The foster mother has been taking photos and videos of the kits as they grow.  You can follow along on the Flickr set (no sign up required).

Master rehabber Gerda Deterer (who lived on the grounds) passed away and the Department of Natural Resources won’t allow them to operate on the grounds unless they have a master rehabber living there. They are in the process of finding homes for the domestic animals they have at their facility which includes 2 pairs and 1 trio of domestic rabbits.

They have asked HRS for help in placing the rabbits. HRS is trying to help, but we are short on foster homes. If you are interested in either adopting or fostering some of these rabbits, please contact Laurie Kuhn at Rabbitinfo@rabbitsinthehouse.org

With 2 feet of snow on the ground and more on the way, I know it’s hard to think of the Easter Bunny hopping down the bunny trail already. However, Easter this year is April 4th. We will need candy orders back by March 16th to get your orders processed and to you the week before Easter. That is about 5 weeks away.

As you may already know, Easter is one of the hardest time of year for the bunnies. Many well meaning people buy rabbits as Easter gifts without knowing how to properly care for them. Consequently, many of them suffer lonely, deprived lives and/or end up at your local animal shelter. Many of you have adopted these “Easter Bunnies” and made them your beloved family members.

We are selling high quality Log Cabin chocolates again this year to raise money for the rabbits. Our chapter of HRS will receive 42% of the total amount of money collected for the candy sold.

In the last couple of years, our chapter has raised quite a bit of money from this candy sale through the efforts of a relatively small number of volunteers (1997 – $1,000, 1998 – $1,500, 1999–$1.500, 2000–$1,800, 2002–$2,000, 2003–$1,550, 2004–$830, 2005–$1,200 2006–$1020, 2007 $900, 2008–$500, 2009–$1210) . As you can see, when we have good participation, we can earn substantial money for the bunnies. When we’ve had fewer candy sellers we raise less money for the rabbits.

Last year a lot of members answered the call and as a result, we made more than double our profit in 2009. So, please, sell again, it really makes a difference. If you have participated in previous years and haven’t participated lately, be sure WE MISSED YOU! Please consider selling candy for us again in 2010. Even if you only sell a couple of items, it can really add up when lots of people participate. This chocolate is of good quality and locally made by a family run business. They use fun and unusual molds (rabbit on the motorcycle) as well as the traditional ones. People who have bought from me in the past years are eager to buy again.

Amber Elburn who has run the Candy Sale for us in the past is on leave from volunteering this year. (Congrats Amber!) Nicole Roberts with help from Jennifer Pironne are stepping in and are running the Candy Sale. If you are interested in selling this candy to benefit our House Rabbit Society chapter’s bunnies, please contact Nicole Roberts by email at:
nroberts@ TNC.ORG (remove space)
and provide your name, **mailing address**, phone number, and email address. (Please don’t forget to include your mailing address!)

Nicole will mail you a full color brochure and order form. Then you are ready to start selling!

Easter falls on April 4th this year. Although this seems like a long time away, it will be here before we know it. Log Cabin has given us *March 24th* as the cut-off date when all orders must be in to them, they make no exceptions. Because of the time needed for Nicole and Jen to tally, calculate, and mail the orders they will need everybody’s order form and money by March 16th. Please give yourself enough time to send them regular mail because Nicole is not home during the day to sign for overnight packages. This should give you a little more than 4 weeks to sell the candy.

Full payment is required at the time the order is placed. You can accept both checks and cash as payment. However, please do not send the cash through the mail. Simply add up the cash and write a personal check to HRS for the amount in exchange. If you wish, you can have people make the checks out to you and then you can write one larger check to HRS. If your customers prefer you can also have checks made payable to “House Rabbit Society” or HRS but the firstway simplifies things for us when depositing the money in the bank.

The House Rabbit Society is a non-profit organization, however we are still required to pay tax on this type of fund raising. 6% sales tax must be added to each sale. Please refer to the Maryland Sales and Use Tax Chart on the back of the order sheet to use as a guide.

Drop off/pick up points are needed in the DC/NoVA, Montgomery County, Howard County, Baltimore, and Harford County, areas. If you can
provide a place where candy may be dropped off by Log Cabin Candies and picked up by candy sellers in your area, please indicate this during
your contact with Nicole. We also need volunteers in the Arlington VA area to help tally the order sheets and volunteers near each pick-up location to help sort the candy orders.

I am including a link to many educational resources provided on the main HRS web site for Easter. Help us prevent unwanted Easter Bunnies.
Put up the posters, hand out the articles to people buying candy or anyone you hear talking about getting their child a live rabbit.
http://www.rabbit.org/easter/flyer/index.html

Learn about the Columbus, Ohio chapter’s “Make Mine Chocolate” Campaign and Chocolate Easter Bunny pins.
http://www.makeminechocolate.org/

Thank You in advance for any help you can provide!!!!!

Our favorite acupuncturist, Tom Ingegno M.S.O.M., L.Ac., will be giving a presentation at noon on Saturday. He has been treating four of our sanctuary rabbits weekly for free!

