# New England Rabbit Sanctuary Shutting Down



## Radar (Oct 8, 2005)

This was on another list...The NH number wasn't included, but I would think it's readily available. 

Maybe Gypsy or Carolyn will have more info. 

Hi all,

I'm contacting everyone on my lists (old and new) about a situation in
Wiscasset, Maine. The New England Rabbit Sanctuary is out of funds and has been evicted from their rental property. They have been given (by animal control) until October 23 to remove approximately 110 rabbits from the premises. While I don't expect each (or any) of you to take rabbits, if you are indeed looking for a pair of bunnies, please let me know. Most of these rabbits are over 4 years of age and most are in pairs. There are some minor health issues, but most are in good health and ready to go to new homes.

I am working with Candy and Peter (owners of NE Rabbit Sanctuary) to find
placement for as many rabbits as possible before the deadline.

I am asking each of you to spread the word and help us place these rabbits
who, through no fault of their own, have been caught in the middle of this
situation.

NH House Rabbit Services is doing what it can to assist in transport of
rabbits to new homes (we are making a delivery of rabbits to Albany, NY and to Londonderry, NH in the next week or so). We have potential homes for a couple of rabbits in NYC and also in Georgia. If anyone can assist with transport of rabbits, we would appreciate that help as well.

If you would be interested in visiting the rabbits up in Wiscasset, Maine,
please feel free to call me and I will help with directions. My number is ...... Candy and Peter do not always have phone contact or e-mail, so I will pass the word on to them.

Thank you for helping in any way you can: transport, adoption, or spreading
the word. We can use whatever support you can offer!

Thanks again,
Caroline
Treasurer, NH House Rabbit Services


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##  (Oct 9, 2005)

Radar was there an Email contact listed? 

This is the first I have heard of this .see if you can get an email or a phone contactnumber and I will see what I can do onthis end.


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## Radar (Oct 10, 2005)

Here's Caroline's email.

New Hampshire House Rabbit Services 

Caroline Hess
[email protected]


There is nothing about the New Englandsanctuary problem on their website, but the links to a lot of features aren't working, and it doesn't seem very up to date.

It's theNHHouse Rabbit Services, doesn't seem to be connected to the House Rabbit Society anymore -- assuming it once was. 

I'll round up some more info on Peter and Candy's operationand post it as well.


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## Radar (Oct 10, 2005)

Here's the link to this story from 2000. Ithas a pic of Peter and Candy. I assume his problems stem fromthe quasi-stock market crash, it took out a lot of day traders. They must feel terrible about this.  Somebody should give them a medal for their previous service. 

http://boothbayregister.maine.com/2000-04-13/rabbit_sanctuary.html



[font="ARIAL,VERDANA,HELVETICA"]*Apr 13, 2000*[/font] 

[font="ARIAL,VERDANA,HELVETICA"]*Vol. 124-No. 15*[/font] 









[align=left]*Sanctuary Offers A Home for Every Bunny*[/align]
*Robin Beck*

Peter Nichols and his wife Candy Lynn love rabbits. Their house is filled with them -- 55 to be exact, all with names like Benny, Nikki, Flash and Spice. 

