# Partnership with Petco



## pla725 (Aug 15, 2010)

It's been a few years in the coming but For Bunny Sake has finally partnered with a major chain to host our rabbits on-site. The rabbits will be housed on site and our volunteers with care for the rabbits. 

We are starting with one store for now and may expand into a second in the near future. 

Any suggestions or information from other rescues doing the same thing is welcomed.


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## kirbyultra (Aug 15, 2010)

RRR in NYC has 2 Petco locations that we partner with. We have gotten many successful adoptions at Petco. The foot traffic is a big help.


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## pla725 (Aug 15, 2010)

That's what we are hoping for. The people at Petcohave gone out of their way to welcome us. We haven't gotten that same reception from some of the Petsmarts or even their corporate headquarters. 

Does your group use volunteers to go to the stores to care for the rabbits? How did you recruit and retain those volunteers?

Our group is growing. But it still seems to be a core group that seems to step up to the bulk of the work.


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## kirbyultra (Aug 16, 2010)

Our group is quite large. We have about 20-25 regulars who work every week at 2 different Petcos and at the shelter in Manhattan, so we have the luxury to spread the workload. Everyone is quite passionate and responsible so typically 1-2 people go to each one of the 3 places daily to take care of the bunnies residing there. 

When I joined the rescue group the Petco residence effort had just started for a couple months, they already had quite a base of volunteers but some people were doubling up on days and weekends. As the weeks and months went by, we met folks at the stores who were bunny owners themselves, past adopters who shopped there, etc. and more people enlisted. In fact, I got involved with RRR because I met one of the long-time volunteers at one of the Petcos one weekend, and the rest is history. You may know of Cindy who largely runs the operation for the bunnies in NYC, she somehow got a hookup with a NY1 reporter and she got named New Yorker of the week a few months ago and it got us tons of press and some volunteer inquiries. A local newspaper also did a spread on the growing popularity of house rabbits as pets and the article featured one of our rabbit savvy vets as well as a handful of our adoptables. It was very exciting to see the rescue get that kind of attention post-Easter because we had so many bunnies needing homes.

I think we are lucky that our group is comprised of extremely responsible, loving and incredibly smart people who only want the best for our bunnies. We are all volunteers and we all have our own lives but we take the time to communicate and stay organized so we know exactly what's going on with all the bunnies we have. 

When you add Petco into the mix with your regular rabbits, sometimes the most difficult thing is arranging transport, making sure someone's covering the location every day, making sure that the bunnies at Petco have food, water, hay, and playtime. It can be a logistical nightmare very quickly if records aren't tightly kept! 

The Petco Foundation has been really wonderful, supplying pellets, hay, cages, exercise pens, and space. The Petco employees that I have met are all very kind and helpful and cooperation makes a world of difference when you're setting up this whole bunny rig daily to try to get buns adopted! My involvement with the rescue has mostly been with taking care of the buns at Petco and trying to educate the curious passersby in the store about house rabbits. So I know firsthand that it's a great opportunity for the bunnies. Our most adoptable buns almost always go to Petco once they've been spayed/neutered because they get snatched up quickly there. I don't know what For Bunny Sake's environment is like but the city shelter where are rabbits are housed is packed with dogs and cats and just tons of noise. Petco is calm and wonderful for the bunnies 

I hope that Petco is as great an opp for your rescue as it has been for us.


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## pla725 (Aug 17, 2010)

Do you have any pictures of the store set up? How many rabbits are on display at a time?


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## slavetoabunny (Aug 17, 2010)

We don't keep any of our buns at Petco, but do hold our adoption events at our local store. The staff there couldn't be more accommodating and nice to us. We tried Petsmart, but just weren't felt welcomed. Good luck!!!


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## Nancy McClelland (Aug 17, 2010)

congratulations and good luck.


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## pla725 (Aug 17, 2010)

Some of the Petsmartsare more welcoming than others. But as far having rabbits permanately on site forget about it. Funny since one of our founding members is an employee of the company. Go figure.


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## tonyshuman (Aug 18, 2010)

I think the best part of being in a pet store with a rescue group is the chance to educate the public. Not only do bunnies get adopted more quickly, but people who already have bunnies that are a bit clueless about their care can come in and ask the volunteers about the basics. You wouldn't believe how many bunny owners come in to our shelter's adoption center in the pet store and ask why the bunnies need hay, or why I'm cutting their nails!

I would make sure the volunteers know about bunnies and are comfortable talking about them, and having a copy of the House Rabbit Handbook on hand is also great. We have it for sale in our place too--for a measly $5 as well! Education is what will really improve how rabbits are treated.

:soapbox


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## slavetoabunny (Aug 18, 2010)

I talk to sooooo many people that have bunnies and am able to educate them. The last event, I talked to a lady that had a 5 year old unspayed female. She totally loved her bunny and was unaware of the health risks of not spaying. She just assumed that since there wasn't a male around, that her bunny didn't need to be spayed. The bunny had lived with her for several years. I filled her in and told her about our low-cost spay program. She was very appreciative!!!


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## pla725 (Aug 18, 2010)

My group does the same thing at events. We even had people come up to us with their rabbit to ask us questions. I had one young man come up to me to ask about what litter to use for his new baby bun. Well he got more than he bargined for. He even let me hold his new friend while he went to pay for the items Ihelped him pickout. I did give him my email address and the names of two vets.


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## kirbyultra (Aug 29, 2010)

Sorry, I don't have any pictures, but we do have just one photo of the cage Petco provided for our rabbits in our newsletter, when we launched this effort.

http://rabbitcare.org/NYC Metro Rabbit News Fall 09.pdf

We've since been moved around within the store in one of our locations due to Petco renovations, and we've completely shifted store fronts in our other location. We ended up having less space, but the fact that we have any space at all to set up and for people to know we're consistently available every weekend is already a plus.


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## pla725 (Sep 1, 2010)

Thanks for the info. I think they might give us one of the enclosures that they use for the ferrets. But I will pass this on to the other people in the rescue. We are holding more events during the weekend. We have two events this Labor Day weekend at two local Petcos.


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