Reunited and It Feels So Good!

Red Door cat Mango was uncerimoniously dumped at our door in 2002 with no note or explanation. His luck soon changed when he found his adoptive home in 2003 where he has been even since. In August of this year, Red Door received a call from Mango's adopter. Sadly, her home had foreclosed and she was being evicted, and had no where to go. It was her last resort to have to bring Mango back to the shelter, but she had nowhere else to go. She was heartbroken, and one can only imagine that Mango was devastated. She tearfully brought Mango back, where he has been until October of this year. Recently this month we received word from his owner that she had gotten herself back on her feet, financially stable, and was living in a pet friendly apartment where she had placed a pet deposit down. The only thing she was missing terribly was Mango. This past week, Mango was reunited with his mom. She is overjoyed to have him back in her life, and Mango voiced his approval with a big "MEOW!" when he saw her again.

A Holiday Movie For All To See

The Christmas Bunny, an award winning movie starring Florence Henderson, is coming to a shelter near you this holiday season. Red Door is offering DVD copies of the movie for purchase for only $15, with proceeds from sales going to help the homeless animals at Red Door. The Christmas Bunny has numerous themes, though two of the main themes are animal welfare and adoption. It is a very uplifting, family friendly movie, which also offers a positive portrayal of rabbits.  The DVD makes a great gift this holiday season for family and friends. You can pick yours up at Red Door during business hours, or stop by the Winter Bazaar on November 20th from 11am-4pm. Don't wait too long though, quantities are limited!

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.