This is Hopps
As you see in reading about Hopps, we believe he was dumped. Most likely by someone who was overwhelmed taking care of him or decided they didn’t have time for him. While bunnies are very cute and can make great pets, they are not easy pets to take care of and can become overwhelming. Along with that, if you decide you aren’t able to keep your bunny, it’s not easy to rehome them or find a rescue for them, as most bunny rescues are full with waiting lists for relinquishment.
Hopps in the wild
Hopps joined our insanity in August of 2021. Having a bunny was something we had never considered or expected. And with already having two dogs and a cat, we had no idea how they would all do with a bunny in the house.
But one evening in August, we were taking the dogs on our nightly walk. We glanced across the street and noticed something odd looking in the rocks. Venturing over that direction, we determined that it was a bunny. Not a wild one but a house bunny.
I took a couple of pictures and posted them on our neighborhood page hoping that someone was looking for him. Then we continued our walk.
How to Catch a Bunny
About an hour later we made it home, and Mr. Bunny was still in that same area.
We took the dogs inside and debated what to do next. House bunnies out in the wild do not fair well. And coyotes are very prevalent in our area. The best decision seemed to be to try and catch him.
Our thought was that we would first see if someone had lost him. If we couldn’t find his owners we would try and rehome him or find a bunny rescue to take him.
Of course we have no idea how to catch a bunny. After about an hour with a towel, pet carrier and some carrots, we were finally able to capture him.
What's next??
So what do we do now that we have a bunny and nothing prepared for having a bunny? For now, we made a makeshift area for him and gave him some carrots and lettuce. Then we could research what we should really be feeding him.
I posted more pictures on different pages and asked around the area to see if anyone knew who’s bunny it was. Plus I also started looking for bunny rescues. I found two that weren’t too terribly far away. But I quickly learned that getting a bunny and then deciding it is too much work is a fairly common theme. Because of this, there was a year+ waitlist to relinquish a bunny at both of the rescues, so that option was out.
We were having no luck with finding the owners or finding someone that wanted him for a pet. The last option was taking him to the animal shelter. After talking everything over we decided against taking him to the shelter. He would most likely either be in a cage 24/7 until he found a new home or he would be euthanized if there wasn’t room for him.
And Now We Have a Bunny
And that is how Hopps because a permanent resident at our house. Miss Isla loves Hopps. She wants to be his friend and to sniff and give him lots of attention. Surprisingly, Rex tolerates him and knows that he is a good bunny, not a play toy. And Hopps loves Rex. We truly think that Hopps has now decided he is one of the dogs. So much so that his nickname is now D3. And Niang the cat is happy that he has another friend that isn’t a crazy dog.
Hopps says he will interject himself into our adventures and hopes you love hearing about how he fits into our crazy lives. He also hopes that there are others out there that have bunnies and dogs that live together that can give ideas on how their crew lives together.
