Welcome to Animal Posse, the podcast dedicated to the people and rescues making a difference in the lives of animals. Today we are chatting with the owner and founder of Lola and Friends Bunny Rescue of South Mississippi, James Johnson Hi, James. How's it going?

Well, it's going good. Just a lot of work with all the bunnies, I guess.

Yeah, I'm excited to talk to a bunny rescue because, I've always just dealt with cat rescues or dog rescues. So, you're the first bunny rescue I've ever talked to.

Well, I guess that's good. I mean, I deal with a lot of the cat rescues also because a lot of people dump the bunnies in the cat colonies then the bunny was trying to eat the cat food and of course, and I'll get tagged and they'll let me know about it. And so I'll go catch the bunny, that's just within the cats. And so. we work with the cat rescuers quite a bit, and that's how we know that there's no bunnies at Lafreniere Park in Metairie, is because of the girls that walk the track feeding the cats every morning. They're basically like a lookout for the bunnies. So if they spot a bunny, they usually tell us, or one of the local rescues there, the Jefferson SPCA, or Miss Donna with Bun again.

What is the mission of your rescue, and what are the core values

Well, we basically set up to, we don't usually intake bunnies just because somebody don't want it anymore. Now if they go and dump it later, we can't control that, but basically what we decided to start doing with our rescue is, we noticed that there was quite a few bunnies being dumped after Easter, after Christmas, after certain holidays where they're given as a gift, and so we decided to run a rescue. My wife had a couple bunnies, she got attached to them, we happened to find one running loose, and it just kind of started from there but, What our core values are is we try to rescue the bunnies that's running loose in the neighborhoods It's been dumped. Either, they're most of them dumped or not in very good shape Most of them are sick. They got parasites. So, we try to rescue those and get them the care they need, get them spayed and neutered, and then we try to adopt them out to a safe indoor home with so many dumped bunnies that finding a home for all of them is proving to be pretty difficult. But that's what our mission is, to try to rescue the bunnies that's out on the streets, that's in the parks that's running loose and try to Catch them before they, they die, and it's usually starved to death or get attacked by, a predator and are hit by a car. And so we try to get those and get them off the streets before they, they pass away and get them the care they need and rehabilitate them and then try to find them a safe, loving indoor home.

I always find that whenever a fair comes through town. You start to notice dumped bunnies around somewhere. It's like the show prizes the fun ran out after the fair's gone and now they're running loose.

Well, we do have an issue with that. And of all places, Alabama has banned that. I mean, Alabama and Mississippi, Louisiana with the bottom of the list for a lot of things. At least Alabama stood up with that and banned. They passed the law and banned the giving away of any type animal at the fairs. So the local circus, the local fairs that Louisiana, Mississippi hires is located in North Mississippi. They and they usually go to the Catholic. Churches and to these little fairs out in the country and they you throw a ball in a little bowl and you get a goldfish or a bunny. It depends on which booth you're at we actually had it shut down here along the coast at the catholic churches We alerted all the churches that they were giving away live animals so the catholic churches told the they still hired the circuses or the amusement company to come in, but they told them not to bring any live animals. But it's still, big issue, especially in Louisiana. They have a lot of fairs in north, middle of the state, and it's the same one that does ours over here. They bring those bunnies that, that people walk up. The people are not prepared to take the bunny home. The kid wins a prize that they give the parents the bunny. Next thing they get home and realize that they don't want it and off in the streets. It goes if it survives. Most of these bunnies given as gifts don't even live to be six months old. most of them perish, before that they even get dumped because of the mishandling of the small child that, That somehow just harms a bunny or breaks his back or whatever case drops it and the bunny passes away,

I know we've seen that here where they have a old mall they were having some fairs and they were doing Giveaways of bunnies and iguanas and every time that they see them out there. Luckily they have stopped them right but I mean they'll keep coming back and you'll see the whole thing again where they're giving the bunnies away And they'll go over there and try to put an end to that as well. Because I can't imagine how healthy they are when they do go home they're sitting out in the sun during these events.

