In mid-March of 2021, the Rabbit Advocates Rescue Team detected troublesome trends in a known colony of domesticated rabbits in Milwaukie, Oregon. Our Rescue Team Co-Leads saw and heard terrible things that we will never forget. We reported our concerns and presented the evidence to the authorities. A few days after the samples had been submitted for testing, we were horrified to learn that the test results were positive—we had found the first documented cases of Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus Type 2 (RHDV2) in Oregon.

RHDV2 has now been with us in Oregon for seven months. Preventing new cases of RHDV2 has required a ton of time, energy, and problem-solving from our incredible volunteers. It has been an extremely challenging period for the rabbit rescue community, set against an alarming global backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic that has seen donations plummet for most non-profit organizations. We are proud of all of our achievements because every single one has been hard-won, and we are an all-volunteer organization.

We are immensely fortunate for the support of rabbit rescues in Washington and California who shared their experiences with us. We have made new friends with rabbit rescues in Idaho, Utah, and even in Canada, as they also grapple with RHDV2. We appreciate all of you. Rabbit Advocates has been able to get more than 700 bunnies in our area vaccinated with Filavac, thereby keeping them safer from RHDV2. We hope that the efforts of Medgene Labs to produce an effective RHDV2 vaccine in the United States will make it easier and more affordable to get bunnies vaccinated in the near future. We are so pleased that Oregon Humane Society is starting to hold lower-cost vaccine clinics, the first of which was held this month. Thank you to everyone who has gotten their bunnies vaccinated so far this year!

Rabbit Advocates has continued to rescue new bunnies off the streets of the Greater Portland Area with critical assistance from our network of temporary “garage fosters” and new foster providers. We are so grateful to everyone who has stepped up to welcome a homeless bunny into their lives, whether as a foster bunny or a forever bunny. When you adopt a rescued rabbit, you save two lives because it allows RA to rescue a new bunny from a perilous situation. 

Out of an abundance of caution, Rabbit Advocates even temporarily stopped selling our delicious Bunny’s Best Bites Hay to ensure that all of our hay was quarantined long enough to prevent the transmission of this remarkably hardy virus. We take the quality of our hay very seriously, and we strive to protect our community. 

July and August of 2021 saw the return of Adoption Outreach Events and Bunny Spa Days for vaccinated bunnies. We are still doing everything we can to find fantastic adoptive homes for our rescued rabbits, and to help all the bunnies in our community look and feel their best. We invite you to join us at upcoming events listed on our Events page. 

We remain vigilant because RHDV2 is still out there, and there is not enough research on the virus. We thank all of you for being advocates for the bunnies, for donating, fostering, adopting, packing hay, catching buns on rescue missions, organizing vaccine events, posting cute selfies of you and your bunnies in RA Merch, and generating tons of great new ideas. Even when times are tough, bunnies make everything better. 

Learn more about RHDV2 on our website.