The Bunologist Jul09

8/14/2019 The Bunologist Jul09

1/8

TThheeBBuunnoollooggiissttYour FREE monthly rabbit newsletter

To join, visit www.boingonline.com

July 2009 Bonding rabbits Dear Diary Adopt me! Willow finds a friend Pets in peril domestic violence Proctor & Gamble kill 2,500 animals Debates range over animal testing in NSW Clarence the SUPER SPY and the great art

gallery

Whats News?

Alannah Kill, the Designer of Death30 June 2009 Melbourne (Australia)

Fur was flying at Alannah HillsChapel Street boutique recently afteran anti-fur protest by PETA (Peoplefor the Ethical Treatment of Animals)Asia Pacific about the designersreturn to using fur.

Alannah, fragile at the best of times,claimed she was unable to respondto PETA's accusations that she

sources her fur from China, where animal cruelty prevails.

Inside sources advised us that fur items were being sold atthe Chapel Street store on the day of the protest. The shopgirlies were asked whether the fur was real rabbit. Theiranswer was yes.

It really doesnt matter where the rabbit fur was sourced.Its still the skin & fur of a dead rabbit. Why thats fashion,Ill never know!!!! (BOING)

Bunnies in Paris1 June 2009 Paris (France)

The Cracking Art Group have installed colorful rabbitsculptures at a Printemps store in Paris made of plasticwater bottles that were found in landfills. The Cracking ArtGroup is a collaboration among six international artists whofocus on social and environmental issues. They worklargely with plastics.

Rabbit Hoarder arrested17 June 2009 Oregonlive.com (United States)

A woman who made nationalheadlines in 2006 for keeping morethan 200 rabbits in her home wasjailed after police found her with morethan a dozen of the animals in a hotelroom.

Eight adult rabbits and five babieswere found inside the room, as wellas the body of one dead baby rabbit.

Sakewitz received national attention in 2006 when policeseized 250 rabbits -- including 88 dead ones in freezers --from her Hillsboro home.

In 2006, she was convicted on animal neglect charges andreleased on 10 years probation. As a condition of herrelease, Sakewitz was ordered not to keep pets and stayat least 100 yards away from rabbits.Lets hope she gets the message this time! (BOING)

Rabbit Rubbish BinsJune 2009 London (United Kingdom)

For the Super Contemporary show which opened at theDesign Museum in London, fashion designer Paul Smithand 14 other artists were commissioned to give somethingback to London.

Smith focused his project on his distaste for litter. Hiscreation is a 5-foot green rabbit holding a trash bag. Whenyou throw garbage in the bin, the rabbits ears light up.Prototypes of his New London Rubbish Bin have beenplaced in Covent Gardens and Holland Park on a 4-monthtrial period.


2/8

Bonding rabbitsBy Karen

Bonding rabbits can be quite a challenge! Rabbits aresocial and enjoy each others company but theyre alsoterritorial. Initial introductions between potential partnersneed a safe and non-threatening environment and anunderstanding of bunny nature and body language.

Every rabbits personality and behaviour is different! Justlike people, some bunnies range from gentle sweet naturedto aggressive & dominant. A bunny will not just becomefriends with anyone! There has to be a well-roundedbalance to ensure a successful bunny couple. Each bunnywill make up their own mind who they like or dislike.

BOINGs best experiences with bonding bunnies havebeen desexed females with desexed males. Wevecommonly found with successful bondings that one of thepair is more outgoing than the other.

For example Ally is a large NZ Dutch cross male. Hesquiet & reserved, never been aggressive or even thumpedhis leg. His partner, Pancake, is an outgoing & bouncysmaller lop. She rules the relationship but Ally doesntmind as he follows whatever Pancake wants and seemsquite happy with her making all the decisions.

Of course, great bondings are not always textbook boy/girl.Stuart Little & Peanut are great mates. Peanut is friendlywith everyone! He doesnt mind who the bunny is and willhappily run circles around them giving them a goldenshower any old time. Hes outgoing, funny & just silly.Stuart on the other hand is more reserved. Hes slightlyagoraphobic so prefers his home turf but trusts Peanut andfollows him wherever he goes. Now that Stuart is half blindwith a cataract and Peanut is mostly deaf, the two are quite

the disabled pair!

