House Rabbit Society (HRS), an international nonprofit animal rescue and education group, is celebrating its vigentennial anniversary in 2008 with the slogan “Saving 20,000 rabbits in 20 years.”
Best Friends has had a long relationship with HRS, according to Debby Widolf, manager of the sanctuary’s Bunny House, who calls it “the premiere group in the rabbit advocacy movement.”
“Some of our online care information has been written by their members,” she says. “I refer people all the time to their website and chapters for in-depth rabbit information and adoptions in their area.”
Debby says she will host a “rabbit summit” this year and is inviting several HRS staffers.
Founded in 1988 by Marinell Harriman, author of House Rabbit Handbook, and her husband, Bob, HRS lays claim to being the largest rabbit rescue and advocacy organization in the world.
HRS has two main goals: first, to rescue and rehome abandoned rabbits through its network of volunteer foster homes and its unique shelter in Richmond, California – the first public rabbit-only shelter. The second goal is to improve rabbits’ lives by helping people better appreciate these often-misunderstood companion animals through its publications, website, educational materials and classes.
“It all started with a single phone call,” Marinell says. “In 1986, a local animal advocate called to inform me that four rabbits were going to be euthanized at the SPCA the following day. I immediately called Bob at work. He said, ‘We can't let that happen, can we?’”
The Harrimans discovered that rabbits were being euthanized in shelters around the country, but that rescuers could take those rabbits from shelters and adopt them out on their own. Their first four foster rabbits led to four more and soon the Harrimans were rescuing at least 10 rabbits per month.
After incorporating as a nonprofit in 1988, they began publishing the House Rabbit Journal, which inspired people to volunteer locally in the San Francisco Bay Area, and then in other areas of the country. These volunteers established the first chapters of House Rabbit Society.
HRS has expanded to form a network of thousands of members and hundreds of licensed volunteers across the U.S., Canada, Australia, Europe and Asia.
To celebrate its anniversary, House Rabbit Society chapters will be holding special events around the country throughout the year. Information on local events is posted on the House Rabbit Society website.
Written by Michael Rinker
The work of Best Friends is possible only because of your generous support. Click here to help us reach our goal of No More Homeless Pets.
Check out more Best Friends news.
Visit the sanctuary’s Bunny House or find out more about rabbits in the You and Your Bunny resource library.
