Scratch This: Oh, my ears and whiskers — bring a bunny home!
Also, a few nibbles of news about Long Beach animals.
Every year when the last marshmallow Peeps has been eaten, I pointedly dedicate the pet column to rabbits because I won’t suggest that people adopt one before Easter. I start with the surreally moving so-called children’s book, The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams, which tells the story of a stuffed rabbit who wants to become real.
“Does it hurt?” the rabbit asks his friend, the Skin Horse, who lives among the nursery toys and seems to be wise about the state of being real.
“Sometimes,” the Skin Horse replies.
I then segue into the misperception that real rabbits are perfect as Easter gifts. If the adoptive family knows little about rabbit care, these “Easter bunnies” are discarded or abandoned in parks at the mercy of elements not friendly to domestic rabbits.
Real rabbits are sometimes discarded when the children become bored or the family doesn’t want to give the delicate creatures the special care they need. So, Scratch This! features bunny adoption when Easter is recent enough to associate with rabbits but is in the rearview, and getting an Easter bunny may be moot.
“Every year, people contact us to get rabbits for Easter,” said Victoria Machado of The Bunny Bunch Rabbit Rescue in Fountain Valley and Montclair. “It’s very important that people learn all about rabbits before they get one. Rabbits are a long-term commitment — they often live for 12 to 14 years.”
The Bunny Bunch has been wiggling its nose for over 40 years as a haven for rabbits and pocket pets. Their little charges come in from abandonment cases, labs, closed-down breeders, hoarding cases and shelters, including Long Beach Animal Care Services. They also take in rabbits with special needs, including one standout case when founder Caroline Charland took in three rabbits who survived a California Heights fire that killed parakeets, quails and seven other rabbits. The surviving bunnies received medical attention and eventually got adopted.
“We get requests all day, every day, to take in unwanted and abandoned rabbits,” Machado said. “We are no-kill, so we keep every rabbit until we find them a perfect home.”
As good as that is, rabbit rescues and the Bunny Barn at Long Beach Animal Care Services aren’t the default for unwanted rabbits. If you want rabbits, please learn about what’s involved in their care before you adopt.
“Rabbits do very well living free-roam indoors,” Machado said. “[But] they must have air conditioning during the summer. Rabbits that live outdoors often die due to heat, predators and parasites. The average lifespan outside, if they are lucky, is four to five years. Rabbits are not good pets for young children, as [children] are often looking for an animal they can pick up, hold, and play with, which is not suitable for rabbits.”
All rabbits indoors and outdoors must be vaccinated for a potentially deadly rabbit virus, rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus serotype 2, or RHDV2. The virus is highly contagious, and even if your rabbit stays indoors and doesn’t have play dates with other bunnies, the virus can be tracked into the house on shoes or transmitted through biting insects such as mosquitos and fleas.
One of the things that the Bunny Bunch is very good at is educating people about the specialized care that rabbits require. Anything you need to know about keeping a bunny safe and happy, be it rabbit-proofing the electric cords or teaching them to use a litter box (they can do that!), is on the education tab on the website. Bunny Bunch also offers classes for rabbit care, shopping at the Bunny Bunch Boutique, and safe, comfy boarding and grooming at the Cottontail Inn. And if you want hands-on experience, apply here to volunteer. What a pleasure to take care of those softies!
A FEW JELLYBEANS FROM THE EASTER BASKET
Volunteer Appreciation Week
It’s been a busy, busy week in the animal sphere, so here are a few blurbs. Speaking of volunteering, Long Beach Animal Care Services has been holding a weeklong celebration of the ones at the shelter. Every day has been special during Volunteer Appreciation Week: snacks, cosplay, picking a fellow volunteer or a favorite pet and dressing alike. The pets participated. The volunteers deserve every photo, every handful of trail mix, every accolade, and then some — whenever an animal becomes adoptable and gets adopted, it’s because of them.
Check out the photos from the event.
Animal abuse case
The big news of the week was that hateful incident of dog abuse, which the Watchdog’s Brandon Richardson broke locally. Every news outlet in the area and several across the country ran the story and video, in fact, and tips poured in like syrup at a pancake breakfast.
A suspect was quickly identified and arrested, thanks to the Long Beach Police Department and our community — you couldn’t click on social media without reading scores of angry comments by infuriated humans. Last word on the case came from the office of LA County District Attorney Nathan Hochman on April 24: the suspect was charged with felony animal cruelty; if convicted, he’ll spend up to four years in state prison.
As for the puppy? That girl won’t know which way to turn with all the love and attention she’ll get at Long Beach Animal Care Services. She’s receiving medical attention, and when she’s released, it’ll be nonstop treats, toys and walkies — she’ll learn leashes are for walking and not inflicting terror and pain.
