Today we’d like to introduce you to Karen Bonno
Hi Karen, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I begañ volunteering for a domestic rabbit rescue in the upstate of South Carolina in about 2019. Through this I became aware of the huge issues of abandonment, dumping and improper care of domestic rabbits. I also fell in love with bunnies as house pets and adopted three bunnies that I met while volunteering there. When this rescue decided to focus more on rehabbing wild cottontails, I was invited by a contact I had met through this organization to help start another domestic rabbit rescue as a division of the wildlife rehabilitation center she runs. This was also located in the upstate of South Carolina. I learned a lot about starting a 501c3 and about animal rescue through my experiences with these two rescues. South Carolina has very few animal rescues that focus on rabbits. Since the ones mentioned above were in the upstate of SC, I decided it was time to start one here in the Midlands. I began to plan the start of Hoppy Hearts SC Rabbit Rescue with a good friend I had met through rescue. In September 2022, we received our 501c3 status and began rescuing and education on January 1, 2023.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Animal rescue is rarely a smooth road in any aspect. Starting the rescue was basically smooth. Having a very supportive husband and close friends helped immensely! The real challenge was having the public be aware of the rescue’s existence, and gaining a following with whom you have established trust that your organization truly has the rabbits’ best interests at heart and that all funds raised are going to the goal. Funding is constantly a struggle and fundraising must always continue. We take in rabbits who have been dumped and abandoned in the wild by people who no longer want them. Being domestic, they cannot survive this and end up dying a painful, lonely death. The ones we are able to save often come with health issues that need veterinary treatment. We also spay and neuter them before adoption. This on top of daily care means we are always fundraising so we can get these bunnies what they need to be healthy and find their forever homes.
Another struggle is establishing a foster home network. We always need fosters but they are not easy to find. We have a few wonderful foster homes now but we hope to make our network much larger.
Finally, overcoming the public’s ideas about bunnies being livestock and living in a hutch outside is a constant struggle. Also, teaching that proper care of rabbits requires much, much more than what most people believe is something we are always fighting against. Also while everyone is aware of the struggles dog and cat shelters/rescues face, many people are completely unaware of the huge rabbit dumping and abandonment issue in our state and elsewhere. This makes it a bit more difficult to find resources to help in our mission.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am the co-founder of Hoppy Hearts SC domestic rabbit rescue. The following explains our mission in detail which also covers the answers to the questions above:
We are a 501c3 nonprofit organization in South Carolina. Our mission is to improve the lives of domestic rabbits and our community by means of education about house rabbits and their proper care, by rescuing and adopting out abandoned rabbits, and providing rabbit therapy visits to assisted living facilities and other community organizations.
We provide a Basics of Bunny Care Bunny 101 class and a Bunny Health Bunny 102 class, both in person and online. These classes are for anyone interested in learning about bunnies and their care. We are happy to have anyone in the class who currently has companion bunnies, as well as potential future adopters (from any rescue) or those just interested in learning more. We also are happy to give these classes to shelter and rescue groups. We are working on additional class offerings, including Bonding Bunnies.
We also work to rescue and adopt out homeless bunnies. To help with this, we are building a network of foster homes throughout the state of South Carolina to help us rescue more bunnies. Our goal with this foster home network is that rabbits rescued by Hoppy Hearts can be placed into a home environment while waiting for their forever homes, rather than in a more stressful shelter environment.
We are available to help with bonding and bunny behavior issues also.
Hoppy Hearts SC also can provide animal assisted interactions with some of our bunnies to assisted living facilities and other community organizations.
We are different from many other rescues in that we try to place our bunnies in foster homes before adoption so that they learn to be house bunnies. This means they are litter trained, kept inside as either free roam or within exercise pen enclosure with free roam time. Bunnies that are not in foster are kept in exercise pen enclosures here at the rescue so they are not kept in small cages. We also provide classes on proper care of house bunnies. We do this through Zoom and offer the classes to shelter personnel, pet sitters, or any organization or person just interested in learning more about rabbits and their care. The assisted living visits with rabbits also set us apart in this area.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
My main advice for someone wanting to start a rescue is to be sure to take time for yourself once in a while. Rescue is demanding both emotionally and physically. To stay healthy in it long term, you must take care of yourself. It also helps to have a supportive team around you and to keep your larger goals in mind. You also must sometimes say no as hard as it can be. Avoiding burn out is essential.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hoppyheartssc.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hoppyheartssc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hoppy.heartssc