Then we have the siblings. Missy & Charlie have alwaysbeen together as brother & sister. Obviously this bondingis much easier as there werent any issues aboutintroducing a new bunny. However, not all siblings willenjoy each others company and some may fight so we are just lucky that these two adore each other. Missy is themore social of the two. Shell be the one who will pop outfrom under the table first to find out when dinner will beserved. Shell also be the boldest one to come out for atreat if we have guests. Charlie, on the other hand, willalways sit in the background and watch his sister to assesswhether he should participate.

When it comes to rabbits and a companion, its a great ideamore often than not. Most rabbits love other rabbitcompanionship. A happily bonded pair will groom eachother, watch out for each other and keep each othercompany. Some single bunnies (particularly if they do nothave constant human attention) can become stressed,anxious, aggressive, bored and usually destructive!

Weve had quite a number of calls this month asking aboutbonding bunnies. Here are some of the Q & As whichmight help others trying to bond a new couple:

Q How do I know if my two bunnies are bonding?Theyre living together and dont fight but theyre notreally grooming each other. Its been 10 days. Theyare a desexed boy & desexed girl.

A Its really early days. Both buns are still working outwhos who in the relationship. If theyre not fighting butgrooming themselves near the other, then they are both atease with each other. The apparent disinterest is almost agood thing, as it shows that neither feels threatened by the

other. If they were chasing each other or one would lungeif the other moved, then there is a problem.

Q I adopted a friends undesexed 18-month-oldfemale rabbit to be friends with my desexed 8-month-old girl. My rabbit is aggressive and bites the newbunny & me. The new bunny is very quiet, gentle andloves pats. Both buns are outside during the day andwe bring them in at night. My bunny is picking on thenew bunny and attacks her. We hear squeals whentheyre outside together. Do you think theyll getalong?

A No. I would be separating these two and keeping them

apart permanently before something terrible happens. Twogirls are not ideal, particularly bringing another girl into thefirst ones territory. Girls can be really territorial!!

As the new bunny is not desexed, this may cause yourbunny (even though she is desexed) to become anxiousand aggressive towards the intact intruder. They smelldifferent and this can trigger anger.

If any rabbit makes a vocal noise when being attacked, thismeans extreme fear. Rabbits will only scream in terror.Rabbits have long term memories of bad experiences sothese two will not bond now.

Bunnicula,The Vampire Rabbit

Bunnicula, theVampire Rabbit was a1982 animated ABCWeekend Specialbased on a series ofchildrens books byJames Howe.

Bunnicula was afamily pet who suckedthe juices out ofvegetables. Not allthat frightening inreality -unless youre avegetable.

Nevertheless,Bunnicula can sprout

bat wings, fly, and move things with the power of his mind


3/8

Dear DiaryBy Karen

The four factory farm bunnies that we took in last monthare keeping us on our toes. Sadly we lost Zoe to a deepinfection after a routine spay. After talking to anotherperson who also adopted a factory farm bunny from thesame farm, it appears that there may well indeed be anunusual bacterium that these bunnies have on their skin.Any scratches or grazes that these buns incur could be life

threatening. Fortunately Isabelle & Lulu avoided infectionbut Poppy is now battling the same problem and is onChoramphenicol and Metacam daily to fight the infectionbefore her impending surgery to remove the abscess.

I feel quite heartbroken to not have enabled Zoe a longterm, happy future. She tried so hard to stay with us andshe really wanted that chance for a loving home. In thethree weeks she was with us, she made a great snugglebuddy with Isabelle, explored & lapped up all the attention.She really was a special bunny! For Poppy Failure is notan option. She will survive!

Ive always wanted to see for myself what factory farm

rabbits are like. In the last 6 weeks of them being at ourhouse, running around the kitchen, I can honestly say thatthese bunnies are just delightful. They are affectionate,very intelligent and all very different in personality. Itmakes me just so sad to know that there are so many moreof these intelligent & affectionate creatures still sitting insmall wire boxes in a dark shed awaiting a violent death forsome measly price per kilo.