She’s sure to find a forever home, but (here’s my flea-shampoo box) remember that she’s just one face among many abused and neglected pets. There are many, many more in shelters just waiting for the right person to show them a good life.
What’s up with the spcaLA eviction?
Nothing much yet, but people have been wondering. On April 23, a preliminary hearing injunction was held at the Los Angeles County Courthouse, at which the judge ordered spcaLA and Long Beach Animal Care Services to submit supplemental briefing. The City issued the following statement:
“The City stands firm in its reasons to terminate its contract with spcaLA, as set forth in its notices, and will continue to defend this decision throughout the litigation process. During this time, the City will continue with its operations on the shared campus with professionalism and respect, despite the ongoing litigation, and will wait for the legal process to unfold. The City’s plans to expand operations to the rest of the campus remain temporarily paused until legal resolution is made. The City cannot disclose further information at this time due to the ongoing litigation."
The next hearing is set for June 25, 2025.
YOURS DROOLY
Instead of two or three adoption hopefuls, Yours drooly is presenting a multiple of them because, you know, rabbits. The first two come from The Bunny Bunch and are ready to go home. For adoption info on these adorable bunns as well as other rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas enjoying their time at the Bunny Bunch rescues, access this link.
Donations hoppily accepted here!
Hopper is a sweet, mellow fellow. Whether he’s exploring or snuggling up for a cozy nap, his gentle and loving personality is sure to brighten any home! He’s such a good hay eater and is great with his litter box. He is ready to find a forever home of his own.
Meet Luna and Fabio. Fabio is the lionhead — he’s 2 years old, and Luna is 3 ½ years old. This fabulous duo is super-sweet and friendly. They love cuddling and grooming each other. When they snuggle up next to each other, it makes it easy to pet both bunnies at the same time, and they love it! They sadly lost their home, but they are ready to find a loving forever home.
These adorable boys are named Fluffy Puffy, Penguin and Sunkiss, and they’re a bonded trio. Fluffy Puffy is gray and white, Sunkiss is tan and white, and Penguin is, of course, black and white. These boys were sadly abandoned outdoors. They are very sweet, especially to one another. You can often find them grooming one another, cuddling, or in a group-facing circle, like they’re having a bunny meeting. They would love to find their forever home together.
And from our Bunny Barn at LBACS, we have these three sweethearts. The volunteers were having a fine time petting them! Come visit The Bunny Barn and stroke some soft fur. To adopt a bunny or any pet, access this link.
Little Repi (ID#A735056), 4 months old. If there are greens to be had, he really hops to it!
Noms (ID# A736243) is a 3-month-old seal point mixed breed. Her roommate and sister, Nummies, is 3 months old as well. They like to cuddle together and will need a calm, quiet forever home.
TAIL-WAGGIN' AND NOSE-BOOPIN' EVENTS
Spring meeting of the Long Beach TNVR Community Cat Coalition
The local grassroots trapping effort has grown into a community-organized trapstravaganza, with the support of our shelter at Long Beach Animal Care Services (LBACS). During kitten season, it’s urgent that the effort continues, and with your help, it can. There are plenty of reproducing cats and kittens out there, kittens can become pregnant as young as 4 months old. Come to the meeting and learn about trapping methods and particulars, resource sharing, LBACS spay/neuter vouchers and clinic options, and meet the great volunteers who are leading the effort! Get there a few minutes early because the shelter parking lot can get packed.
The Long Beach TNVR Community Cat Coalition spring meeting takes place Saturday, April 26, 2 p.m.–5 p.m. in the shelter’s Education Center, 7700 E. Spring St., Long Beach.
Large-breed dog fosters needed at LBACS
This is Westman. Westman needs out, or at least a good break. Westman’s a big dog, weighing a little over 60 pounds with love in each ounce. Westman has been in a shelter kennel nearly all his life, and the volunteers can’t understand why he hasn’t been taken home yet. He’s just a year old and is playful and friendly. He loves to ride in the car, especially if you’re going to pick up burgers. Yours drooly has featured Westman in videos and photos, but no one’s come for this sweetheart, and he shouldn’t have to spend another birthday cooped up in a kennel most of the time.
So, why not try out him or another big doggie as a foster, even for a short time? Long Beach Animal Care Services’ dog kennels are again near capacity, and the shelter is in desperate need of fosters for large breed dogs, that is, weighing over 30 pounds. The usual foster requirement is to keep a dog for a minimum of 30 days, but letting one couch-surf for at least a week would be a great help. If you are interested, please contact petfoster@longbeach.gov.
Fix Long Beach, Friends of Long Beach Animals and Santa Fe Importers Deli offer a menu of male-dog neuter deals
Need a low-cost veterinarian, information about trapping community cats, places to volunteer, rescues and shelters to adopt from — anything pet related? Follow this link for resources. Please add your own ideas in the Comments section.
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