is there any more pie?

For approximately eight years, on behalf of my local Animal Rescue League, I wrote a “Pet of the Week” column for the Providence Journal.  It was a labor of love–I’d wanted to do something like this for a long time.  Weekly visits to the shelter to “interview” an animal and take pictures were always a highlight for me.  None of us (shelter workers and volunteers) anticipated how many animals would be adopted because they’d been featured in the newspaper; the number of people ready and willing to love a homeless pet was truly remarkable.

In honor of Easter Bunnies everywhere, I thought I’d share a bunny story with you:

Bun Bun, 2006

 Yes, I’m a rabbit.  I know you’re accustomed to reading about dogs and cats (and that one ferret who managed to have his own article last year), but this week I, a female Rhinelander bunny of phenomenal fur and exquisite rabbit roundness, am in the spotlight at last.  My name is “Bun Bun”, and yes, I know it rhymes with “fun fun” and “run run”.  In my spare time—and I have lots of it—I make up little poems about myself.

Did you know February is National Adopt a Bunny Month?  Well, you humans learn something new every day, don’t you?  We rabbits are number three on the Most Abandoned Animals list.  You don’t see herds of homeless domestic bunnies roaming through the streets of towns, blocking traffic, rampaging through gardens and creating hare havoc because we freeze to death or end up as coyote snack food, among other sad endings.

My own story is a happier one.  I was discovered eating dandelions in someone’s backyard last October and subsequently brought to the shelter.  It’s lovely here, but I’d love my own little house in which to hop.  I’m an indoor bunny, not meant to shiver in a hutch outside.  I love my cardboard box.  I sit in it, chew it, drag it around and hide inside of it.  Typical bunny play, but oh, so much fun!  I love kale and Cheerios and carrots, of course, and I thrive on rabbit pellets and hay.

I’m also trained to use my litter box, which should tempt you to take me home.  I’m a lovely hopper, and I don’t mind living with cats.  I have no nasty habits and can be snuggly when I know you, but I do love to be petted.

You may think I look like the Easter Bunny, but my lips are sealed in regards to past occupations.  Bunnies who serve on the egg-delivery circuit are held to a strict code of silence about their good deeds and holiday hops, but I will only hint that the scent of chocolate brings back lovely memories.

I hope someone out there wants a bunny to love.  My adoption fee is $15, which includes my cage, hay and rabbit food.

[Bun Bun was adopted shortly after this article was published.]