Most have been adopted from shelters where they were scheduled to be euthanized, rescued from certain death in the wild after being abandoned, or taken in when their owners decided they couldn't deal with them anymore. 
Many have serious problems -- cancer, glaucoma, dental disease, broken bones. Many females come to them already pregnant. Some were runts that their own mothers tried to do away with after birth. 
Making these homeless, helpless and ill bunnies the pet project of their lives, Peter and Candy, who moved to Boothbay from Ossipee, New Hampshire over a year ago, have established the New England Rabbit Sanctuary, LLC, in their spacious rural home off of Dover Road. 
They started out with two rabbits about four years ago, and gradually acquired more that were about to be put down, purely to enjoy as family pets. 
"We had no concept of doing this," says Candy about founding the sanctuary. 
Every rabbit they took in was immediately spayed or neutered and checked out by a veterinarian. When they moved to Boothbay in December,1998, they had ten pet bunnies. 
That changed last August when they were alerted via the Internet to a release of domestic rabbits into the wild near Litchfield Lumber. The animals were breeding fast, of course, and causing concern. 
"Usually domestic rabbits will die within days of being in the wild," says Peter, "and we decided to recapture them." 
Using Have-A-Heart traps they and some volunteers captured 15 rabbits which they took in. The rescue made the Channel 6 news and the sanctuary was later featured on the station's noontime show. 
"That gave us a lot of publicity and people started calling us about other bunny dumps," Peter says, prompting them to respond and recapture abandoned rabbits as far away as Bangor. They went from ten to 25 to now 55 rabbits. 
"Our motto is 'a home for every bunny,'" he says. "Every week we add a couple more." They never refuse a rabbit, going to pick them up if necessary from a home where the owners don't want them anymore or can't deal with the animal's illnesses or multiplication (gestation period is only 21-30 days). 
The couple also helps owners who want to keep their rabbits, but who are having difficulty, by offering advice on rabbit care, assisting with equipment needs and by paying to have them spayed or neutered. 
All of this care, including the spaying-neutering program, is provided at their own expense. Peter, 41, who started out as a musician and then became a music manager who toured the country giving seminars on the business aspect of music for ten years, now makes a lucrative living as a day trader. 
"The bunnies have become the charity we choose to focus on," he says. "How much money does anyone need?" 
"This is what we love," says Candy. The sanctuary is the only one like it in New England. Shelters, they point out, offer temporary homes for abandoned rabbits, but space is limited, it's a stressful and noisy environment filled with other animals, and if the rabbits are not adopted they are put down. 
Here in the couple's 4,000-square-foot home, the bunnies live life well cared for by the owners and their staff of eight employees who clean cages, feed and groom the bunnies, and nurse the sick ones and the babies. 
The bunnies, of all sizes, colors and breeds, live in spacious"condos," eight-foot-long wooden structures stacked one atop another in the couple's large living room. A few are let out at a time to get exercise which is important to their health. They exit and enter their barracks on wooden ramps and are given the freedom to roam the house which includes a separate "playroom" with "toys" such as cardboard tubes, boxes, and newspapers to occupy them. 
A Really Big Salad 
They are fed a special brand of rabbit pellets, high quality hay (50 pounds per day) and generous helpings of fresh greens. 
"We spend $200 a week in greens," Peter says. When they go through the grocery store with 50 heads of lettuce, quantities of kale, carrots and parsley, plus vinegar they use to clean with, people comment, "That's an awfully big salad." 
They provide the rabbits with extensive medical care, working closely with veterinarian Dr. Karen Friedman of the Androscoggin Animal Hospital and with Angel Memorial Hospital in Boston. All rabbits are thoroughly examined for disease and are spayed or neutered as soon as they reach appropriate development stage at 4-6 months of age. 
Peter and Candy have learned to give medications themselves, including shots and intravenous fluids, and are planning to hire a veterinary technician to care for their special needs rabbits. 
They feel domestic rabbits live longer and better indoors, 6-10 years, rather than only 2-3 years when kept in cages outdoors. 
"They are extremely social animals," he says. "Rabbits don't do well without another rabbit; their physical health depends on their emotional health, and that comes from another bunny." 
They also have distinct personalities, the couple stresses, and Candy spends time "matchmaking," finding each one a suitable roommate. Some are friendly and affectionate while others are stand-offish, she says. 
In addition, the rabbits are very intelligent, Peter says, describing how they learn their names and words such as "treats," "dinner," and the command to return "home" to their condo. 
Peter and Candy expect to house 200 rabbits by this summer. They aim to double the size of their staff as well as the size of the sanctuary by building an addition on to their house. They have an ultimate goal of using what they have learned to help establish rabbit sanctuaries in other parts of the country. 
While not open to the public generally, they plan to hold a few open houses for the community each year. They also plan to start an adoption program but want to ensure that every bunny adopted will be kept in a house with proper provisions. 
"A big time of year for us is not just after Easter," says Peter, when bunnies are given to children who later lose interest, "but also in the fall during agricultural fairs. On the last day of a fair they're giving them away." 
"People take them home in a box, with no provisions, no preparation," says Candy. "It's an awful thing." 
"If you have a bunny and it needs a home, we're here to help," says Candy. "We absolutely love them." 
Call the 24-hour "bunny line," 633-0310, to request housing for rabbits, free spaying or neutering, or just advice on rabbit care. 
Or you may visit the couple's website at nerabbitsanctuary.com.Information on rabbit care is also available at rabbit.org, the site of the national House Rabbit Society.


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## Radar (Oct 10, 2005)

Any more newson this? I'm assuming there are people here in that neighbourhood, although I'm not that familiar with the geography. (I'm about as faraway as you can get). 

I'm surprised more sites and lists haven't mentioned it, although the initial list I got if from was pretty reliable. The NH HRS is alwaysone that seems to pop up more often than notwhen I've Googled bunny rescue phrases in the past, so I'm not sure whyit'snot getting out there.WhenI can confirm it, I'll start posting it around myself.

Also hope the rain and flooding isn't affecting any bunny out that way.


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## Twitch (Nov 1, 2005)

This was just emailed to me...


QUOTE:

The Maine Rabbit Sanctuary has been forced to close. The 120+ rabbits have
been evicted from their home, and have found temporary housing at a nearby
barn, but can only stay there for three weeks. At the end of the three
weeks, Animal Control will come and euthanize any rabbits that have not been
placed. Contact: Caroline Hess, phone: 603-569-XXXX, e-mail:
wchess at adelphia.net


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## seniorcats (Nov 1, 2005)

http://www.rabbit.org/care/maine.html

There is some contact info available at the House Rabbit Society website. They are still looking for homes and foster homes.


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