Margery Pontiac (named after a Holstein cow) is a beautiful dark brow agouti rabbit with vision problems. Ideally Margery would like us to place hay in her litterbox one strand at a time. This is somehow very reassuring to her, but as you can imagine becomes highly impractical. If we move at a normal pace, she becomes flustered and overwhelmed and bats the hay right out of our hands.

Margery has developed close ties to only certain humans whom she will let per her, but only if a specific scripted routine is followed. She's never bitten anyone - ever - but puts on a great and scary display of boxing, batting, grunting, and other intimidating acts.

Bee is a beautiful bunny with a strong defensive streak and will bite if she feels her territory is being invaded. No matter how hard we try to get to know her, she hasn't yet let her guard down after five years. We'll keep trying until she's ready, and she will always have a place in our Sanctuary home.

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Cecelia is a huge hunk of happy, snuggly, and funny all rolled into one big white pink-eyed bunny. But if we move too quickly or are late in delivering her hay and pellets, she serves us an occasional bite on the hand, usually drawing blood. Everything has to slow down for Cecelia or she becomes overwhelmed and ready to strike. Like many of the Sanctuary rabbits, she's usually passed over for a friendlier or cuter bunny at adoption time.

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We rescued Pumpkin and seven of her siblings on November 26th, 2005, from the Logan County Humane Society after they had been seized from a meat rabbit operation that was operating under poor conditions. All of the buns were wary of humans since they'd never been handled as pets. Although the others were eventually adopted, Pumpkin had an attitude and was always skipped over. She was quite distant and would growl, charge, and box during any attempt to handle her. Sometimes she would scream when she was picked up.

Pumpkin did, however, seem to like dogs, and since we have five of them, she had plenty of company. She would be completely at ease around them, even playing with them and teasing. At one point, we moved Pumpkin from our foster population in the outbuilding into the house, hoping that more frequent interaction with humans would put her at ease. It did not work. She is still averse to humans (and other rabbits).

Tazwell (gray and white) and Scarlet (black) have found new life together as seniors. Scarlet, always a shy bunny, never found a permanent home. She was always passed over for a cuter or more sociable bunny. Tazwell is the last bunny we rescued from the big Elyria hoarding situation of 2005-2007. He, too, was so shy he wouldn't let anyone touch him and spent most of his days inside of a hidey box.

When Taz and Scarlet were introduced to each other in 2013, it was instantaneous friendship. Taz is now 100% blind in both eyes and afraid to venture out on his own to explore. Scarlet is now his "eyes" and challenges him to engage in new adventures like jumping on top of boxes and meeting new friends.

They snuggle together, protect each other, eat each other's food, and do things they wouldn't otherwise do on their own.

Puff came to the Buckeye House Rabbit Society in April 2005 as a healthy, active boy and was adopted in December 2005 to a family with small children. Two years later, I received a call from his adoptive family saying they could no longer care for Puff -- caring for a bunny in addition to two small kids was too much to handle. When Puff came back to our foster home in December 2007, we immediately noticed something was off. He wobbled when he walked and also when he stood still. Sometimes he would lose his balance and almost fall over.

After a thorough vet checkup, x-rays, bloodwork, and some other tests, Puff’s diagnosis was inconclusive. His wobbliness could be caused by anything from a neurological problem to a parasitic infection (which he was treated for).

To help him maintain his balance, Puff needs to live on non-slip carpets that give him lots of traction. Other than his wobbliness, Puff is a normal, healthy, sweet bunny with a very hearty appetite!

He lives a happy life in a large pen are with his best friend, Calvin, another Buckeye HRS Sanctuary rabbit. They lean on each other most of the day, literally keeping each other from falling over.

Martina is a gorgeous female silver marten rabbit. She was a Buckeye HRS foster
rabbit who was adopted back in 2004 to a loving home. In 2008, her owner,
though only in her 30's, passed away from cancer, so Martina came back to her
original foster home. Martina has chronic pasteurella and upper respiratory
ailments. Though treated by an experienced rabbit vet, she will always sneeze
and needs frequent nebulizer treatments.

Patty came into foster care in 2003 as part of a family of buns that were in danger of being released into the wild due to the owner being evicted. All were in a poor condition, having survived on little or no water and a diet of stale donuts brought home by their owner. They had lived outdoors in a run that was more than half-filled with piles of feces, so each of them had some degree of sore hocks. The three oldest of these buns were Granny, Patty, and Annie, who were all over the age of five and had not been altered. Annie's leg had been broken at some time in her life and had healed at an almost 90 degree angle from normal.

Because of their age, we knew they would be difficult to get adopted. Unfortunately, Granny died eight months later from lung cancer. Annie and Patty bonded together and despite their wonderfully friendly personalities, they were repeatedly passed over by adopters in favor of younger buns. In 2006, due to their advanced ages, they were added to the Sanctuary program as un-adoptables.

In November of 2008, Annie became very sick with lung cancer and had to be euthanized. Patty has had three mammary tumors removed over the last two years; however, her health is good and the cancer does not appear to have spread to her lungs. She is a beautiful satin rex girl with long, gorgeous eyelashes! We watch her closely for signs of any additional tumors. All of these girls are textbook examples of why it so vitally important to have pet rabbits (especially females), spayed as soon as they reach adulthood.

