ShareThisLoretta became homeless nearly a year ago when her owner died.
"Loretta was the most depressed rabbit I had ever seen" and had painful sores on her hind legs, said Mary Cvetan, co-founder of the Pittsburgh House Rabbit Club.
Technically, Loretta still doesn't have an owner or a home of her own, but things are looking up, thanks to a network of bunny lovers.
Loretta looked healthy and happy last Saturday when I met earlier this month. This is not your typical white rabbit. This one has glossy black fur except for the tan fur that lines her ears and rims her eyes.
She was the center of attention at a House Rabbit Club meeting at the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society. That shelter was the first stop on Loretta's rescue trail.
About 40 people attended, and many brought their own pet rabbits.
A weekly Bunny Romp was going on in another room. Volunteers got shelter rabbits out of their cages for exercise and meet-and-greets with potential adopters.
A white rabbit with reddish brown spots and freckles caught my eye.
"Sally is the cutest, nicest rabbit," Cvetan. "She's been here for months. I don't know why."
Last year the humane society found homes for 200 rabbits but not for Loretta and Sally.
Because Loretta was sad and sore when she arrived, humane society staff sent her to the Rabbit Wranglers. The new nonprofit group helps local shelters with "high maintenance and overflow rabbits." They cared for 30 rabbits last year and, at last count, have 10 rabbits in foster homes.
For eight months, Loretta lived with Suaz Forsythe, who co-founded Rabbit Wranglers with Alyssa O'Toole. Forsythe, communications coordinator at Animal Friends in Ohio Township, helped Loretta heal, mentally and physically.
When Loretta returned to the humane society several months ago, she was placed in a temporary foster home provided by a volunteer, Adrianna Shembel of Bloomfield, Pa.
Loretta lives with Midnight, adopted by Shembel from the Animal Rescue League of Western Pennsylvania, and Rodger Rabbit, who was at the humane society for nine months until she adopted him last August.
Shembel brought Loretta to the House Rabbit meeting, where Cvetan petted and cooed over Loretta as she dispensed care and training tips.
Many bunny owners also have cats and dogs. Yes, rabbits can peacefully co-exist with pets whose long-distant ancestors were predators that ate rabbits.
There is much to learn before getting a rabbit, and the volunteers and staff involved in bunny rescue insist they must live indoors and must be spayed and neutered.
Here are more tips, dispelling several common myths:
-- Never feed them iceberg lettuce. It has no nutritional value and can cause life-threatening diarrhea.
-- Don't feed them carrots. The sugar content is too high.
-- Don't feed chicken or any other meat. It could kill them because rabbits are herbivores.
-- Timothy hay is a mainstay of a healthy rabbit diet.
-- They use litter boxes, but don't use kitty litter.
-- When home alone they should be confined to an indoor exercise pen. Pet rabbits have died while chewing on electric cords.
-- They need at least two to four hours of daily indoor playtime and exercise.
"Treat them the way you would a cat or a dog," Cvetan suggested. Let them run about when you're home. They'll follow you and cuddle with you on the couch.
"They're most active in the morning and at dusk, and they sleep most of the day, so that makes them good pets for students and people who work."
For more information: www.pittsburghhouserabbit.org, www.rabbitwranglers.org.
(Email Linda Wilson Fuoco at lfuoco(at)post-gazette.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
Must credit Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
