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2012 is going to bring a lot of new changes for WildRescue, but — without a doubt — the biggest is going to be the creation of our new Wellness Center. For years now we have had to make do with a rehabilitation space that was j-u-s-t big enough to handle our needs. I am happy to say the days of making do will soon be over. We are embarking on a new chapter for our Rescue with the  renovation of a 340+ sq. ft space that will enable us to take in even more animals and care for them at an even higher level. The new center will serve multiple needs:

- Intake Station – where the public can drop off injured wild rabbits.

- Wildlife Triage – where injured animals can be evaluated by our staff, treated for immediate health threats, and housed until stabilized.

- Wildlife Long-term Treatment – where patients are housed while they continue needed medical treatments and grow to their optimum release size.

- Ambulatory Wildlife Enclosure – where animals who are on the mend can stretch their legs, regain their strength, and socialize with other recovering animals before their release.

- Domestic Rabbit Adoption Desk - where the public can come to get information on rabbit adoption, view and interact with adoptable rabbits, and purchase rabbit supplies, toys, and housing.

The creation of this new Center is an exciting adventure but also a daunting one that will require much from our volunteers and donors. The renovation will be a top to bottom transformation — we will be taking the new space back to the structure’s studs and go from there. Electrical, plumbing, lighting, flooring, entryway, HVAC — it all has to happen. We are anticipating the cost of these renovation at $6000.

One of the things I am most proud about WildRescue is that we never turn away an animal in need. In 2011 over 1600 animals came through our doors. They were treated with great care and love until they were ready for release or, in the case of our domestic rabbit clients, went on to their new forever homes. We do this work because it is needed. We do this work because we love it.

In 2012 we want to accomplish even more and, with your help and our new Wellness Center, we will.

How you can help:

Donate money: Now is the perfect time to donate to WildRescue! An anonymous donor has offered to match a dollar for every two dollars donated between February 1st and March 1st, 2012. Donate $10 and receive our “Peace Love Bunny” bumper sticker. Donate $30 and receive our “Peace Love Bunny” tee. Donate $100 and we will honor you on our new Center’s Super Hero Wall with a photo of you, your family, and/or a beloved furry friend!

Donate Materials: Please visit our Amazon Wishlist to see some of the items we will need to complete our Center. In addition, we will need basic building materials such as insulation, drywall, wiring, and lumber. If you are a business who would like to donate materials, please contact us for information.

Donate Time: Those old walls won’t come down without some serious help! We will be having several days when we will need many hands on-board to move/tear down/put up. Come by for a fun time — no experience needed — pizza is on us! If you are in the Trades and can offer specific services for the reno, we would love to hear from you.

Happy Hoppin’ Christmas to all our WildRescue, Inc./Rabbit Rescue Friends!

The Year of the Rabbit has proven to be just that – quite a year! So much to tell you about that surely I will run out of space.

For those of you who are new to us or who were not aware, we are a dual purpose organization. We not only rescue and adopt out domestic rabbits, but also are a fully functioning rescue and rehabilitation center for our native Texas cottontails and black tailed jackrabbits. Our wonderful veterinarians work with us year round to give our wildlife a fighting chance at survive with state of the art medical care. These same vets see our domestic rabbits, who often come to us in not-go-good shape. All of this equates to a whole lot of work for us, but more importantly it means a lot of lives are saved through the efforts of our volunteers and, ultimately, you! you can read more here

One of the nice things about having a university right down the street from your Rescue is that every now and then the newspaper staff ask to do a story on us!  NT Daily TV Reporter Nadia Galindo stopped by and filmed the Rescue for a webcast (link coming soon).  She also wrote a great article about our Rescue that was published today in the NT Daily newspaper.

This summer we went from having cages upon cages full of rabbits waiting for adoptive homes, keeping them all separated and keeping our volunteers VERY busy.  With the heat of this past summer we could no longer operate that way and keep the rabbits safe and cool, so we transformed our “boys’ yard,” formerly full of caging, into a second open-air, free-roaming pen for the rabbits.  We had to keep the balance of rabbits in there just right and still keep our unneutered males safely caged and away from the unspayed females, but with the help of grants from the Petco Foundation and from Petsmart Charities, we were able to get over 100 many rabbits neutered and spayed so we could get them out of cages as quickly as possible!  With the help of a donation of a huge mister system from Orbit Misters we were able to help the rabbits stay cool in the misty shade.  With all of these efforts and donations our adoption rate went up, the huge amount of effort on our volunteers’ part went down, and most importantly the rabbits were much happier and healthier.