Isabelle was very sad to lose hernew friend so soon. She has nowtaken up hiding under an oldlaundry basket but has learnedquickly that food comes from the

fridge & lollies means somethingutterly delicious! Isabelle doesntalways hide, shes regularly foundstretched out sleeping on our rug

Ive never seen such a big stretched out bunny!

Lulu is a big white blondie! She hassuper strong back legs that shesnever had a chance to use. Shelikes to run but doesnt know herown strength & speed just yet. Wehave to cushion the walls so shedoesnt run into anything & hurtherself. Lulu LOVES cardboard

boxes!! Shes been going throughone every week, picking it up, spinning it around, makingnew doors & windows. Shes having such fun!!

Poppy is Miss Smoochy!! Shes theonly bunny I know that will lift herhead right up for a kiss & keep itthere for a long, long time. Sheadores affection and followingpeople into the toilet!

If you would like to read more updates about the farmbunnies, please visit our new blog http://www.blognow.com.au/meetyourmeatrabbits

After the fox attack that killed Charlotte & Billy, our otheroutside bunnies Lucky, Ruby, Hugo & Lily - movedindoors. This family was living in two separate pairs. Webrought them inside and housed them next door to eachother with a barrier between, which gave us a chance tosee if the family might reunite.

There was absolutely no aggression, which was great, andall four seemed to be quite at ease, which was even better!Taking the opportunity, we gave them a week or so livingnext to each other and then bundled them all into a large

carrier to a neutral area - our bathroom.

I gave them a new tray & rugs so nothing smelt like any ofthem. All four explored and looked around, sniffed eachother and before we knew it, they were all grooming eachother & snuggling. It was fantastic!!

Lily bridged the gap first between the pairs. He startedgrooming his sister & snuggling with his mum. Rubyadored the new attention, as her mum has never beenaffectionate. I thought that Hugo might become thedominant leader but he was just happy to play with hissiblings whilst mum watched.

So, the family group has now been again relocated to thefox-proofed Lavender Cottage. They adore it! Theyhated being inside. Lavender Cottage has big warmblankets, a safe house to run into or sit on, big trays full ofyummy hay and no bright lights or annoying people. Theexterior has been totally fox proofed and new securitymeasures have been installed so we can only hope theyare now safe from predators. Were still getting up in themiddle of the night with a torch if we hear noises outside!

Kitty has bottyproblems!! (I betyou wanted toknow that!)

Shes layingthese enormoussmelly piles ofcecals overnight.She doesnt havea dirty, stickybottom as manybunnies suffer

but the problem is still bothering her. Rabbits producingexcess cecals require very simple diets high in fibre. Ivecut down Kittys greens to just one celery top in theevening. She doesnt get any pellets and she has unlimitedoaten hay all day (which all our bunnies have).

Princesssweekly penicillininjections for herteeth abscessesare going well.The newPropercillin is soeasy to inject,its keepingPrincess still

long enough to get it into her skin that requires skill. Iveworked out that I need to inject her pre dinnertime so I canbring her out to the table and put food in front of her. Sheeats while I inject.


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Adopt me!

!!!URGENT!!!Bastian the Bunnyneeds another temporary homeLocation: Melbourne (Chadstone)

Contact: Carolyn or Selena

Are you dog and cat free? Could you provide Bastian the Bunny with a free-

range (no hutch) indoor environment (preferably oncarpet)?

If yes to all the above then this dwarf rex rabbit could beyours for the next 1-2 years. Bastian is fully house trainedusing kitty litter and is very friendly. He's very quiet and not

at all demanding like cats and dogs.

If you are interested I will give you a full run down on howto keep this unique pet. I will cover the costs of his hay andvet bills whilst he is in your care, and I will help you bunnyproof your home. Bastian has a very strict diet of mostlygrasses and hay (not the rabbit mix of pellets you find inthe supermarket or pet shop) and fresh green vegetables(Broccoli, Cauliflower leaves, flat leaf Parsley) whichusually cost about $5-$10 per week.

About me: Im Carolyn and I currently live in London.Bastians current bunny foster mum Selena has beentaking great care of Bastian and she can be contacted on

0412496179 or email me at [email protected] ifyou are interested in helping out this adorable little guy.

!!!URGENT!!!Surrey Hills rabbitLocation: Melbourne (Surrey Hills)Contact: Millie

Tutu is a 6 month old,non-desexed femalebunny.

