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WHAT'S UP, OOO
A LOCAL SHELTER JUST FOR RABBITS
By Donna Williams Lewis
Ellen Stilwell lives in a very
hoppy household.
The Tucker home she shares
with her husband is also home
to nine rescued domestic
rabbits, including a couple of
senior rabbits and two certified
as therapy pets.
Stilwell is an educator for the
shelter that eight of her rabbits
came from, a Marietta facility
that’s unique in Georgia and
one of very few like it in the
country.
It’s a shelter for rabbits only,
operated by the Georgia House
Rabbit Society (GHRS) rescue
organization. To date, the
organization has rescued more
than 3,500 domestic rabbits.
“Some of these bunnies that
we’ve rescued have come from
horrific situations and yet their
hearts are so big and they love
the safety that you give them
and they’re so resilient,” said
Stilwell, who runs the Crime
Victims Compensation Program
at Children’s Healthcare of
Atlanta.
“They bring joy to people.
When you pet them, they’re soft
and they’re furry and fluffy and
they just elicit such a feeling of
love and comfort,” she said.
Linda Reed, of Kennesaw, has
volunteered with the nonprofit,
no-kill shelter for several years.
“I volunteer because, despite
being 76, it gives me a purpose
to serve in my community,”
Reed said. “Bunnies have always
been my passion and this keeps
me active while playing with
these sweet ones.”
GHRS was founded in 1996
when rabbits were rising in
popularity as house pets and
there were few animal facilities
that would take abandoned
rabbits, according to shelter
Manager Jennifer McGee.
“Rabbits are the third
companion animal behind dogs
and cats,” McGee said. “They
stay in the home, they’re litter
box trained, they’re very neat
and tidy, and you don’t have to
walk them.”
But the “prey animals” are
often misunderstood pets that
can get frightened when picked
up. They bond in pairs and can
reproduce at light speed, live for
10 to 12 years, and have delicate
bones. “Dropping a bunny is
a broken leg, for sure,” McGee
said.
GHRS gets more than 1,000
requests each year from owners
and breeders who want to
surrender their rabbits to the
shelter. Rabbits adopted from
its facility can be returned, but
other rabbits can only be taken
under extreme circumstances,
when space permits.
The shelter focuses on
rescuing rabbits who are facing
death at other animal shelters
and rabbits that have been
abandoned to the outdoors
where they could be attacked
or eaten by other animals,
get hit by a car, or die from
sickness, starvation or abuse.
In 2015, the shelter took in 186
rabbits in one day that had been
confiscated from a backyard
petting zoo in Gwinnett County.
The shelter stays hopping with
an average 150 to 200 rabbits
on-site and in foster homes at
any given time, McGee said.
Right now, the shelter is
taking a giant leap of its own.
Run initially out of members’
homes, GHRS moved into its
current building in 2005. This
summer, the group is relocating
to a 6,500-square-foot building
purchased in December that
more than triples its space.
Located near the historic
district of Downtown Kennesaw,
the new facility allows room
to expand shelter operations,
which include serving as an
educational center, a boarding
facility and a source for rabbit
AUGUST 2020
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supplies.
Since the coronavirus
pandemic, the shelter has
been open to the public by
appointment only and the
adoption process has been
refined, McGee said.
“Because we were open to
the public, people wouldn’t
do their research before they
would drive over and they
would Just walk in thinking
they would leave with a rabbit,
which isn’t the case. There were
lots of crying children and
angry parents,” McGee said.
“We’ve found that that kind
Continued on page 8
At top, volunteer Linda Reed pats a bunny. At bottom, shelter
manager Jennifer McGee says that after dogs and cats, rabbits
are the most popular companion animals (SPECIAL)
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