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The Berry Babies have an important message for you...
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The Berry babies hope you have very "hoppy" holidays!
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Home for the Holidays: Pumpkin Spice
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Pumpkin Spice (formerly known as Autumn) was rescued from a Portland neighborhood after her owners moved away and left her behind. She had been living under a shed and fending for herself. Though she was fearful and had residual cage aggression after she was rescued, thanks to her awesome foster family, she soon began to thrive!
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This fall, Pumpkin Spice was adopted by a great family from Rabbit Advocates last year. Her new best friend, twelve-year-old Lyla, shared an updated about Pumpkin Spice with us:
I renamed her because I read on another rescue's page that when you get a new bunny/animal you should rename them because in renaming the you can help them shed their past traumatic experiences and give them a new identity. I wanted to keep it in a fall theme because her foster family was her family too even if it was temporary. I love pumpkin spice everything and I thought the coloring on her back and eyes looked like a pumpkin spice latte.
She is adapting so well! She is already making herself so comfortable and I think we really have a strong bond. She is so sweet and she loves to be pet! It is especially fun and sweet to put her on my lap during school and rub her soft little ears.
Also, me and my mom looked at her paper work, and it said Rabbit Advocates guessed that in September she turned three. We decided that she should pick her birthday so I put numbers 1 to 30 on paper and she sniffed and nudged the second. We decided that was her birthday! It was very fun to watch her choose because my birthday is September third and my grandpa's birthday is on the first of September so she is sandwiched right in the middle
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Oregon Animal Rescue Update
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Rabbit Advocates is committed to complying with state laws and regulations. We wanted to share an update about recent changes to animal rescue licensing and inspections and how we are implementing best practices in our organization.
Last year brought about several big changes for Oregon’s animal rescue entities. Senate Bill 883 amended Oregon Revised Statutes 609.415, making the State Veterinarian, housed in the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the enforcing agency for animal rescue licensing and inspections.
Prior to this change, rescues with 10 or more animals were licensed by each county in which they operated. Many counties failed to enforce the licensing, leaving some foster homes subject to inspection, while others were not. Many animal rescues remain unlicensed. Senate Bill 883 was passed to assure that animal rescues “across the state comply with the same record keeping and licensing requirements.”
Following the passage of Senate Bill 883, the State Veterinarian has created new rules for licensing and inspection that will go into effect on July 1, 2021. For foster-based organizations, like Rabbit Advocates and many other state rabbit rescues, “inspections” will only include an audit of records, not a walk-through of foster facilities. Foster homes will only be inspected if complaints or concerns are reported to the State Veterinarian. The State Veterinarian advises all animal rescues to “require a foster application and perform a home inspection prior to allowing animals in [fosters’] care.”
While the State Veterinarian is now tasked with enforcing licensing requirements and inspections, county and city regulations still apply to animal rescue organizations and must be followed. For example, if a foster home is located in the City of Hillsboro, they may only have four rabbits. If a foster home is located in Multnomah County, they may only have four animals of any kind. County shelters often enter into “shelter partnership contracts” with local animal rescues. Unfortunately, these contracts rarely, if at all, result in actual inspections of foster homes, which can mean some animals end up in over-crowded or substandard foster homes.
Rabbit Advocates is dedicated to providing quality foster homes where rabbits will thrive. Over the past year, we have updated our policies to ensure compliance with new state, county, and city regulations. Below are key points from our care capacity protocols:
- We require all foster providers to complete a foster application and undertake an inspection of every home before placing foster rabbit(s) in their care. Inspections are currently happening virtually because of Covid-19. However, we anticipate resuming in-person inspections once it is again safe to do so.
- We ensure each foster provider has enough time to provide rabbits with a clean habitat, daily food and water, and ample exercise and socialization.
- We do not place more than four rabbits in a single foster home, with the exception of mothers and nursing babies.
- We do not ask foster providers to take care of more rabbits than they are comfortable or able to care for. We do not “warehouse” rabbits in foster homes, as we know this is a strain on foster providers and rabbits alike.
Many rescued bunnies suffer trauma or may have never known the comforts of living indoors as a valued family member. Our foster providers play an important role in rehabilitating rescued rabbits and helping them find adoptive homes. We are eternally grateful to them!
To learn more about Oregon's new animal rescue regulations, follow this link. If you have questions about the Rabbit Advocates Foster Program, please contact foster@rabbitadvocates.org.
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Hoping to support bunnies for the holidays? You can gift an item from the Amazon Wish List to Rabbit Advocates foster bunnies or make a tax-deductible donation. Thank you!
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"Thank you for reading our newsletter!"
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About the Rabbit Advocates Newsletter
The newsletter contains the latest and greatest updates on Rabbit Advocates, as well as important information on issues concerning domestic rabbits in the Greater Portland and Vancouver Areas.
The newsletter is prepared by the Rabbit Advocates Communications Team in partnership with the Board of Directors. Submit your newsletter ideas to communications@rabbitadvocates.org.
Many thanks to all who contributed to the December 2020 newsletter. "Hoppy Holidays" artwork by Olivia E.
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