Higher Learning

Red Door received a phone call one week night from a school administrator at Northside College Prep about a domestic rabbit one of the students had caught in the school garden. We arranged to have the rabbit come in so it could be looked over for any illnesses or parasites. By the time the administrator had brought the rabbit to the shelter two days later, four other rabbits had been found on school grounds! It didn't end there...yet another one was caught and subsequently adopted by a student, and sadly three more were found dead in the garden. While they were waiting to go to Red Door, students brought in supplies for the rabbits, and helped to care for them.

All five rabbits were eventually transferred into the "Red Door School System" for further evaluation. Half of them had coccidia, another had bite wounds from another animal that had abcessed and needed immediate surgery, and yet another needed surgery to remove bot fly larvae (yes, it's as gross as it sounds, you can google the images, but not recommended for the faint of heart).

Unfortunately, we may never know how or why these nine buns ended up outside like they did, fending for themselves. The most obvious answer is that a person most likely placed them there, thinking they would be able to survive on their own after being cared for by people their whole lives. As three of the rabbits showed, the odds of a domestic rabbit being able to survive outside on its own are slim to none. This year, Red Door has rescued a record number of rabbits who had been left outside by people ignorant to the fact that wild rabbits and domestic rabbits are not the same creatures.

This story ends on a high note, with nearly all of the rabbits cleared of coccidia, and two of the rabbits recovering from their surgeries. they are on the road to recovery, and will be ready for adoption in no time. Thank you to Northside Prep and all of the students and school administrators who helped to rescue these rabbits and get them to safety. The rabbits all agreed, you get an A for effort.