It took 14 bales of hay, seven 40-pound bags of pellets, three pallets of bark shavings for bedding and thousands of hours of work from staff and volunteers, but all 107 rabbits the Humane Society for Southwest Washington rescued earlier this year have found more permanent homes, according to Lisa Feder, the organization’s vice president of shelter operations.
In March, Clark County Animal Control responded to an unusually large animal hoarding situation involving a family that found themselves overwhelmed with the rabbits, in addition to 23 chickens and 21 guinea pigs.
The chickens went to a farm and the guinea pigs were taken by Portland Guinea Pig Rescue. The rabbits were taken by the Humane Society, which adopted out the last one earlier this month, said Feder. The rest of the rabbits went to individuals or groups, such as local 4-H clubs, said Feder.
“I would say that we certainly have gained a lot of experience with rabbits,” said Feder, who noted that the Humane Society typically only takes 20 to 30 rabbits a year.
The rabbits were initially housed at the Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds while the Humane Society rearranged its shelter to accommodate them. Feder said that the hardest part was spaying and neutering 64 of the rabbits, which are more complicated to sterilize than dogs or cats. The rest of the rabbits were sterilized by the groups that adopted them, she said. Some rabbits that were adopted for showing were not sterilized, she said.
Feder said that her organization had help from Rabbit Advocates, a Portland-based rescue, and Orchards Feed, which helped with supplies, as well as volunteers. But she said the rabbits cost the Humane Society between $12,000 and $15,000. She said that amount was mostly offset by the $25 suggested donation for each rabbit adoption, as well as other financial gifts and money from the city of Vancouver, which contracts with the Humane Society for shelter services.
Feder credits the relatively smooth handling of the situation to an emergency response plan in place that calls for transferring animals rescued in large hoarding situations to the Clark County Event Center at the Fairgrounds, which is already equipped with cages and other necessities.
“That was the first time in my experience we’d had (to use the plan),” said John Morrison, CEO of the fairgrounds. “It worked very well.”
Paul Scarpelli, county animal control manager, said that Vancouver is working on a code change to limit the number of domestic animals a resident can own to avoid situations like this in the future.
He also said that while things went relatively well, the response to a large hoarding event would be complicated if it were to occur during the 10-day county fair.
“That’s where we have to sharpen our pencils and figure that out,” he said.
