Today we’d like to introduce you to Caroline Gilbert.
Hi Caroline, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In the Spring of 1967, my eldest son brought a baby rabbit home from school. He had been told not to bring the rabbit home, but being a kind-hearted and somewhat naughty child, he disobeyed and arrived home with the rabbit anyway. My son named the rabbit Droovy. Droovy grew into a handsome brown tweed rabbit who looked very much like a large Eastern Cottontail. Our family fell in love with this captivating animal.
As a new rabbit owner, I thought it best to learn all I could about them. Books from our local library piled onto my kitchen table. I delved into the secret lives of rabbits. I discovered that our domestic rabbits really haled from Europe. That they are social animals that live in colonies in extensive underground burrows called warrens. I learned that our domestic rabbits are prized, unfortunately, for their meat and fur, and make excellent test subjects for cosmetics. They are also the third most popular pet in America, behind dogs and cats. I learned too, that though there are protections against the cruel and inhumane treatment of farm animals, rabbits are not included in those protections. I realized that the rabbit was alone with no advocate; at the mercy of its owner. I knew that I had to help these beautiful, unfortunate animals.
Enlightened now to this unique animal and its plight, I began seeing them everywhere. And what I saw was sad indeed. I began taking in the discarded Easter bunnies at an alarming rate. I started seeing filthy living conditions in pet stores, feed and seed stores, and backyard breeders. Rescued rabbits from these facilities began showing up on my doorstep. I started receiving calls from animal rights organizations to offer help and refuge for rabbits rescued from experimental labs. I never dreamed an animal could suffer in as many ways as a rabbit could. It was too much. I needed help.
I phoned The Fund For Animals, author Cleveland Amory’s animal welfare organization in New York. With their help and guidance, I learned what it took to become a sanctuary. In the ensuing years, we designed and built our rabbitats, our bunny health care building, and we became a 501(c)(3), nonprofit, Rabbit Sanctuary Inc. We now had the facilities, the volunteers, the support and the experience to really make a difference in the lives of rescued domestic rabbits.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
In our 50+ years of service, we have been an advocate for rabbit’s rights, a place of refuge for rabbits that have been neglected, dumped, rescued from highways, dumpsters, laboratories, classrooms, and backyard breeders. We have worked to educate people on rabbit care, and how to live with an animal who is singularly different from a dog or a cat.
Over the decades, the Sanctuary has faced many challenges. As with many non-profits, securing funding is always a struggle. So too has been taking our rightful place in the rescue community. Dogs, cats, and even wildlife seem to dominate the collective consciousness of animal lovers. Rabbits aren’t on many people’s radar. While this makes our work more difficult, we remain dedicated to their well-being, committed to telling their story, and inspired by their gentle presence. Yet little did we know the magnitude of the challenge that lay ahead.
There is now a foe in our midst so terrifying that it has become the single most consuming challenge in our Sanctuary’s history. Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus Type 2 (RHDV2) first arrived in California in 2020 from Europe. The disease is highly infectious, has no cure, has no proven preventive vaccine in the United States, has no symptoms, and is almost 100% fatal to domestic and wild rabbits. In early 2022, Medgene Labs in South Dakota, completed its trials on a RHDV2 vaccine and our state veterinarian approved the experimental vaccine’s use. The Sanctuary’s vet procured the vaccine and in February of this year, all of the Sanctuary’s rabbits received their first dose of the vaccine. Three weeks later they received their second dose. Everyone at the Sanctuary gave a big sigh of relief – if only momentary.
When our rabbits received their vaccinations, the virus was as close as Georgia. That’s uncomfortably close for a virus that’s highly transmissible and nearly always fatal. In September of this year, cases of the disease were reported in Greenville County, SC. That’s our backyard. Between the time our rabbits received their vaccines in February and the arrival of the virus in Greenville County in September, our state veterinarian banned the Medgene vaccine until the company can demonstrate its complete effectiveness and safety. Our state vet has also banned the imported, proven effective vaccines from Europe. This is a death knell for all rabbits in this state. Without any access to a vaccine either produced domestically or imported, there is nothing for our rabbits should they acquire the disease. Protecting our rabbits from an invisible, highly contagious, nearly 100% deadly disease is by far the most terrifying and difficult challenge the Sanctuary has ever had to face.
As of this writing, Rabbit Sanctuary Inc. is no longer accepting new rabbits. We can not. Doing so would endanger all the rabbits at the sanctuary should the newcomer carry the RHDV2 virus. It saddens us to make this decision. After all, rescuing rabbits is what we’re here for.
What we can do to safeguard our rabbits is to improve our biosecurity protocols. We have purchased the appropriate disinfectants, disposable shoe covers, and disposable carriers. We have scheduled an on-site visit with the Department of Emergency Preparedness and Response with Clemson University to go over our safety protocols to learn what else we can do. We are preparing to add a quarantine room on to our bunny healthcare building. The plans are complete, our Board has approved it, and the contractor has been scheduled. It will cost $20,000, but it’s the last thing we can do to give our rabbits a fighting chance against the virus. At the very least, we will be able to quarantine and care for, or at least make comfortable, a rabbit who contracts RHDV2. By the time (January 2023), our rabbits need their second annual immunization, we hope to have a proven safe and effective vaccine. Fingers crossed that it is available and approved by our state veterinarian before the virus arrives at our doorstep or any other rabbit owner’s doorstep.
Despite the many challenges presented us, we are optimistic about the Sanctuary’s future. We will continue to provide a home for life for as many rescued domestic rabbits as possible. We, like our dog and cat rescue counterparts, are here to help and glad to do so, but we long for the day when all animals are cared for by responsible owners, and our services are no longer needed.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rabbitsanctuaryinc.org
- Facebook: facebook.com/rabitsanctuaryinc
Image Credits
Presonal Photo of Caroline Gilbert by Wayne Gilbert
Additional Photos:
#1 Group shot on RHDV2 vaccination day by JoAnne Smythe
#2 White rabbit named Roger Everplesant, by Tania Drahun
#3 Rabbitat 2 by Rebecca Hummell
#4 Alice & Reddi eating hay in Rabbitat 2 by Rebecca Hummell
#5 Bunny Health Care Building by Rebecca Hummell
#6 Babbit by Tania Drahun
