Honestly, I am a sucker for hard cases, so I am one of those people that would go into a shelter and ask "what animal has been the hardest to adopt?"

I'm the same way. When I got my cat from the SPCA I picked one that had been there longer than the others. She was a "not suitable for homes with children" case so she was very overlooked. She turned out to be a wonderful, amazingly smart cat whom I enjoyed many years with. We lost her last year before Christmas.

LPT you have such a big heart.

StickerBunny and LPT, you guys are so nice to do that! I always feel really guilty about having bought my rabbit at a pet store. My first three pets were guinea pigs, and the first two I got from pet stores but was too young to know about rescues, and the third was sort of a rescue, because my friend could no longer take care of her so we gave her a good home.

My rabbit was from a petstore though. I had been very gung-ho about adopting from the Humane Society, but when me and the future co-owner got to the petstore to buy supplies, she became insistent on buying a bunny at the petstore and refused to buy one from the Humane Society. I realize that that one wasn't 100% my fault, but I still feel really guilty for not being even more insistent. I always hated conflict and arguing so I just caved. So now I'm even more pro-shelter. I think any rabbit I ever get in the foreseeable future will be from rescues and shelters. I don't like baby bunnies anyway, and this way I can give a rabbit or two a good home.

For cats (my favorite animal), I plan to keep two cats at a time, one purebred from a breeder, and one adopted from a rescue/shelter. I feel a little guilty about that because I know only adopting would be better, but since the cats I will adopt from the rescues/shelters will only be adult cats (I don't like kittens too much), maybe that makes up for it, since adults are more likely to be overlooked.

Anyway, now I'm just ranting. You guys and all your talk of lovely REWs is getting me totally sold on them! Now I just wanna go to the shelter now and snatch up the cutest REW I can find! Too bad I have to wait till May...

 I enjoy older bunnies because I don't have to worry about them chewing up stuff as much ---my personal experience has been that they mellow out a bit in the "destructo" department as they age. 

I also love REW.  Everytime I go to a shelter, they seem to be the "Sweetest" and just needing someone to give them a chance. It's so sad. 

As far as Fostering though, I think that if you can deal with it, take on the grumpy feisty or shy ones.  You can do such amazing things to make them "more adoptable" by just giving them a loving safe place and learning how to help them change some of the challenging habits takes time but it gives them a better chance at finding a forever home...and that can really change their life. 

 

 

Many shelters allow you to be breed specific, even making a request for a certain breed.  Not all shelter animals are mutts, even purebreds need homes.  You can also find breed specific rescues, that seek out specific breeds from shelters and work through their own foster network.  Many times you can easily find these rescues on petfinder.org

Also, you can find pets of all ages at shelters from babies to seniors.  I had a kitten that was dumped at my office and I found a friend for her in a 2 yr old tabby monster.  They are the best of buds and close enough in age, to annoy my senior cats (I have two 17 yo girls going on 18 next year.

I didn't think Californians were cute until I had one home with us when we were still "dating" Chubs out to find his partner. I fell in love with her because she was so incredibly sweet and snuggly. Unfortunately, Chubs didn't and I gave her back to her owner after giving it a 2 week run with no improvement. By the time I gave her back, I thought she was adorable, a little like a Koala with the spot on her nose I think any rabbit can grow on ya once you get past your initial reaction to how they look, if it's a bad reaction.

Also, can I just say...I think it's crazy that pairs are often overlooked! If I had any idea how hard it was to bond rabbits and how much I'd want Chubsy to have a friend, I would have got a bonded pair from the start AND if I ever get more rabbits, they will also be a bonded pair. I guess it's a lack of education? Bonded pairs are the best!

the shelter that we sponsor and help out with gets tons of help and donations. they are currently down to around 90 buns, but they have lots of bonded pairs, and even several triplets and one quad-bond. the couple that runs it is there 7 days a week. I feel bad for only being able to make it on sunday, but its a 30 mile drive each way

pics from their bunny xmas