Keith Zimmerman

Like every foster rabbit that comes to us, we had such high hopes when you came into our home.  We’d get you ‘altered’ and healthy so that a loving family would give you a forever home where you’d live the life of a house rabbit.  But for one reason or another, perhaps you were too shy or old, or easily frightened, or you used your teeth to express yourself when a growl would suffice, no one came to adopt you. 

So it was with Belle (aka Mrs. Bootski), a stray who was captured in Bellefontaine after evading her captors for three cold months in 2001.  Throughout February, March, and April, neighbors had spotted her roaming the area before she was finally corralled and caught.  Even though we were 100 miles away, we were the only foster home that had room for her, so we made the trip to pick her up. 

It was obvious that Belle was extremely shy and unaccustomed to human affection.  Despite our best efforts to socialize her, she didn't warm to anything more than a nose rub at feeding time.  She wasn’t even interesting in exploring during her free time.  As the weeks turned to months, and the months turned to years, we knew it was going to be hard to place Belle into a new home.  After three years of zero interest in her from potential adopters, we decided that even if Belle was adopted, it would be especially stressful for her to get re-settled, therefore she joined our sanctuary program.  She moved into the living room where she seemed to enjoy interacting with the dogs, cat, and (somewhat) with us.  Still, she didn’t come out of her x-pen when given the chance, and became stiff as a board when picked up for cuddling or grooming.  Although she was constrained by the restricted liberties of being a foster, she finally settled into her routines and became comfortable with familiar surroundings and with the people who cared for her. 

One night about bedtime, Sue noticed that Belle hadn’t eaten her veggies or her pellets and she seemed to be uncomfortable.  I picked her up and held her while casually examining her.  She was cold and lethargic, so I let her snuggle into a plush blanket on my lap and gently stroked her head and ears while she relaxed and her eyes started to close.  Twenty minutes later she let out a deep sigh and she died.  Despite all of the euthanasia events I’d tended to in the past with rabbits and dogs, this was the first time an animal had ever died in my arms of natural causes.  Thankfully, it was a quiet and peaceful passing, although it still left me feeling empty and helpless in the face of “The Black Rabbit.” 

I am so very grateful to the sponsors who contribute to the sanctuary program.  Without your support, taking care of rabbits like Mrs. Bootski would be completely up to us and would undoubtedly limit the number of other fosters that we can care for and find homes for.  Because they are generally long-term residents, there’s no way for us not to become attached to them just as we do with our own pets.  Currently three of our nine fosters are sanctuary rabbits living out their days by keeping us company.  Sadie, Sylvester, and Pumpkin join me in thanking their sponsors for all their help!  

Harvey is a mini-lop who is about five years old. He has a deformed jaw which
causes him lots of dental and ear problems.

In December ('07), I finally formally categorized Kellene as a sanctuary rabbit. We have had her for two years and despite our efforts to socialize her, she is still aggressive and bites us. I have tried several bonding attempts as well and she is super aggressive towards other rabbits, too. So I guess she is going to live out her days at our house.

Kristi Cole

Lyle came into Buckeye HRS foster care in November of 2003 at approximately four months old. Because of the special ongoing care required, it is unlikely that Lyle will be adopted, so he's considered a Sanctuary rabbit.

Here's a bit of Lyle's background --

A lady, whose son won Lyle at a carnival, was exasperated and annoyed because he was constantly wetting himself and making a lot of work for her. She wasn't willing or financially able to look into the medical causes of Lyle's problem, nor the necessary treatments. Her husband had threatened to throw him out into the woods to fend for himself if she didn't "get rid of him" soon.

When Lyle arrived, he had bad hock sores on his feet. His legs were raw and scalded from urine burn. We cleaned him up and rubbed antibacterial cream on him for a few days, but the problem didn't go away. Lyle had several vet visits, and despite the many tests performed, his problem was a mystery. Finally, after several more tests, we learned that his body was overproducing urine crystals. We still can't figure out, however, why he "leaks". Because of this leaking, he needs to be bathed at least every other day. He also needs to have a special cream rubbed on his underside, thighs, and feet. He must live on fleece blankets with absorbent rugs and towels underneath to soak up the moisture. Recently we have seen evidence of bladder sludge, a thick pasty substance in his urine, so he needs subcutaneous fluids at least every day to help flush the sludge from his bladder.

Unusual for a dwarf (he's about 3 ½ lbs), Lyle is a snuggler. He loves people and doesn't mind being picked up and held. He'll also sit a long time for pets. Although he doesn't like his regular baths, he does enjoy the attention and the human contact he gets. He is a true joy to care for!

Malcolm was abandoned in a wooded area and found by 2 good Samaritans roughly four years ago. His back legs are deformed due (most likely) to a genetic defect, but he can still run and hop. He has use of both back legs. Because he can’t completely stand up, his back end is always in contact with the floor and as a result, he frequently gets a messy bottom, requiring a bath about once a week.

Since he can’t use his back legs to clean out his ears, Malcolm gets chronic ear infections. He is now on a regular maintenance program of ear flushings and medications to control and prevent any future ear infections.  -- Kristen Doherty