Right. And most of them come from a backyard breeder. And so the bunnies, you're right, they're not healthy to start with. None of them have any vet care. Every bunny I catch has been dumped. Well, most of them, especially at Kenner Park. I mean, we finally cleared Kenner Park a month or so ago, the last bunny. I had the signs put up. And I'm in Mississippi. Of course, and I'm working with Jeff Dorson with the Humane Society, but we've had signs put up at Kenner Park and Lafreniere Park, hoping that they'll stop dumping the bunnies at the park. And there is a law that Somebody sees them actually doing it, they can be arrested and fined. But but luckily Lafreniere has been bunny free for, I think since March. Kenner Park's been bunny free for two months now. And I actually decided just to keep the first bunny and the last bunny. We called it Kenner Park. And just because it was so many of them that, I thought it would be better, it would be kind of fun just to have her with us. But yeah, it's a problem that the fairs come through the circuses and like you said that they're getting the bunnies from probably one of the worst places they could get them and Then the kids if they don't the kids don't mishandle or they're rough, the kids don't know no better You know, I mean they're they got home They were they went home with a live animal that they don't even know how to care for neither do the parents So they're mishandling the bunny and it's a delicate animal to start with And so, even if it survives past that, then, like you said, the small bunnies, most of them have parasites. They're raised in the backyard in these cages, full of feces, full of urine, and, they probably got intestinal parasites and, no matter, telling what else. And so, and not that anything a bunny has can transmit to a human. But it's still the bunny. Even if the child does care for the bunny dies in front of the child. And then that's traumatic for the kid that has to watch the bunny die. The kid that does care about the bunny and treats it right and then has to watch it pass away because of some type of disease. So that's kind of sad, too, and so we don't know what to do. We've tried to get laws passed in Mississippi. Louisiana actually has a law that's been put on the books and has been turned down a couple of times that one of the senators there in the state of Louisiana had put a law in place to where they try to stop live animals given away at fairs as gifts. But up to now, it hadn't passed. It just sits there. I don't know. I've talked to Jeff about it with the Humane Society, and I don't know how that works, but somehow it just sits there until they want to bring it up and discuss it and pass it.

Yeah, it's a shame. It really is. Now you do a lot of the rescues in Louisiana, but you are in Mississippi. So how did you first become aware of the issue with the bunnies being in the parks in Louisiana?

So when we first started, we had a couple of bunnies. My wife, babysit a bunny for a little girl that was in the military. She went overseas and asked my wife Sherry if she could watch the bunny until she come back Well, she never come back not because she didn't want to because she just she got stationed there and she didn't come back in enough time and we kept the bunny four or five years and it passed away from old age So Sherry had become attached to it and we got another one from I don't know I think we was traveling and seeing it posted on facebook or something and we went and when we got her and that was Lola, which is the rescues named after so she lived to be nine or ten and In that time we rescued a couple more that we just saw it on the streets and it started that way But we didn't have a vet local. There's no exotic vets around that can do bunnies So the best exotic vet one of the best in the along the whole south southern states is Dr. Rich and Dr. Pence at Avian and Exotic Animal Hospital of Louisiana there in Metairie. So we started bringing the bunnies over there and As you know as we started bringing our personal bunnies We met Miss June who run the House Rabbits Society of Louisiana at the time and she was one of the rescues that Was good friends with Dr. Rich. She was Getting older and was retiring and she kind of put us under her wing and that's how we kind of got kicked off and started. She kind of backed us as we were getting going with the rescue and helped us along the way so we that's how our ties in louisiana become how we got over there with the vet being in metairie And as we went we started learning that there was a ton of bunnies in the park Dr. Rich would tell us Ms June would say, there's bunnies in the parks and so after we got kind of established we decided to go, you know You full steam and see how many bunnies there actually was and ended up being, you know anywhere from 60 to 80 at Lafreniere Park and I think 40 to maybe 40 to 60 at Kenner Overall in the last year and six months that we've actually caught every bunny in both of those parks

Yeah, that's amazing. You do a lot of great work catching those bunnies. I do see the post on Facebook all the time too. And it's very sad