We are going to maintain this cage-free lifestyle for our rabbits and improve it by erecting carport-style shelters over half of each of our two yards to provide shade from the sun and shelter from the rain and snow.  In times of inclement weather we will be able to roll down vinyl blinds on the exposed side of the shelter to provide an extra bit of shelter while still allowing for air flow.  The bunnies — ok, and we ourselves — can’t wait to see these shelters erected and good to go for the coming winter months!

Although we have applied for grant funding to help with the construction of these shelters, we will need to construct them within the next couple weeks to keep our rabbits safe and happy before that grant funding comes in.  If you would like to help us get these up even sooner, you are welcome to donate to their construction!  There is a button, top right of this website, where you can donate via PayPal.  You do not need to have a PayPal account to donate, it works off any credit or debit card as well.  Please pass on the word to friends, family and coworkers.  Let’s get these built now!

A copy of the article published in today’s NT Daily by Nadia Galindo is below for you to read.  Thank you all for your interest in our organization, love for the animals, and willingness to help your local nonprofit animal rescue organizations.

Rabbit rescue works to raise money for updated shelter

Nadia Galindo / NT Daily TV Reporter

In preparation for the coming winter months and holiday season, Denton’s WildRescue, Inc./Rabbit Rescue is raising money to add on to its shelter.

The rescue has taken in about 150 domestic rabbits this year. Many of those rabbits came in after the holidays because many rabbits are given as gifts but then given up or dumped, said Diana Leggett, president of the rescue.

“January alone, we took in 47 domestic rabbits from the area shelters and then it’s just snowballed,” Leggett said.

This is one of the reasons the Denton-based nonprofit organization has added an additional outside pen this summer.

“We never have to say no, or worse, euthanize because of a lack of space,” said Lindsay Hooker, a UNT alumna and volunteer at the organization. “We always make it work.”

The rescue is trying to raise money to build a carport-style shelter to cover half of the two bunny pens.

“We want them to have a quality of life until we can find them their forever home,” Leggett said. “The best way to do that is by giving them their freedom and their space.”

Leggett said the shelters will cost a minimum of $1,200. In addition to building shelters, the organization hopes to raise $10,000 to convert a garage into a hospital room and a shed into a resting room.

Leggett said the shelters are the top priority because they are needed before winter to keep the bunnies in an appropriate environment.

“We want to at least get the shelters up before the onset of winter; we just need to generate funds and, no pun intended, hop to it,” Hooker said.

WildRescue, Inc./Rabbit Rescue takes in about 1,000 cottontail rabbits a year. The organization also takes in squirrels, ducks and other wildlife. Animals are cared for and rehabilitated, then released back into the wild. Domestic rabbits are spayed and neutered; however, some are in bad shape and need medical care, which can be expensive.

“We watch rabbits come from hoarder situations, a 1-square-foot mouse cage, a hutch where dogs nipped at it through the wire, all kinds of neglectful and abusive situations,” Hooker said. “It is a miraculous thing to see these rabbits turn into beautiful, sociable creatures with huge personalities.”

Leggett said she had a bunny as a little girl and transferred her love for the animal to her children. She has been rescuing rabbits and wildlife for more than 25 years.

“I am one of the biggest advocates for these kids,” Leggett said. “I can’t imagine stopping that now.”

This past weekend we took in our 500th cottontail of the season.  We typically estimate we take in 600-900 cottontails each year, but this baby season started early, in February!  We started seeing 1 week old baby cottontails coming in exactly 1 week plus 30 days (30-day gestation period) after we had an unseasonably warm weekend in January.  It’s not even June yet, and we’ve already reached 500…  It’s going to be a long baby season!  Last year we didn’t stop receiving babies until late November!

If you approximate that we take in 2 cottontails per family that finds them in need, that’s 250 phone calls, emails, Facebook messages, and knocks on the door that we’ve received since February.  And those are just the ones we take in, not to mention the other hundreds of calls that we’re able to instruct on how to re-nest the babies, or calls that come from out of state.  We’ve taken in calls this year from Maryland, Florida, California, Tennessee, and other states — we even had a call come in from Spain!

With all of those calls and requests for help and information, we’re starting to see patterns in what people need to know right off the bat.  Below we’ve listed some answers to frequently asked questions, and quick links to more information within our website.  If you have any questions that we haven’t listed, leave us a comment or send us an email and we’ll be sure to answer them on our website for everyone to see!

“How do I tell how old this cottontail is?”

“Is it ok to touch them?”

“My cat/dog just brought in a baby cottontail. What do I do now?”

“I have found a baby cottontail outside of its nest.  Is he okay?”

“How do I know if the babies are old enough to be released?”

