Get Involved — Become a Foster Home
The Benefits
One of the best ways you can help Bunny Buddies is by becoming a foster home. Fostering can save a shelter bunny from euthanasia or rescue a stray bunny from injury or starvation. Fostering is also an ideal way to try out bunny "parenthood," to see if it's right for you.
"What does Bunny Buddies provide?"
Our volunteers support this web site, a separate web site with adoptable bunnies' pictures, a Yahoo! Group, regular events, and email. When someone is interested in your foster bunny (or adoption in general), our Foster Care Coordinator (FCC) will try to arrange a meeting.
Our volunteers are also available for advice as their schedules permit. If finances are a difficulty, Bunny Buddies can provide housing, veterinary care, and hay and pellets as our resources allow, at the discretion of our FCC.
"What's the commitment?"
As a foster family, you provide a safe, loving temporary home, as well as routine exercise and socialization. Because we don't always know a foster bunny's background, we recommend that you keep fosters separated from your bunnies for at least two weeks, if not indefinitely.
We encourage you to get to know your foster. Is he a chewer? Mr. Social? Does he need help learning how to play with toys or use the litterbox? Getting to know him will give you the best odds of finding the right home.
"Do these bunnies have special needs?"
Very few foster bunnies have special needs. If, however, you feel comfortable administering medication or have time to make trips to the vet, you might ask to foster a special needs bun.
"How long will we have this bunny?"
We can never predict how long a bunny will stay in foster care. Sometimes it's days, sometimes it's months. Surprisingly age or health status doesn't seem to be a factor. Sometimes a special needs bunny will pull at someone's heartstrings long before a perfectly healthy bunny will. And sometimes an adorable baby bunny will spend months in her foster home while older bunnies get adopted left and right.
It's also not unusual for someone to ask for a specific breed, color, or gender. For example, someone might specifically ask for an adult, male, black and white Lop. If that happens to describe your foster, it could be start of a beautiful relationship!
"What if we get attached and want to keep him?"
You might. You might not. Some bunnies are very nice, but they're just not your bunny. If you fall in love with your foster but can't keep him, that makes it even more rewarding to see him thriving in his permanent home. If, however, he really is "the one," you'll have first dibs on adopting him.
Fostering & Children
Fostering is a wonderful way to teach children about being kind to animals. Children love telling their teachers and friends about their foster bunnies. If you get to visit your foster in his new home, your children will see first-hand how they made a difference in the life of not only one bunny, but also the people who adopted him.
Become a Foster Home Today
It's extremely rewarding to place a rabbit in his new home when all the odds were once against him — and to know that you made the difference. To become a foster home, please review the application below, then contact foster@ to get started.