It is. And with that being said, I don't want to leave out with the Jefferson S. P. C. A. And Miss Donna with Bun again have helped out a lot. Even though we was back and forth a lot ourselves, they did a lot to help us also. And and with the Jefferson SPCA, any bunny caught over there, within Jefferson Parish, was fixed under the Fix A Rabbit program. So that helped us tremendously too. So, that was another incentive to catch the bunnies in that area, that we was able to get them fixed and spayed and neutered at a good cost and that helped a lot too, but yeah with Bun Again and with the Jefferson SPCA and Rachel and Hannah Over there and Mary at Jefferson feed it they helped a lot too. Wasn't just Lola's we kind of headed the thing But they did a lot to help along the way and as we caught the bunnies and met with the people who walked the park in Lafreniere with the cat rescue and they fed the cats every day. We post in the local groups about the bunnies and people would start seeing the bunnies running loose in neighborhoods and they will start catching them and bringing them to the shelter to get them off the street. But they didn't know no better. They thought it was a wild bunny. It's it can survive. Well, it's a domesticated bunny, but it can live just like a wild bunny and they can't. Well when people realized that a lot of people within these groups started catching the bunnies themselves and taking them to the shelter So that helped us also now it didn't help the shelters any because they maxed out the Shit, we're all full now. So it's like it's hard to catch bunnies And bring them anywhere because everybody's just loaded with bunnies now you catch five and adopt one and at that ratio you never catch up We don't get as many post of bunnies loose as we used to, over here along the coast, we hardly get any anymore. Now, with New Orleans and Metairie and Kenner being the size it is, I mean, they still get, get some over there, but it's nowhere near, the five or six or seven each day that we were seeing posted. Now it's one, one or two or three a week. And now it's at the same location over and over. So it's probably a breed or somewhere in these certain areas. That's just letting them loose, but it's gotten better. People's, kind of got educated with all of us doing the rescue with the post and the local social media groups. And it's helped, it's helped educate the public on the bunnies. And hopefully it'll help people stop from dumping them and letting them loose.

I do cat rescue and I know with the cats, it's k ind of a similar situation to the bunnies. And the problem with the cats is that they reproduce so fast. They can reproduce at four months. What is that like for the bunnies? Like how many bunnies, it'll become exponential for the cats. So I imagine it's gotta be even worse for the bunnies.

Right. I wish it was only four months. So bunnies can reproduce every 28 days.

Wow. I didn't know that.

They're a fertile 365 days out of the year as soon as they have one litter as soon as that last baby comes out She can get pregnant again. So my first rescue at kenner park I was a little black and white dutch bunny. I didn't go there to catch her. I went there to catch four babies that were underneath the bathroom at Kenner Park. So when I got there, the babies that were hard to catch, they were burrowed under the bathroom. They would go in and out of a hole. So, I ended up catching four bunnies. Well, the mother come and just kind of walked up and sat between my legs, and I was going to catch her last, just so she could keep feeding the babies that I didn't catch and I was going to catch her last when I caught all the babies. Well, she walked up when I picked her up. She's pregnant. You could feel the babies inside her already moving. So, I went ahead and caught her, and then got lucky and caught all four babies, four weeks old. Within two days, she had five more babies. So, I had a mother bunny in my rescue that I just caught. With four, four week old babies and five brand new newborn babies. So yeah, they're always fertile. All 365 days out of the year and they can have a little litter between 28 32 days every 28 -32 days And it's been rumored. I don't know if this is true. i'd have to ask dr Rich for sure i've heard a lot of people say that they can carry two litters at once I personally don't believe that but i've heard a lot of people say that they can do that people that has a lot of bunny knowledge more than I do, but I've never seen it. And they can have anywhere from six to 14 or 15 babies. So. And they can reproduce at four months old. So I mean It's just it's a bad scenario for everything These bunnies can go from a male and a female two bunnies. They can have a litter in 28 days In four months, those babies can reproduce. So, I mean, you're looking at just an ungodly amount of bunnies in a matter of six months. But there's so many predators out there that will, that the bunnies hurt nothing. Everything hurts them. That's the way you see it. Bunnies, they have no voice. They can't, they harm nothing. They dig holes. That's all they do. But everything harms them. So even though they can produce like this at Kenner and Lafreniere Park, even though we caught almost 200 bunnies between both parks, there's probably 400 or 500 bunnies within those two years that, that was out there that just passed away from either being born dead, not surviving within a week or two because of where they were born. Living three or four weeks and catching parasites and dying because of the ducks and birds and chickens that run loose So even though we caught 200 that sounds like an ungodly number That number probably was double that if truth be known just because the other half of them died but that's, that's just what happens when they're done. People don't realize that. They don't know. But sometimes it don't matter. Sometimes they just get the animal and can't deal with it. They don't get it spayed or neutered and they just let it loose. I mean, a lot of people just don't really care what happens to it. It's sad to say, just like the cats, they just let them loose and don't really care what happens,

Yeah. Now, how many rabbits do you typically have in your care at a giving time and are you foster based?