“How can I tell if the babies are healthy and have been fed recently?”
You can find out by picking up each baby and turning him over to see if his belly is plump and full.  Mom comes to feed at dusk and at dawn, so checking during the middle of the day or in the morning is the best time.  You can check for dehydration by pinching a bit of skin on the baby’s back with your thumb and forefinger.  If the skin stays pinched or takes a while to return back to normal, he is dehydrated.  If the skin immediately bounces right back flat in place, he’s healthy and well hydrated.  If the babies look thin, dehydrated or injured at all, contact us for further information.

“I found a baby cottontail while I was out walking.  What should I do, or what should I have done?”
If you ever find a baby cottontail with its eyes closed out of the nest, something has gone wrong.  He may have been carried away by a cat or dog, or even by a human, and placed outside of the nest.  If you find a cottontail on the road, on the sidewalk, etc. and he makes no effort to get away from you, he may have injuries you cannot see.  If you think something may be wrong with the cottontail at all, pick him up and take him with you.  Put him safely in a box away from companion animals and small children and contact us as soon as possible.  If you have left the place where you found the cottontail, please go back as quickly as you are able and secure him in a box.  Contact us once you have him with you; we can’t do anything if you can’t find him!

“What do you do with the cottontails we bring you?”
This is by far the question we are most frequently asked. Occasionally if you catch us on a day when we’ve already answered that question 60 times, we may spout back with a sarcastic, “We have a barbecue on Sundays, wanna come?”  Of course that’s just out of frustration from repetition and of course we don’t mean it; in fact, most of our people are vegetarians, anyway. ;)
We are the only rehabilitators in the north Texas area who practice veterinary medicine on our cottontails.  We splint broken legs, administer pain medicine and antibiotics, provide small but comfortable enclosures to allow broken pelvises to mend, suture ripped skin, clean wounds, administer subcutaneous fluids and vitamins, feed specially made formulas to young cottontails, and when we have tried everything and there is absolutely nothing left for us to do for a suffering cottontail on its way out of this world, we humanely euthanize.  We also have two veterinarians that partner with us and provide heavily discounted surgeries when necessary.  For older cottontails and those weaning off formula, we provide fresh grass, weeds and wildflowers in addition to enrichment foods like fruits and vegetables.  Standard rabbit pellets are always available to them as a supplement to their diet, along with both fresh water and a Gatorade-like electrolyte stimulating drink that they love!

Baby cottontails are kept safe and well cared for here at the Rescue until they are 6 weeks old, or until their wild instincts have fully kicked in and they are afraid of humans — and inconveniently difficult to catch.  They are released on one of two plots of private land — both many continuous acres of ideal land for cottontails to thrive in safely away from predators.  We also release at LLELA, where they are actively working to turn a large patch of land in Lewisville back to its untouched-prairie ways, including reintroducing native species of plants and animals.  We are proud to provide them cottontails for this wonderful project!

“How much should I donate with this cottontail I’m bringing you?”
We are happy to accept donations in any amount.  Whatever you feel is an appropriate amount for the care, food, and time devoted to the little ones you bring us.  We have had people donate everything from pocket change, to $25, to checks made out for $200, to $500 put toward our vet bills!  It all adds up, and we appreciate the help you give us in more ways than you know.
We have received questions about items we need in place of money.  In answer to this, we set up an Amazon Wish List!  This is an incomplete and ever-growing list of items we use every day, need replaced, or simply would love to have as a part of our Rescue.  There are things you can find at your local grocery store, and things that you could order on Amazon that will be shipped directly to us if purchased through our wish list.  If you prefer to donate gifts in-kind rather than funds, we would be thrilled to have you choose something from our list and have it sent to us!

Meet Ronnie.  Ronnie is a 2 year old neutered angora.  A beautiful, sweet, fluffball of a domestic rabbit.  (There are eyes in there somewhere…)

Meet the cottontails.  Adorable little wild babies growing up in the safe haven of WildRescue, Inc.

Ronnie, meet the cottontails.  Cottontails, meet Ronnie.

Well, that introduction went smoothly.

We have never seen anything like this.  We’ve heard stories from other rehabbers about domestic mommy rabbits letting baby cottontails nurse with their own babies, stories of domestic rabbits grooming sickly little cottontail babies, even stories of a dove acting as a living incubator for baby cottontails.  But this is absurd, amusing, amazing, and just plain awesome.  The cottontails actually use Ronnie as a living, breathing blanket.  They snuggle in the fur on his sides, lay stretched out on his back, huddle up under his chin, and generally don’t go more than a foot away from him at any time.

While Ronnie is one of the sweetest, most gentle domestic rabbits we have ever had the pleasure of meeting at the Rescue, and we already have two people interested in adopting him, we’re not sure if we want to let him go just yet.  The babies are just having too much fun with Ronnie, and he seems to enjoy “mothering” them and snuggling with them all.

Besides… Does it get any cuter than this?