Caring for abandoned rabbits and wildlife across North Texas

Click the image above and vote for Wild Rescue in the Animal Rescue Site’s Shelter+ Challenge!

Just by having our adoptable rabbits listed on Petfinder.com, we have a chance of winning one of eighty-five grants totaling $100,000!  If we can get everybody to vote for us, our chances are very good of receiving some of the Animal Rescue Site’s very generous grants.  Here’s how to do it:

1. Click the link above.
2. Enter “Wild Rescue” in the Shelter Name field.
3. Click “TX” on the State dropdown.
4. Click Search.
5. When you see Wild Rescue in Lewisville, TX come up, click the VOTE button!

Remember to tell your friends, and go back every day to vote for us!  And…

It’s happened again, another year has positively flown by, each day laden with the gifts and grief that rescue brings. I hope the stories within this missive bring warmth and the feeling of pride that I experience whenever I think back over our accomplishments and even our losses. Read on, enjoy, and please - donate. The animals need you now more than ever!

First, let me extend a bunny thump of joy as I celebrate our volunteers and all that they do for the animals. Thank you, all of you dear people, I could not do this without you. I have been blessed this year with some amazing new volunteers: Laberta, Lindsay, Sharry and Dean, Kathy and Steven, Jayda, Whitney & Lindsey, Bridget, Megan & Katie, Meghan, and Kelsey. Thanks to them we have a new web site, a new brochure, this wonderful holiday card and letter, a steady supply of food for the bunnies, new shelters for the bunnies, and perhaps most importantly, more manpower! “Hip Hop Hooray” for our volunteers! And I know I am sure I have left some people out, please forgive!

Another huge thank you goes to my son, Will Leggett. Will works for Apple and was the designer of the new MacBook that just launched, one of which now lives at the Rescue. Thank you, Will, for believing in me and helping me move forward in my work!

This year’s outreach events were just as numerous as last year. We were there to help The Colony open its trail system and wildlife corridor, Adopt-A-Pet events at Petsmart, adoptions virtually every Sunday at my house, various wildlife events including classes sponsored and taught by WildRescue, and I was honored to speak at the National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association conference in Chicago in March on behalf of the cottontails. I hope to speak again at the 2010 conference in Belleview, Washington.

This has been an expensive year, but I have no regrets! It seemed that the wildlife this year was countless. We took in, nurtured, and released well over 500 forms of wildlife, primarily eastern cottontails. The occasional injured duck, goose, and chicken also found their way to our shelter. We took part in three major domestic rabbit rescues: Five from Snyder, Texas; seven from West Memphis, Tennessee; and ten from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Almost 20,000 miles were clocked on the car, tires replaced, repairs done. We added another section to the bunny yard, “the Bachelor Pad,” for our boys waiting to be neutered. We also rescued and placed four kittens (from Denton Animal Control and North Richland Hills Animal Shelter) and one rather large but wonderful golden retriever.

Brenda McGee, proud mom to adopted domestic buns Barney and Arlington, has retired this year as our beloved Treasurer. For the past five years, Brenda kept up with our expenses (and never once told me no!), authored all of our grants, and so much more. She has kept us in the black and has laid the groundwork for us to continue to move forward financially. Sharry Putnam will be our new Treasurer, with the help of my mom, who is well versed in tax stuff. Thank you, Brenda, for your years of friendship and support.

Rescue is such a wonderful and rewarding experience, but along with the many bits of good must come a few bits of bad. Gloria, the Rescue’s “poster child,” crossed the Rainbow Bridge just before Thanksgiving. She was the most beautiful and elegant white New Zealand we have ever had. Two years ago, Gloria was tossed out to fend for herself on the grounds of the Gaylord  Texan in Grapevine. Her eye was damaged and ultimately had to be removed. After coming to us, Gloria ruled the Bunny Yard and found a fur-ever home with volunteers Sharry and Dean.  Gloria actually swam across their pool not once, but twice! She succumbed to advanced renal disease one month after being diagnosed and was valiant up until the very end. Way too young to leave us, we know she now dances among the heavens and the angels play with her in brilliant pastures of green.

Fortunately, there have been many wonderful success stories this year, two of which are Boo and Oscar. Boo came to us from Collin County Animal Services on Halloween. She is a white, pink-eyed mini-rex ball of love. Boo came to us in bad shape: Her front feet were mutilated (we think from a dog attack), and she only has two toes on her left foot and one on her right. She is also only partially sighted. But none of her disabilities stop Boo from having a very happy life at the Rescue! She loves her salads and rolls over on her side to take a much deserved nap. Go Boo!

Oscar is another shining example of why we do what we do. He was found lying on a pile of trash bags in an alleyway in Frisco, paralyzed. One of our amazing vets, Dr. Rogers, saw him first thing in the morning and promptly removed three cuterebrae (bot fly larvae) from his neck and thigh. The neurotoxins the larvae produce had paralyzed Oscar. Infected, dehydrated, and starving, we honestly didn’t think he would live. Today, just one month later, Oscar is up and hopping around on his own power. Go Oscar!

Although not every story is a miracle like Boo’s and Oscar’s, I count each and every adoption, and each and every tiny, orphaned cottontail, a success. So when you stop and think about it, we are chock full of success stories and Kodak moments. Visit our web site to see more of our stories. And please, share yours with us! Don’t ever feel sorry for the rabbits that come here – be grateful! Those who need it get the very best of veterinary care. Thanks go to Dr. Elizabeth Rogers, Animal Medical Center of Plano; Dr. Patty Weber, All Care Veterinary Hospital in Coppell; and Dr. Pamela Henrichs, Garden Ridge Animal Hospital in Lewisville. These angels put up with more than you know! They are the ones who care for the rabbits that you have adopted and the wildlife that find their way to us. Without them, well, let’s just not go there!

Not many people can help the animals as much as our veterinarians, but you would not believe what a huge help every person who greets our doorstep can make. This coming year, think about what you can do to help the animals. Think about adopting another bunny. Think about volunteering. Think about helping to spread our word and our work. The economy has dictated some devastating events this past year; more and more animals are being abandoned at the shelters. Remember, we get no funding from local, state or federal governments. We are completely funded by you, the people who have come to us to adopt or to bring in wildlife; or you, who were the ones who found that poor bunny in the apartment, house, backyard, field, or street. And it will be you, our friends, who will see us through the next year and help us grow even more. So please, donate. We have included with this letter an envelope addressed to the Rescue to help make donating easier, and you can also donate by credit card on our web site. Please remember us this year, and as always, “adopt a rabbit, and love somebunny!”

Thank you one and all for bringing all of us at WildRescue such joy and wonder. On to the next!

Blessings,

Diana Leggett
Head Bunny
http://rescuedrabbits.org
wildrescuetexas@gmail.com