Well, I wish. We do have some fosters, but right now when they got to 100, I stopped counting. I'd have to add Sherry, but we've probably got over 100 bunnies. 15 to 20 of them are personal bunnies or they're medical bunnies or they're senior bunnies that, We can't adopt out because they have to go to the vet every couple months They're eight or nine or ten years old Or they're just our personal bunnies that we've had for quite a while now and they're just ours But the rest on we've like I said, we've got close to 100 Probably 105 bunnies that right now. That i'm sitting here looking at while I talk to you a lot of them were single bunnies. I've got a few that were babies. Like I still have some of those to the four babies and five from a year ago, the duchess. And so a lot of times I'll catch a female and one bunny turns into seven or eight. So if you've got four or five bunnies at the park and you catch a female, good chance she's pregnant. She's either pregnant or she's got a little baby somewhere around the park. Just because of the way They multiply. But yeah, we I've got a prior to 105 bunnies right now on in the rescue Maybe six or eight fosters out, maybe 10 out with fosters. So it's not a lot of fosters over here. It's not as much as we advertise and we own the news and this and that. It's just not a lot of people that are interested in a bunny, the ones that like them will come and get one. The ones that don't, it's just that, they just don't believe that a bunny should be inside. And we don't adopt anybody that puts them outside in cages, of course.

Where are they available for, to see for adoption? Do they have to contact you to see or do you have a website that you list them on?

We don't have a website. We do have the Facebook group. And like I said, we just started this maybe a year and six months ago. So everything and with my wife working which I retired from the city fire department here local, but I worked full time again and I still work part time with another local fire department. So with all the jobs, basically I work seven to three. She works three to midnight. So we don't even see each other. We don't see each other until midnight, basically. So she does her chores with the bunnies during the day. I come home, do my part during the night. So it takes a lot, but we had no time to do a website, but we do have our Facebook group. My personal pages turned into a bunny page. But it's Lola and Friends Bunny Rescue of South Mississippi is our local group and they can post in there and they can see bunnies that we post there they, can comment or they can, leave a message or they can contact me and and we're on the news and I'm posting different groups and here and there. And that may hurt me some i'm not like some of the bigger rescues thats been around a while that has websites and this and that so but as time goes by i'll get that. I just have to find time to do it The bunnies are pet finder. We do have bunnies on pet finder So lola and friends bunny rescue is on pet finder and we do have bunnies there that they can go and look at and If they're interested, but yeah, they can come to the rescue. We're in biloxi north of biloxi you know if they want to come out and my phone number stuff I think is on the group page If it's not they can, leave a message or message me But we usually have people come out anywhere from like 11 o'clock in the morning to two or three in the afternoon That's the time frame that Sherry's here to do adoptions and for people to see the bunnies and see the rescue And a lot of times they just want to come out and look, and that's fine too. The more people that see it, the more people that can talk, whether they adopt or not, word of mouth is good too. But yeah Monday through Saturday, it's like 11 a. m. to 2. 30 p. m. And then Sunday, Monday, we can, different hours because Sherry's off those days. And we can accommodate different hours on days like on Sundays and Mondays.

What would the average lifespan be of a bunny that is completely healthy, it's been vetted, it gets the proper care, how long would they be able to keep a bunny?

Well It's anywhere from 8 to 14 years same as a dog if they get the proper care the proper diet and they're fed, right hey, you know a good quality pellet and then they go see a good exotic vet They can live anywhere from 8 to 14 years and if they give them a proper diet, and it's mostly it's 80 percent hay and 20 cent pellets and A lot of people like to give them cilantro and green leaf lettuce and red leaf lettuce Every day. I don't, well, I got a hundred bunnies, I can't afford it. I'd have to have 50 acre for to afford it, but I don't give a lot of greens because it produces gas and it just causes issues with their digestive system. So, but a lot of people do. And it's okay to do that. We just don't. And but like I said, hay, good quality, pellet fresh water, a, a good ample space to run and hop and jump anywhere from eight to, to 12 to 14 years. So we got. Six or eight bunnies here. that's nine years. We got one that's eleven and a half. Some seven and eight. And then we've had some just die. We walk out and some would just be passed away at six or seven years for no other reason. I we blame it on inbreeding. You never know where the bunnies come from. And most of your breeders just breed mom to, dad or dad, to the daughter. And, it's it breeds the immunity out of them. And it makes a bunny that just don't live as long as they should. Yeah.

