TH E B U N OL OGIST

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October 2011
Hero rabbit World Vegan Day 6/11/11 World Animal Day Adopt me! People & Pets event, Sydney Life at the Do Hop Inn

Hero rabbit saves owners from house fire in Alaska

16 September 2011 Reuters ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A pet rabbit is being credited for saving its owners from a house fire in southeastern Alaska before it died of smoke inhalation, fire officials said. The rabbit woke up the homeowner early on Tuesday morning by scratching on her chest, the Ketchikan Fire Department said in a statement. The homeowner realized that the house was full of smoke, woke up her daughter and fled the house. The fire was brought under control fairly quickly, with four engines, a ladder truck and 33 firefighters responding. Damage to the house from flames, smoke and water was considered moderate. While there were no injuries to the mother or daughter, the rabbit was not so lucky. The animal succumbed to smoke inhalation and did not survive, the fire department said.

World Vegan Day

Sunday 6 November 2011 FREE ENTRY!!! 10am 5pm Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers Street, Melbourne

Celebrate healthy living!

Join us on Sunday 6 November 2011 at the Abbotsford Convent for the annual WORLD VEGAN DAY Melbourne event, a celebration of personal health, our environment, and the ethical treatment of animals. Radical Rabbit will be there! Its a free event so come along, eat some yummy food, visit some excellent stalls and come over to our table & say hello!

World Animal Day

www.edgarsmission.org.au 2 October 2011 by Karen (BOING/Radical Rabbit)

World Animal Day at Edgars Mission was fantastic as always!! We love visiting this animal sanctuary and getting up close with the most beautiful rescued farm animals. Nimal & myself were the voice of rabbits for the day. We shared information and chatted to people about rabbit care, veterinary issues and problems faced in so many areas by our defenceless and innocent little friends.

All the food was vegan so no animal was harmed in the making of this delicious food!!! And there was Mr Nice Guy Cupcakes. And a vegan bbq. And vegan pies. And vegan cakes, biscuits, chocolate balls. If ever you havent tried vegan food, come along to one of these events and youll be surprised at food you can eat that is healthy & delicious!!

Rosie the sheep was impressed by our Kiss My Buns Lip Balm

We spent the day highlighting the four major problems domestic rabbits face: 1. 2. 3. 4. prison pets (tiny cages) lab testing meat farming fur as fashion

It was lovely to speak to so many people about bunnies and met a few that had not heard of the Melbourne Rabbit Clinic who lived in Melbourne.

Nimal was clearly mooooooved at Edgars Mission

Adopt me!
Name: Location: Contact: Flops Sydney
companionrabbits@gmail.com

Pets & People Event

10 September 2011 Sydney City Council by Anne Hall

CRA's stall all set up and looking bunnerific!

On Saturday 10 September the annual Pets and People festival was held by the Sydney City Council in Ward Park, Surry Hills. Free microchiping, BBQ (yes including fresh fruit and veggie burgers), and pet health checks by student vets from Sydney University, were available to all. For the first time this year rabbits as well as the traditional cats and dogs were included in the festivities, as Companion Rabbit Advocates (CRA) was invited to run a stall. We were able to distribute information regarding rabbit care while promoting adoption over purchase. To help us with this, we had two rabbits plus staff and volunteers from a local shelter. The beautiful and friendly rabbits were admired by all, including the Sydney Mayor who came and visited our stall. Festival organisers were quite impressed with how busy our stall was and hopefully will invite us back next year. For more photographs from the day please go to

Flops was the star at the Companion Rabbit Advocates Pets & Peoples Day Stall in September. Flops was surrendered to a shelter. Some fur was not growing back on his ears, and the decision was to euthanase him. Fortunately, one of the volunteers at the shelter who has never had a rabbit before took him home. She a non rabbit person but was captivated by his friendly, wonderful nature & could not let him die. She has cats & dogs and can not keep him permanently so please if anyone is interested in adopting Flops, can they please contact the Companion Rabbit Advocates on companionrabbits@gmail.com

Clover Moore, the Mayor of Sydney, visiting the CRA stall

http://companionrabbits.org/
By collecting donations for cup cakes and rabbit biscuits we were able to raise some funds for CRA too.

Our next big event sponsored by Sydney City Council is a Hoppy Holidays / Christmas Festival at Redfern Oval on Sunday 27 November so please come and visit us then.

Life at the Do Hop Inn

By Karen

This month we have another new bunny at the Do Hop Inn. His name is Finn and he was surrendered because of a very common reason the kids had lost interest. Finn also has a very fluffy fur coat and needs lots of attention to keep his fluff-ness under control. Hes only a young guy and was starting to matt so had a bit of a botty trim at the Melbourne Rabbit Clinic before he moved in with us.

To introduce Finn to Isabelle, we installed a gate with a double barrier (wire barriers with a gap between so neither bun could bite or hurt each other). The second week, we moved the second barrier over the top of the first barrier so the buns can now slightly touch without any risk of either taking a bite out of the other.

Isabelle says hi to Finn through barrier

Kittys near disaster

This is a bit of a warning to anyone that thought their furniture and fittings were safe around rabbits. One recent morning, Id just woken up and heard a noise under the bed. I looked underneath to see Kitty had been playing and was caught in a ribbon that was supposed to be holding the electric blanket onto the mattress. The ribbon had been chewed previously (which I didnt know) and it had slumped down in a loop. Kitty happened to jump into the loop and became caught around her neck. It was so lucky that I was there to help her immediately. She was fine and fortunately she didnt suffer any ill effects. After this incident, I removed the electric blanket (which I discovered Kitty & Jack had also had a nibble at the wire!). The bed needed a major bunny proofing overhaul and the electric blanket was removed and will be replaced with a fitted blanket and the bed slats covered with a wooden surface and wires fitted inside cable.

Fortunately, Finn was already desexed! Finn was a little nervous at first and was a bit unsure about the number of bunnies everywhere he could smell & see. Im sure he was quite overwhelmed but in just two days, he was romping around and enjoying himself.

Whatever seems to look safe, NEVER underestimate a bunny!!

Finn having a serious snooze!

We are hoping that he will bond with our bunny Isabelle who really wants a friend.