Gainesville Rabbit Rescue

 

Thank you for your interest in Gainesville Rabbit Rescue. We are a nonprofit organization accepting into its protection any rabbit that has been mistreated or abandoned. The organization does not deny shelter because of disability or illness. All rabbits, after being nursed into optimum health by knowledgeable volunteers and—when necessary—local vets, are spayed and neutered before being placed up for adoption. GRR volunteers screen all adopting families to insure these rabbits will be placed in a secure and loving home.

Gainesville Rabbit Rescue, Inc. is not a shelter; it is solely reliant upon the efforts of its volunteers. The rabbits do not live in kennels, but in the loving homes of foster families who see to it that the rabbits are litter box trained, fed and well cared for, with expenses coming more often than not from their own pockets. GRR serves rabbits throughout Florida, with dedicated volunteers in Orlando, Jacksonville, and Valdosta, GA.

Why save rabbits?
Domestic rabbits are less able to save themselves than other companion animals. Classified as both pets and livestock, they are farmed, experimented on, eaten, worn, made into lucky charms; and some are kept as
companions. Unfortunately, like other companion animals, they are also discarded by
irresponsible owners. Thousands of rabbits are euthanized at animal shelters each year.

Who Needs Rescue? Jazzman

In 2004 GRR received a call from some concerned animal lovers whose property bordered that of a backyard breeder. Due to the fact the rabbits were left in metal cages that hung from rafters in a plastic tent-like structure and were only protected by a thin sheet of blue plastic from the pouring rain and beating sun, the neighbors phoned Gainesville Rabbit Rescue. Volunteers arrived shortly thereafter and were dismayed by what they could see over the neighbor's fence. They hopped the fence to give the rabbits water and food-of which they had none-and soon met the rabbit breeder who owned the animals. While discussing proper rabbit care, a volunteer found a little gray bunny on the ground. He was so infested with fur mite he had lost a lot of fur and his eyes were swollen closed. When she asked if she could take the bunny, the owner's wife said it would be fine, as the owner would just "take it out back and get rid of it anyway." They knew the gray bunny was sick, but it was easier to be rid of it, then ease it's suffering with proper care. Above, you see two pictures. The first is that of Jazzman when the volunteer brought him home that first day. The other, only a few weeks later, following treatment from a vet and a little compassion. What an amazing difference this things have made in a little bunny's life.