Monday 15 February 2016

Geronimo's Rescue Story


One year ago today, my brother and I rescued a rabbit. He was the size of my hand, approximately 2 months old, and he was out in -18 degrees Celsius winter weather. We were at our grandma's house and knew about the rabbits in her neighbourhood. Someone had let some domestic rabbits outside and they had bred over the years. There are many rabbits there now of various breeds. The rabbit that we rescued was one of them, possibly part lionhead. We knew that it was too cold outside for a rabbit his age so my brother and I went outside with a towel after we saw him hopping around in our grandma's driveway. By the time we got outside, he was hopping along the road. We followed him to try and catch him in the towel but he kept hopping away from us. We finally chased him against a snowbank and he was unable to climb it so we threw the towel over him and brought him inside. We found a small pet carrier in the garage and set it up for him with a towel and water. His eyes were closed and he hid under the towel most of the time, obviously quite scared.

I texted our parents, who were working, and told them what had happened. I still remember the text that my Dad sent back: "You can't keep him." We waited until our parents got home from work and by that time the rabbit had still not opened his eyes. In fact, it appeared that his eyes were stuck shut or that he might not have any eyes at all since all we could see was skin and fur where his eyes should be. Since we had found him outside and didn't know what else to do by the time we arrived in our own part of the city in the evening, we brought him to a wildlife refuge centre. They took him in even though he was not a wild rabbit and they nursed him back to health. It turned out that he was dehydrated and, once they took care of that, his eyes opened and they had to clean them out since there was guck in them. The wildlife refuge centre said that they would have to find a home for him since he was a domestic rabbit and we instantly offered him a home with our own family. 

We named him Geronimo because we're big fans of Doctor Who and that was a sort of catchphrase for the Eleventh Doctor. We call him Gerry for short. He has grown into a healthy rabbit, other than not having the best eyesight which is probably due to the state that his eyes were in when we found him. He has such an adorable personality and he is really good for an unneutered male rabbit, although we still plan on having him neutered. He and our dog, a golden retriever named Finnlegh, became very good friends. Gerry likes to cuddle with Finny and Finny likes to lick Gerry.

I am so glad that we decided to rescue him and then give him a home. In regards to that text that my Dad sent me, my Mom said that my Dad later stated that he shouldn't have looked at the rabbit because he ended up falling in love with it just as we all had. Geronimo has changed all of our lives. He can be really crazy at times and then funny or super cuddly at other times. He is a major sweetheart and my heart feels good knowing that he is alive today because of my family and I. Rescuing animals is good for the soul, you guys. You rescue them and they rescue you. That's just how it works.

Cheers,
Kay

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