue right now who are looking for wonderful "forever homes!" 

Consider rescuing a rabbit...your life will never be the same! 

From One Blogger to Another

We like to keep in touch with all adopters, and occasionally we'll get some adorable photos of our past Hug-a-Bunnies in their new homes! With Leo, our toothless man, we got very lucky...his new mom is a blogger!

This attached link will take you to the blog of Leo's new mom, Anne. She and her husband Kevin were undoubtably the most amazing home Leo could find! They understand his needs and couldn't be happier to meet them! What incredible people! Hopefully, we'll be able to catch glimpses of Leo in his new home (including his chronicles with cat roommate, Pinchita) through Anne's blog! Keep up the good work, Anne!

Anne's Blog About Leo

A Valentine's Day to Remember!

Today was quite the amazing day for our Hug-a-Bunnies! 

We had scheduled the very first adoption for one of the Winter Babies on Valentine's Day, the very first day they could be separated from their mother at exactly 8 weeks of age! Tina had been approved to adopt Dasher, the spotted baby, from the time he was 5 weeks old! She had a countdown running until the day she met him and was coming all the way from Connecticut to come get him!

At the same time in another state, Eileen and Tom were looking for their match. They recently lost a beloved rabbit and wanted to meet a few buns to find their match. They contacted us from far away in Long Island looking for their perfect match. They hoped it was Sir and wanted to meet him, but we typically don't do "meet & greets." They were approved for adoption and were so wonderful that we made an exception this time for Sir- and we all met at the wonderful Westwood Pets in Westwood, NJ before Dasher's nighttime adoption. After just a few minutes with Sir, Eileen and Tom made the decision to add him to their family! He's such a lucky boy and now will be living the life of luxury out in Long Island! "Sir Jacob," as he is now called is one lucky bunny!

 Eileen and Sir right after he found out he was going home!

 Jamie (Hug-a-Bunny Co-Director), Eileen, and Sir

The new parents (Eileen and Tom) & handsome Sir

Sir in his new home! Congrats sweet Sir! 

Then, I was off to meet Tina so that she could finally meet her sweet baby, Dasher, who turned 8 weeks old TODAY! He was the first to be separated and was understandably shaken. No worries- Tina was all set with her carrier and LOTS of love! Tina was so patient (and even though she was in the area early) and she waited patiently so that Sir could have his special time as well. Now Eileen (who adopted Sir) and Tina have a special connection- both brought home their sons on Valentine's Day!!! Eileen even sent Tina a special note and some goodies! What wonderful ladies!!!! 

Tina was so sweet and brought a gift for me and Jessica, his foster mom. We each got this incredible mug that Tina made for us! How adorable?!?! 

 The front of the mug, Dasher's handsome face

The back of the mug, SO ADORABLE! Thanks Tina, we'll cherish these!!! 

It just goes to show you that there ARE amazing people out there. Every amazing adoption we have, we think "there can't possibly be another adopter out there like this," but each and every time we're surprised. We have had 229 amazing families adopt wonderful animals from our rescue. We feel so lucky to have such an amazing extended Hug-a-Bunny family!

After Sir and Dasher were adopted, this tallied 6 Hug-a-Bunny adoptions within the last 5 days! Add in the adoptions of the Winter sisters this coming Wednesday, and that will be 8 adoptions within 1 week! It almost seems impossible, but adopt-a-rabbit month really seems to be working! Jessie (the guinea pig), Woody, Soul, Paris, Sir, and Dasher all found homes this week, and Vixen & Dancer are next on Wednesday! We're typically lucky if we have 8 adoptions every 2 months, so this is miraculous! All we can say is, we hope this adoption streak continues!!!!! 

Today we also received a few wonderful pictures and notes from past Hug-a-Bunnies in their new homes, wishing us all a happy Valentine's Day. The most love-themed would be the amazing Pickle (formely Sundance) with his best friend and sister Emma the pug. What a cute couple! It's amazing to still keep in touch with so many former adopters! In fact, we'll be starting a column titled "News from My New Life" where we get updates on past Hug-a-Bunnies in their new homes! Feel free to send in updates of your adopted Hug-a-Bunnies! 

Pickle (formerly Sundance) and Emma

Happy Valentine's Day, Year of the Rabbit, and Adopt-a-Rabbit Month! We're so happy to have helped so many amazing animals find their "forever homes!" More to come...

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Hi, Cupid here! Happy Valentine's Day from everyone here at Hug-a-Bunny to you and your furry family! I'm hoping to find my "forever home" soon, but until then I'll be shooting arrows at all of you!

The WINTER Babies

Now unveiling...the beautiful Winter Babies! Born only 4 weeks ago, these babies are just beginning to learn about the exciting world around them! Take a look at these faces- one look and you'll be hooked! Obviously these babies need at least 4 more weeks with their mother, the fabulous Winter, but after that will be available for adoption! Please email hugabunny@gmail.com for more information or an adoption application!

In order of appearance:
Vixen (female), Comet (male), Dasher (male), Prancer (male), Donner (male), Dancer (female) and Blitzen (male)

Here's Mom...Winter! What a great mommy she's been! She's also looking for a wonderful home! 

Stay updated for new pictures of Mama Winter and the Winter Babies as they continue to GROW!