World of Pets Expo

Celebrate the World of Pets Expo & Educational Experience, January 29, 30, 31, 2010

Thousands of items from parrot perches, live performers, workshops, pet first aid and more!

(Timonium, MD) – In today’s world, pets aren’t just animal companions, they’re often the favorite family members with their own personalized dinner ware, special sleeping places, custom diet, fitness plans and more. Some pets are simply pampered, others perform for their own and their companions’ amusement, still others are working animals with a serious job to do.

You can see all of these animals – along with a host of toys, treats and tricks – at the World of Pets Expo, Friday, Saturday and Sunday, January 29, 30, 31, 2010 at the MD State Fairgrounds:

“We’ve got something for everyone from the serious pet enthusiast to the casual pet admirer, including a chance to show off your pet in the “Parade of Breeds” explains Jeanne Emge, President of Premier Events, the producer of the Expo. “Exhibitors will fill the 165,000 square foot Cow Palace with thousands of products and services for pets. Some of the country’s foremost authorities in the pet industry will present seminars and demonstrations covering practically every aspect of pet care and training. It’s fun and educational – just a great day out for all ages! This is probably the best $$ value for family entertainment & education. Pets are welcome too! See all the details at www.worldofpets.org.”

Expo shopping offers hundreds of booths with a wide variety of exhibitors featuring thousands of items – everything imaginable for your pet and for pet lovers. From pet essentials, to pet training products, to pet-themed home décor, the World of Pets Expo is the place to be if you are a pet lover.

Pets covered in the seminars include dogs, cats, birds, fish, reptiles, ferrets and other animals. In addition to the shopping extravaganza and the seminar series, there will be continuous entertainment and demonstrations by nationally known pet organizations, an AKC Dog Agility Trial, interactive/educational presentations with live animals, a Parade of Breeds and more! Highlights include:

• World of Cats ACFA Cat Show – presented by Hidden Paw Cat Club
• AKC Dog Agility Trial – presented by Oriole Dog Training Club
• Extreme Reptile Exhibit
• Classic K-9s – Performing World Record High Jump, Grand Prix Racing and High
• Speed Relays
• Wild World of Animals – Educational and Fun Reptile Presentation
• Johnny Peers Muttville Comix
• Free Seminars
• Intensive Workshops for the Serious Enthusiast – Pre–registration required
• Boogie Woogie BowWows – Dancing w/Dogs
• Grooming Demos – learn technique from professionals
• Gerbil Show – presented by the American Gerbil Society

And much more – see www.worldofpets.org for the full show schedule!

Expo hours are Friday, January 29, from 2 pm to 8 pm, Saturday, January 30, from 10 am to 8 pm and Sunday, January 31, from 10 am to 6 pm. Admission is $9 for adults, $5 ages 5-12 and FREE for children under age 5. Tickets available at the door. Ticket sales cash only. Heated facility and Great Food! Entry forms for the Cat Show and Workshops are available on-line at www.worldofpets.org.

We now have only 40 MO HRS Rescue Rabbit Calendars left. Get yours today by sending a check for $17 to HRS, P.O. Box 50311, Baltimore, MD 21211.

You can also pay using PayPal by clicking on the donation link below. Make your donation amount $18 and type Calendar in the “note” section. The calendar will be sent to you Priority Mail which is $4.95 (included in the $18 amount). PayPal charges us a little over $1 for each transaction.

Help us win by casting your vote every day! Go to http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?siteId=3&link=ctg_ars_shelterchallenge_from_home_sidetabs. Type in “House Rabbit Society” in the box for Shelter Name and choose MD for the state to search for us. Once the organization comes up you can click “Vote” to help us out.

Maryland

• Maryland Department of Natural Resources
• Frisky’s Wildlife and Primate Sanctuary and Rescue

  10790 Old Frederick Rd., Woodstock, MD 21163

  Phone: 410-418-8899 Fax: 410- 418-5402

• Second Chance Wildlife Sanctuary

  7101 Barcelona Dr., Gaithersburg, MD 20879

  301-926-WILD

• Wild Life Rescue, Inc.

  Hampstead, MD

  443-507-0950

Virginia

• N. VA Wildlife Rescue League

  Falls Church, VA

  Hotline: (703) 440-0800

Washington DC

• All of the above listings for Maryland and Virginia accept wildlife from Washington, DC

Delaware

• Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research

  Newark, DE

  302-737-9543

You can also contact the nearest wildlife rehabilitator or organization. Visit The Chesapeake Wildlife Sanctuary list wildlife rehabilitators to find the one closest to you.

If you are near Harford County (north of Baltimore), you can take injured cottontails to Chadwell Animal Hospital (443-512-8338) or Fallston Veterinary Clinic (410-877-1727). They will treat them and, if they survive, turn them over to a licensed rehabilitator.

There are many ways in which you can help HRS rescue unwanted rabbits and find them a permanent home. They include helping with our fundraising projects; staffing education tables; fostering rabbits; transporting rabbits and supplies; hosting rabbit matches; counseling people on the rabbit phone line; working with local shelters; writing articles for our newsletter. To get started just fill out the following form as completely as possible.

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