I bought Tutu about twomonths ago for thecompany of my dog.

Unfortunately, my dogdoesn't know how to get along with a rabbit. He alwayschases it around, and in my view, he is bullying the rabbit.

If you are interested in adopting this little bunny, please callMillie on 9836 5678 or email [email protected].

Baby buns looking for homesLocation: Batemans Bay, NSWContact: Nicole

These gorgeous little guys accidentally ended up in theworld after mum & dad went for a supervised romp in thegarden together. Dad was waiting for his bits to dropbefore he went in for permanent de-dadding but this goesto show that even if the dangly bits arent showing, boyscan still father little ones.

Even though these littlies are adored, they will need to findgood homes.

If you are interested in adopting any of these gorgeous little

fluff balls, please contact Nicole [email protected]

For more Melbourne adoptions:

Australian Animal Protection Society - Homeleigh Road, Keysborough, Ph: 9798 8415

RSPCA - Cnr. Burwood Highway & Middleborough Road, Burwood East, Victoria, Ph: 9224 2222

Lort Smith Animal Hospital - 24 Villiers Street, North Melbourne, Ph: 9321-7240


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6/8

Pets in Peril Domesticviolencehttp://www.animalaid.com.au/pets-in-peril.html

Domestic violence, childabuse and animal abuse areinterwoven in violentrelationships and a multi-disciplinary approach isrequired to intervene andassist the multiple victims ofviolence.

The Pets in Peril DomesticViolence Service is a newinitiative in Victoria to providesafety and shelter for petanimals belonging to womenwho are escaping domestic

violence.

It is a known fact that women delay leaving because ofconcern for the safety of their animals. Refuges will nottake animals so most would be left in the home.

It has been recommended that women should be asked iftheir companion animals have been threatened or harmed.Victoria Police are keeping statistics on pet abuse indomestic violence situations and this will give us new dataon the prevalence of animal abuse.

Add - LOreal & The Body Shop (bought out by LOreal).

Proctor & Gamble kill 2,500animals in toxic experiment

Despite claims from corporate giant Procter & Gamble(P&G) that it tests products on animals only as a last resortand only when required by law, published scientific papersshow that P&G took an already approved ingredient inHerbal Essences shampoo - butylparaben - and force-fed itin massive doses to pregnant animals. 2,500 animals died.

For a list of companies that do not test on animals, please

visit http://www.choosecrueltyfree.org.au

Debates rage overanimal testing in NSW3 July 2009 Nine News

Welfare groups are calling for an urgent public debate onanimal testing amid claims millions of creatures are beingkilled or maimed every year in Australia in the name ofscience.

New figures published by the NSW government's advisorybody, the Animal Research Review Panel, show thenumber of animals killed in NSW experiments rose bymore than 1,000 to 8,813 during 2006-2007.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) said thefigures were not surprising, and that compliance withinternational standards meant the number of animalsaffected was unlikely to fall.

The Australian Association for Humane Researchestimates more than six million animals are used inmedical and pharmaceutical trials in Australia annually,with at least 100,000 of those animals dying.

"This is going on daily and we really do need thecommunity to be aware of what is being done in their nameand have a real public debate about the ethics of thisindustry," Glenys Oogjes, executive director of the AnimalsAustralia campaign group, said.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) andthe RSPCA have both demanded a halt to animal testingdespite claims by government officials there is noalternative.

"The European Union has a committee designed just to

ensure animal tests are being moved away from, and tovalidate alternatives. Australia has not changed," PETAspokesman Jason Barker said.

"We would like to see the number of animals used intesting reduced, in fact, we want to see animals replacedwith other techniques such as cell, tissue and organiccultures and even human volunteers, where appropriate,"RSPCA spokeswoman Lisa Chalk said.

The DPI said it would not change its policy to reduceanimal deaths in the near future.

"If we are to have non-animal testing for a certain product,

that has to be approved on an international level and thatprocess takes a long time," DPI spokesman Ross Burtonsaid.

However, NSW scientists are already pioneeringalternative methods.

Dr Laura Batmanian, from Sydney University's MedicineFaculty, has developed a computer simulation to scraptests on 250 rabbits a year.

