Angie’s Founder Letter
Angie and Zipper…after she stopped being terrified of ‘all three pounds of him!’My first bunny was a big mystery to me. He was a little black Polish bunny that my sister had rescued from her stepdaughter, who kept him in a small filthy cage. I had never had a bunny before, even though I always wanted one, my husband of 30 years and I traveled all the time and could not have a rabbit at that time. When my husband passed away, I was completely lost. My sister knew that I needed something to help me through my grief. I needed a 3-pound distraction.
I named my new friend Zipper, because he zipped all over the house. At first I was terrified of all three pounds of him because he would growl, lunge and bite me. After a few weeks I finally told myself I could not go on being scared of him and starting looking for help and information about the proper way to take care of him. I learned that bunnies do well in pairs, so I got him a friend when I went down to Best Friend’s Animal Rescue in Utah where I volunteered for two weeks. There I meet Bella, a beautiful gray rabbit, and I brought her home and without knowing what I was doing introduced her to Zippy. I guess I had beginners luck and after a few fights they bonded up.
Angie trains Bella. Or maybe it’s the other way around.I wanted to continue to help animals by volunteering at rescues and soon got involved with Sarvey’s Wildlife Center, where I learned to care for orphaned small mammals, especially the little cotton tail bunnies. Later on I started volunteering at Sue Brennan’s Rabbit Haven in Gig Harbor. The first thing I told Sue was that I would not be able to foster, as I already had four bunnies at home. Well that did not last long! My first foster was a mother who had a total of 24 babies (We named her Mother Teresa and found a wonderful home for her). When she came to us she had two litters of babies only a few months apart. I volunteered to take the mother and her 8 smallest babies. Well a few days later she gave birth to 9 more babies. So much for not fostering! Of course I had to keep at least five of the babies, and that was the start of it all.
I’ve learned a great deal working with Sue over the seven years I was there. I still help out at Rabbit Haven and have taken in several of the more unadoptable and special need bunnies. A few very extra special bunnies came to me to care for and one of them was named Sunshine. Sunshine had a lot of medical problems and it was a challenge to keep her comfortable and to make sure she had a good quality of life. She was ALWAYS so happy, even though some of the medical things we had to do for her were uncomfortable. She taught me a lot and helped me realized that it’s my calling to care for special needs bunnies. She was one of my most important special bunnies, and she will always be a part of Special Bunny Rescue, because she is the bunny in our logo.
Zipper & Bella being gently convinced that they were destined for each other.
We formed Special Bunny to help people care for their special needs or older bunnies. Our goal is to have a web-site that people can go to in order to find good information in regarding taking care of their bunnies and keeping them in their homes. We also try to take in mostly special needs or older bunnies, which can mean anything from a new baby bunny found on someone’s lawn to an older bunny that is deaf or blind—or both, like our beloved Gilby. Some of our bunnies will always be special needs, and will either live with us forever or will be adopted by someone who is ready to care for his or her needs. Some of our bunnies are only ‘special needs’ for a little while, until we can nurse them back to health and get them ready for a forever home. So, we always have wonderful rabbits looking for homes, and we always have wonderful volunteers available to help anyone who adopts one of our very, very special bunnies. We are also there for you and your bunny anytime you need help or have questions.
Angie Green, Founder, Special Bunny
“Special Bunnies need special love”