Now, How is your rescue funded?

Well, it's funded through donations. We are a 501 C3 nonprofit. We, of course, like most rescues, a lot comes out of our pocket, but we have people who donate and we pull in a sick bunny people donate and help cover the cost. A lot comes out of our pocket and it's donation based also. We actually just a couple months ago, we got the best non profit along the coast. We had a the TV station, Channel 25, run a thing with all the non profits and different things. And we won the best non profit and the best animal rescue along the coast over here. Oh, congratulations. Yeah, pretty good little thing for us. And that got us some some publicity out there also. But yeah, mostly donation based and out of pocket, of course. I mean, you're not going to get donations for every single bunny you bring in. Just don't happen that way. So, you run a rescue just with the cats and everything else. A lot of times you just hope that you can get, As much funded as you can,

Yeah, I totally get that. Dr. Mark was our first episode. And that's what he was saying. People open a rescue thinking they're just going to get donation money flowing in and it doesn't work that way. You'll get some, but you've got to come out of pocket.

You do. And if you get a big chunk, I mean, it seems like every time we get donations and get enough built up to spay and neuter the bunnies, we catch a bunny that's got some major issue and it just eats it up and being a rescue, we still get, they give us good deals on the bunny. So, even with that, we have to amputate a leg or we have to go and do something inside the ear canal or any type of major surgery. It's still, a couple grand to get that done. And we've had, four, five, six bunnies here in the last six months that had to have legs amputated because they were just hanging off of them when we caught them. And bones sticking out or whatever reason the leg had to be removed. And that just eats up it. It's all right. The bunnies hear me talking. So that's something and it eats up your donations. One bunny can take away all your donations that would spayed and neutered 30 bunnies, But I mean, we just you have to pick up an extra shift at work. Everybody's not gonna bring in donations. It's the ones that sick and tugs at somebody's heart that brings in the most donations. We go catch a bunny that's That looks perfectly healthy, even though he may have parasites, and it's not going to be a big, other than the spay and neuter being the biggest cost. I don't even post it asking for donations because a lot of people won't donate. Not because they don't want to, just because it looks like the bunny don't need it. The bunnies who bring in, and I don't go looking for sick bunnies. I don't want sick bunnies. But the most bunnies, the bunnies who bring in the most donations are the bunnies that just look horrible. But then again, they eat up all your donations that even though people donate for that bunny, it's still in such bad shape. It takes every bit of that plus some to get it healthy. So it's kind of like I hadn't figured out how to do it yet. And we don't like to ask donations all the time because you lose your followers. When you start asking for donations every single day, it's like people go, hold on something right here and with the way the economy is in times where people don't have the money they used to have. So I don't like asking for donations all the time, because people They'll get tired of that and just leave the group altogether. So I'd rather have somebody donate once every three months and stay with my group than somebody that, that would leave the group because they get tired of seeing you posting every single day asking for donations for the bunnies. Even though we need it still kind of hurts you in the long run.

Now with the bunnies, you said that it is challenging to adopt out adult bunnies. I know, with cats, it's very hard to adopt out a black cat. Are there certain bunnies that get adopted faster than other bunnies?

It is. And black bunnies are the same as black any black animal is the same. People just don't like the little black animals from these because they're not fancy. But usually the little fluffy bunnies with a lot of fur, they get adopted. The lop eared bunnies. People just love the little lop eared bunnies. They're the most expensive bunny you can get. They have more issues than any bunny out there because they were bred to look cute, not to be healthy. So they was bred to have a little short smashed in face, and they were bred to have the ears to hang over their ear canal. So first of all, the smashed face causes teeth problems and they have issues with dental issues. They have abscesses in their teeth. Then the ears hang over the ear canal, which keeps it moist all the time, which causes infections. Almost any bunny that you hear that has an ear infection is going to be a, 90 percent is going to be a lop eared bunny because the ear can't Get air because the lop is covering the ear canal So but the lops the little lion head bunnies with all the fur around the little hair little line So basically like dogs the cute bunnies get adopted The other one's just a little plain white ones with the black spots and the black bunnies They just kind of just tend to sit here and they and those solid white bunnies with the red eyes People do not like those bunnies and those are absolutely the sweetest bunnies you can ever come across but for some reason with those red eyes people just I guess the they've come across something somewhere that they thought the red eyes were The devil or whatever the case may be but that's farther from the truth They're just some of the sweetest bunnies you can ever come across but they won't adopt them. They sit right here with them little Ruby colored eyes and just wait for somebody to come and get them,

yeah it's sad that they have so many of them that are overlooked that would be such great pets.

