Connecticut rabbit rescue center relocates to Ellington
ELLINGTON — Rabbit rescuer Becky Bernardo said she dreads the weeks after Easter.
That’s when the novelty of having a fluffy new pet wears off and people discover the time and money that goes into caring for a domestic bunny. Many of the animals are abandoned in Connecticut and throughout the nation.
“We call it ‘the Easter Dump,’ ” Bernardo, president of Everybunny Counts, said Wednesday while giving a tour of the organization’s new facility in Ellington. “It’s been significantly worse since COVID.”
Launched in 2016 and formerly based in Bristol, the nonprofit rescue, adoption, and education center recently moved to a former commercial space in the Crystal Lake area. A grand opening is set for March 2.
Everybunny Counts is one of four rabbit rescue organizations in the state, including Hopalong Hollow in Norwalk, which has placed over 1,500 rabbits and small animals into homes and safe foster care and is currently home to about 100 bunnies. Director Linda Thibault told Hearst Connecticut Media in an interview last year that she and her volunteers also struggle with the Easter-time abandonment.
“We’ve been in operation for 20 years, and for that full 20 years, Easter time has been an issue,” Thibault said. “Unfortunately, baby rabbits are very, very cute. Because they’re so cute, people buy them on impulse. They’re tiny, they’re sweet, they’re cuddly. Unfortunately, they grow, and this is what people don’t think about.”
Domestic rabbits are among the most popular pets in the U.S. According to the American Pet Products Association, 69 million households have dogs, 45.3 million host cats and 6.7 million households have small animals that include rabbits.
About 75 percent of the rabbits at Everybunny Counts came in through animal control officers or were caught by volunteers after being dumped, Bernardo said. Catching them takes anywhere from 30 seconds to three days, she said. Domestic rabbits do not survive in the wild.
“They have no survival skills,” Bernardo said. “They will go right up to a predator — ‘You want to be friends?’ ”
The approximately 2,000square-foot Ellington facility now houses a dozen rabbits in the main room, where they are separated by wire enclosures equipped with little hideaways, toys, and litter boxes. Still more rabbits are in foster care and will be brought to the facility, Bernardo said. Those bunnies include a blind one named Stevie Bunder, which the owners planned to eat before a friend intervened and suggested Everybunny Counts.
The rabbits in the main room were a variety of sizes, colors, and fur patterns. Some were in pairs, including Butternut and Squash. A sheet secured with clothespins covered Sophie’s cage because she has been known to jump. Rabbits are territorial and will fight each other and other pets if not properly acclimated, Bernardo said. Not all are docile. She pointed to a Lionhead breed named Astoria.
“Astoria will bite you,” she said.
Rabbits gnaw and scratch and can cause significant damage to a home if not properly trained and cared for, Bernardo said. She and volunteers work to educate potential owners about the responsibilities, including having adequate space and enough time to give bunnies the attention they need.
Bernardo said she devotes about 40 hours a week to Everybunny Counts in addition to her job as a middle school band teacher in Mansfield. She has help from volunteers, who include Tanya Evans of Manchester, a paralegal who volunteers once once a week on a weekday for about two hours and every other Saturday.
“I really enjoy rabbits,” Evans said. “Look at them — they’re adorable!”
Vice President Kristin Baldasaro organizes fundraisers about every six weeks. The events typically have a theme, such as “Beer for Buns,” hosted by Illicit Brewing in Manchester. All of the organization’s funding comes from donations, which recently included $9,000 from the American Eagle Federal Credit Union, Baldasaro said. Expenses include rent and utilities at $2,000 a month and veterinary bills at about $3,000 a month. All bunnies are spayed or neutered, and Everybunny Counts spends about $400 on each animal before adoption, Bernardo said.
Abandoning rabbits is illegal, falling under the state’s cruelty to animals law, but Bernardo said there’s little action taken against those responsible, in part because animal control officers, through no fault of their own, lack resources for followthrough investigations. She said she and other advocates plan to lobby legislators for tougher sanctions.
Until then, Bernardo said, most of the rabbits that come into Everybunny Counts will be dumped bunnies. In fact, only two of the center’s current residents were “owner-surrenders,” a pair of “girls” whose owner faced eviction for keeping them.
“I would love to take more owner-surrenders,” Bernardo said. “I want to be able to help people who can’t care for their rabbits anymore, but when we have people who are irresponsibly breeding, we have pet stores selling, we have people dumping rabbits outside that I’m constantly chasing after, it’s very hard to do.”