"There is now solid evidence that not only are non-animaltechnologies more humane but they also producescientifically valid data," NSW Greens MP and animal

welfare spokeswoman Lee Rhiannon said.


7/8

Clarence the SUPER SPY

And the great art galleryBy James Robertson

Clarence the Super Spy and James his human brother/Spystudent skidded to a halt in front of the long Art Galleryscooter rack. They parked their scooter and bike in therack, while unlatching their paintings from the boot.

Clarence and some of his artist friends had been invited tocompete in the Great Art Gallery art competition.

Clarence and James strolled and scampered over to theirfriends. There, at the main entrance, stood Ted Barker,Princess, Hugo and Lily. Ted Barker (one of Pumpkinsdistant cousins) held one big, framed painting under his

armpit.

Princesss white fur puffed up with excitement. She held aportfolio of what seemed like old papers. And last but notleast Hugo and Lily (who were not actually Super Spies)had a couple of colourful books in their paws.

But James didnt see Bunneary! James was told by Harrythe Gossip Guinea pig that Bunneary was going to be atthe Art Gallery on that day. He wanted to get annoyed withBunneary for eating his homework.

Clarence, yelled Ted Barker happily. Great to see yaagain, Clazey ol boy. How zit bin goin since the thing at

the Talka Makan Desert?

Clarence smiled at the huge, greyish bunny in front of him.Nothing really, just got attacked by General Rogan andmet the craziest guinea pig in the world, the usual.

Clarence shook paws with Hugo, Lily, Princess and TedBarker.

They headed through the slide doors and into an artwonderland. The huge, glass ceiling sheltered thousands(and I mean literally thousands) of paintings, sculptures,architecture and a couple of bunny rabbit topiarysculptures. It was amazing! Even the legendary Rabbit of

Humongousby Leonardo Dabunny was displayed, when itwas supposed to be in the Great Bunny Art Gallery inVenice. Everyone knew they wouldnt win first placebecause Leonardo Dabunnys (whos not even alive at themoment) paintings always won first place, so basically onlysecond, third, fourth, fifth and sixth really mattered.

The five bunnies and James found a nice, red pin boardwhere they could display their paintings; it had a nicestream of light from the steamy roof.

They pinned their paintings onto the pin board and thenstood back to give their paintings a last minute check.

Ted Barker does paintings of very detailed pies with purplewings on them. Princess had brought her portfolio ofdesigns of lace hats, crowns and gowns made especiallyfor Queen Sunshine III. Hugo and Lily brought a couple offantasy book covers, because they drew the illustrations forthe books. James brought his Romeo and Julietdrawing oftwo Nautilus holding tentacles and a picture of a grey

bunny under some leaves. And last but definitely not least,Clarence had brought his landscape portrait of a huge,beautiful picture of a bunny bungee jumping into awaterfall.

They sat back on wooden stools and waited for the judgesto come around. But on a peaceful day like today, theywere lucky to have brought their spy gear.

*

The sound of a million German Bomber ships from WorldWar II could be heard all around the art gallery. But theywerent in the war; it was a Mr. Beaver sky ship! A trapdoor

in the bottom of the hulk opened up and thousands of metalcapsules showered down like heavy rain.

*Spy-Notes: The same Mr. Beaver air ship attackedClarence and the BOING bunnies at the Do Hop Inn a fewmonths ago. It was the same version, same model, samecode number; it was the exact same ship.

The capsules smashed through the glass roof and landedinside the gallery. The capsules (robots) started to movearound with their weapon arms pointed at innocentbunnies. Clarence, James, Princess and Ted Barker knewexactly what the robots were looking for. LeonardoDabunnys Rabbit of Humongous!

Princesss big black eyes bulged with fear. Guys, if its onyour order Clarence, we have to stop those robots in anywacky way we can, she said agreeably.

Everyone nodded in agreement. Princess and James ranand scampered into the toilet blocks. Ted Barker trotted offinto the crowd. Soon it was just Clarence and Hugo andLily.

What do wedo,Clarence? asked Hugoand Lily, at the sametime (pictured left).