And it is, I mean, a bunny's a bunny and people should just get the one that, that kind of comes up to them, not looking for a specific one. And I don't fault people when they want to get something to look for a specific bunny. We've got all kinds of bunnies here. And, but with that being said, it's. They're gonna come in and get the cute ones first and that's, just the way it is with any animal, and if the cute ones are available, they're gonna go first, while the other plain little bunnies are just gonna sit there, just like your plain dogs at the shelter and they just sit here, and, but we don't euthanize anything. We're we're no kill rescue. If it comes into the rescue, it'll stay with me before, anything will happen to it. If it don't get adopted, it's mine. It stays with us. And we hope to get them adopted, but of course it's not going to happen with everybody we rescued. And we're not just going to pass a bunny by on the streets because it's just a plain bunny and it's sick and needs help to go down the road and wait for a I'm going to rescue and save. Everybody that I see out there that needs it, no matter what it looks like. If it stays with me, so be it. That's what the rescue for it. We don't pick and choose. We're there to help the bunnies out there and I'm all help everyone I can.

Well, I know when we adopt kittens, we try to tell people to adopt them in pairs. So would that be the same thing for a bunny or can a solo bunny survive or to get lonely?

Yep, people have solo bunnies, but they're social animals and bunnies live in a warren they live in a group. Usually a female is like the is over the warren over the group. So they like to be in pairs. So we try to tell people that You know having one bunny or having two bunnies is There's nothing any different other than going to the vet you use one litter pan one water bowl one feed bowl The same space and they just and they get along better. They're less destructive. They're not as bored as they are by themselves. So we preach trying to get them to bond to get a pair. And and they just do better in pairs. They groom each other. They're just like cats. Of course they, have their digestive system. They have to continuously. Use the bathroom because when they groom, they just like a cat and they groom, but a cat gets a hairball. He can throw up a hairball bunnies can't throw up. So anything that goes in the front has to come out the back. So that's the digestive track is a major issue with the bunnies. They lay together just like a couple. If one passes away, the other one grieves just like doves and you almost have to go get another bunny within a few days. Because sometimes the second bunny will pass away just from sadness. And so But yes, having a pair is a lot better than having singles. Some people can't afford to have two, I get it. And we adopt out singles, but we, while they're here, we do, try to tell them that it's going to be better with a pair. They chew less, they're less bored. They have a companion to run around with. And overall, just like you said with the kittens, it's just better. They just have a companion that, that they can hang out with. It's not a human, don't have to rely on a human for the affection. They have their own kind to do it when the humans are. Off at work or wherever.

One thing that I'm always seeing, especially with cats, is people want to rehome their cats because they're not home during the day. They're worried about their cats being lonely. And for a cat, it's not the same as a dog. I mean, a dog needs to have somebody home. They need that companionship all day, but cats are usually fine by themselves. So what about bunnies? Do bunnies require you to be home a lot of the time, or are they just happy to see you after you get home from work?

They are. So I have one inside. It's by herself. We hadn't found somebody that we can put with her because she's kind of mean. So, when I come in, she'll run up beside me, just like the little dog does. So, They do But having a pair keep some company while you are at work they're not like a dog. Like you said a dog is needs somebody there The bunnies are like the cats, they sleep during the day. They're more active at dusk and dawn So during the day, they're mostly sleeping when you're at work So if you have a pair on they just you know They're just laying there and keeping each other company and sleeping mostly during the day So they don't need somebody there all day with them You know and we tell people a lot of times to just have a big pen have a big area But when you go to work Lock them up have a little area where you can lock them up so they don't Jump out or go chew on some cords or do something destructive while you're gone.

I do have a question for, people that would be new time rabbit owners. What should they know first going into it, and are there, any particular signs of illness or anything that they should look out for?

Well, the first thing they should do is go on the internet and educate themselves, if they're going to get a bunny. So bunnies are quite expensive that they have issues at the vet. So that's one thing. They're quite expensive to be spayed or neutered. So going to a rescue saves you a lot of money getting a bunny that's already been vet checked and spayed and neutered. They can't have a lot of things it's not like bugs bunny, carrots, Can be deadly to bunnies carrots are nothing but sugar and bunnies can't process sugar very well So carrots are a treat, just a piece of carrot, every you know a couple times a week but 80 percent hay 20 pellets and Some greens, you know throughout the day And they'll be good but As far as illness bunnies hide it really well new bunny owners kind of have a hard time knowing what's going on So we tell people Have a have some treats have some oxbow have some good treats that you can order get online And give them a treat every morning. If you have food bunnies are going to come to you. So Every morning, you know you do a treat if the bunny don't come to you and it's in a corner all Like a little loaf of bread all you know, just sitting there and not moving something's wrong with the bunny so they hide their illnesses and until people kind of have one And see how it acts. It's hard to tell even for us sometimes. We don't know when the bunnies are ill or not. It's, they hide it really good. But but for new owners, just get it from a rescue that's already spayed or neutered. Don't go to a breeder where you know that the bunny's gonna have issues. You know from being raised or interbred or just Already in feces in its own urine and it's going to pass away on you, you know just look There's a lot of stuff out there with on the internet now that they can educate themselves with that or they can you know come to us. We help people we tell them even if they don't get one from us We can educate them what they need to do and no matter where they get it from I don't care where They rescue the bunny from or adopt it from as long as they adopt a bunny. They don't have to come for me but yeah, but other than that, I mean, they're delicate. They can't be manhandled They're not really a small child's pet the child needs to be older 12 14, you know Where they can be trustworthy with the animal when the parents are gone And but other than that, I mean they do good. They don't like to be picked up You know because they're prey they don't like to be off the ground So you kind of need to get on the ground and get at their level to get them to trust you more but they have to be picked up, of course for different things But they don't like to be picked up and held like a lot of people think they do Especially as they get older the babies don't mind it as much but as they get older and at four months They're a teenager and they kind of start the hormones kicking in and they just don't like it And they may nibble or scratch your claw because they don't want to be picked up anymore But they're a good pet. They live a long time. A lot of people have them quite a while and it don't take a lot to keep them. If you know what to give them or what not to give them, if you just give them cilantro and green leaf lettuce, hay, and some good quality pellets, that's all you really need. You don't need to get more extreme than that. And they'll live a long time and and can be a good pet. They just like a little dog. They play with toys. They come running to you, and of course we got a hundred bunnies, so we, we love the ones we got and we love doing what we do.

Yeah, I can imagine if you have that many bunnies it's wonderful work you do too. Cause like I said, it's one of those overlooked animals. You don't hear a lot about bunny rescues.

No. And they're the third most dumped animal behind cats and dogs. And I would think they may be catching up, and it, and people don't realize that either, but people just see 'em and they think that they see a bunny, that it's wild, but, wild bunnies are brown. Any other colored bunnies? are domesticated. There is no other color wild bunny other than the brown with the white cotton tail. Any other color, any with fluffy hair, they're domesticated bunnies and they don't belong outside. So if whoever's listening to this, if you see a bunny that's just not brown, it's domesticated. And there's even bunnies that look just like the one we've got three or four here that look just like the wild bunnies that's domesticated. So sometimes you can't even tell if a bunny comes up to you. It's domesticated. You will never have a wild cottontail or one of the cane cutter or swamp bunnies in Louisiana come up to you. You can't get within, 20 foot and they're shoot like a jet. So if a bunny ever walks up to you and goes to your feet, comes to you, it's domesticated. So alert somebody or, catch it or bring it home or take it to the shelter. But people just don't know that, they think it's a bunny can survive in the wild. And they dump it and off they go.

Before we end this episode, is there anything else that you would like to add?

Well, we have a lot of bunnies. We do transport. We have people that would transport. So if they, see bunnies we post, they're more than welcome to contact us. But we have a lot of bunnies. We definitely need people to come out and see the bunnies. And we definitely need to adopt some. We can't. take more in until we adopt some out. So right now we're fully maxed. So we, we need as many people we can to adopt a bunny and people who have bunnies, if they need, help with their bunny, something's wrong with it, we can help. Sherry bonds bunnies. So if people has the one bunny and they want to get another one, Sherry will bond the bunnies for them. She does nail clippings and we don't do grooming, but you know, we check the bunnies over and we do nail clippings, we bond the bunnies and even if it's not our bunnies and they already have a pair of bunnies and they fight. And they can't get them to bond. We do that too. But but adoption is the biggest thing right now for us. And we just, hope that it will get out there. And then I'm not sure where the podcast, how far it goes out or whatever, but, like I said, whoever hears it and, if they want to contact us and look into adopt, we're more than welcome to talk to them and and help them.