Clarence pulled somegadgetry out of hisMitre Pack bag. Ok,guys, it may be aviolation of the spy

code, but as you are my friends Ill let you use some spytech to ward off the robots.

He handed the two whitish bunnies a pair of weird tube-likegadgets with one big button on the side.


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Hugo and Lily took hold of the gadgets and pressed at thelittle buttons. A blurry, white light shot out of the gadget! Itlooked like a light sabres from the movie Star Wars,although they were labelled Energy Canes.

Thanks, Clarence, said Hugo and Lily, at the same time.They ran over to some of the robots and sliced them in half.Meanwhile

Hey, Princess, get out of the boys toilets! yelled James

from the toilet block. James came running out with hiskarate gear on (he was also wearing weird metal glovesand socks), with Princess hot on his heels.

Why are you wearing those metal gloves and socks?asked Clarence.

These are to prevent my feet and hands hurting when Islice the robots in half, said James cleverly.

He and Princess ran off to destroy the robots. Then, finally,Clarence ran off to assess the situation.

*

Ted Barker stood up on the top of Rabbit of Humongous.He held a Rope Clinger Gun in his paw. He launched therope onto one of the wide holes in the glass roof. He hastilymade sure he had full grip, and then, jumped off the Rabbitof Humongous! For a few seconds in the air Ted Barkerlooked like a fat, bunny Tarzan! He swooped down andsmashed right through the pack of robots in the middle ofthe room! But his trajectory made him smash through theglass roof, then come down again through the roof andcrash into a pile of paintbrushes! That was AWESOME!yelled Ted Barker from under the pile.

Princess was using super sharp diamonds and rubies to

slice the robots! She pulled all the gems out from her thickchest fur! She threw them around like shirikens. Jamesstarted to think she was a ninja.

James was using knee kicks, roundhouse kicks, middlepunches and double middle punches to smash up the Mr.Beaver robots. Smashing hunks of super hard metal didnthurt with those metal accessories on.

Hugo and Lily were using their super awesome EnergyCanes to create huge holes in the walls. They were tryingto get all the innocent bunny citizens out of the gallery. Andwarding off some robots in the process.

*

In a while Clarence, James, snack stuffed Princess, Hugo,Lily and Ted Barker had smashed, sliced, pulverized,blasted, dismantled and exploded all the evil Mr. Beaverrobots.

But, just then, Harry the Gossip Guinea pig and three huge,armed bunny girls smashed through the main entrance,holding out their weapons. We heard your distress call, theHILP Rescue Spy team are here, said Harry bravely (HILP Harry, Isabelle, Lulu & Poppy).

No need, we already took care of the robots, said TedBarker, from the top of a paintbrush and robot parts pile.Harry and the big, bunny girls lowered their weapons. Ok,Lulu, you can come out now! called Poppy and Isabelle.

Then on cue, a big, snow white bunny girl (who theypresumed was Lulu) appeared right next to Clarence.Agh! said Clarence in surprise.

Dallo Clarence, said Lulu while holding up her left paw.

*

They soon found out that the new bunny girls, Poppy,Isabelle, and Lulu (the invisible bunny) were actually newspies of the Do Hop Inn Spy Station. And it was Harrys dayoff from the studio.

*Spy-Notes: James has met Isabelle, Lulu and Poppybefore, at the Do Hop Inn. Lulu kept disappearing into hersecret cardboard house. And Poppy went into thebathroom with James.

In the end Clarence, Ted Barker, Harry, Hugo, Lily, Isabelle

and Lulu cleaned up the mess of glass, paint, paintbrushesand smelly robot parts, as James went back into the toiletblocks to get changed into his normal clothes.Hey, Princess, Poppy! Get out of the boys toilets! saidJames in annoyance.

The End!

Epilogue.

RANKINGS:

1st

Place:

LeonardoDabunnysRabbit of

Humongous.(pictured right)

2nd Place:Clarence theSuper Spys

Whacko BunnyBungee

Jumping off aWaterfall.

3

rd

Place:PrincessAwesome

Crowndesigns.

4th

Place: TedBarkers Pies

in Flight.

5th

Place: Hugo and Lilys Rameyseries front covers.

6th

Place: James Bunny Under the Leaves.

The Bunologist Jul09

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Transcript of The Bunologist Jul09