And I'll include the link too, to your Facebook group.

Okay. Yeah, that'll be fine. And like I said I should have we do have pet finder. It's under the same name. So we do have bunnies posted there. We have a lady in Huntsville, Miss Ruth was the Huntsville Friends of Rabbits. She kind of runs the pet finder page and it kind of stays updated. We have more bunnies here at the rescue than we do on the pet finder page because they're always coming in. Of course so, If you want to list that at the bottom because pet finder most people are pretty good with pet finder They just punch in the rescue name and it pops right up with all the bunnies But if you want to mention that too or post that Lola and Friends Bunny Rescue on pet finder That's a pretty simple find also

Yeah, I can certainly do that. I'll go grab that link and include that as well for you.

And but yeah, if people, especially in Louisiana if they have bunnies and they need to have the bunny checked, the Avian Exotic Animal Hospital of Louisiana is probably the best exotic anywhere along the southern states that we know of. We rescue and mobile rescue along the coast of Mississippi, Louisiana. We go north to Hattiesburg, sometimes to Jackson and, but we just tend to stay along the coast here. There's enough bunnies down here for us to rescue. Then we don't need to go anywhere else. It would make a pretty good show. We've actually talked with some of the producers my daughter worked with a crew in New Orleans when they'd run the EMS show and We thought it would be a pretty good show to have and but we didn't have nowhere It was after we had caught most of the bunnies at the parks and know where to take the bunnies That we would catch so it was okay. Well We need to think about this more than just, filming, catching the bunnies, because it was, it would have been easy to do. Maybe one day in the future, something like that can happen. But there just needs to be more awareness out there with the bunnies. There's a lot of rescues that rescue bunnies, but still people are not. They don't know about the bunnies. They don't know that they make good house pets and especially a lot of your rural areas think that bunnies just belong in the backyard in a cage and They're raised for meat and that's way beyond what they're they can be they can be a really good companion animal. They can be a Therapy animal we have a friend that has two bunnies. That's therapy animals She takes them to the senior citizen homes and they're big hit. So they're more than just a just a little animal, you stick in a cage in the backyard and and raise for meat. They can be a whole lot more than that. And that's what we try to educate people that, that they can be a really good house pet.

Well, thank you for taking the time to speak with us today. I really enjoyed our conversation. It was some things that I didn't know. And hopefully we can get you to reach a few more people and maybe get you some more homes for your bunnies too.

And that'll be good. And one last thing, within Jefferson Parish there, and if people in that area has bunnies that they catch or see, they can, they have a program, the Fix A Rabbit program that's in Jefferson Parish, the SPCA promotes that. So that's a good thing that they have over there to try to cut back and cut down on the population of the bunnies. So if anybody's listening in that area that. That has a bunny or catches one in that area that just remember the SPCA the Jefferson SPCA has a fix a rabbit program with a spay and neuter your pet and of course like any dog or cat or any other animal You know spay and neuter is the biggest issue out there So, you know if you have a bunny you get one, please spay and neuter, females catch uterine cancer 85 over the age of two catch it. So, spay and neuter is a big deal. Have it done

Yep spay and neuter is a very big deal. Thank you so much. I'm so glad we got to speak with you

Yes, ma'am. And that's was the bunnies are just a thumping. I don't know if that's what you hear They can hear your voices cuz I got you here on speakerphone and they're just thumping And they want to warn all the other ones. We always

have a cat run around the background. So I'm sure people are hearing cats. So it's, we

just had some meowing, so I don't know if you could hear it, but we're like, Oh no, so it happens animal rescue.

Well, the cat, I mean, the bunnies, that might've been what they heard. I didn't hear it. I might've been talking, but then

Maybe so that's funny. That's funny.

But well, thank you so much. I'll be glad to, any other time, you need to, I'll be glad to come back anytime. I appreciate y'all reaching out and hopefully it, helps some people and educate some people and it does some good.

Definitely. We would love to have you back. Thanks.

Thanks. Yes, ma'am.

All right.

Bye.

And that's all the time we have for today's episode. If you are in animal rescue, or if you know someone that has a story that should be told, please contact us. We would love to have you or them on the show Thanks for listening, and please join us next week as we continue to explore the world of animal rescue.