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After realization that very little
information was available regarding rabbits,
that a rabbit’s life span was very short due to
improper care and that rabbits were abused just
like other pets, we rescued more rabbits the
following year. We continued doing this on our
own. In 1994, we founded the House Rabbit
Sanctuary, a non-profit all volunteer
organization that allowed us to do even more for
those rabbits needing special care.
We had already started a sanctuary for sick
and injured rabbits and took in numerous abuse
cases. Over the years hundreds of rabbits have
entered through our doors. We’ve had dozens of
rabbits at any given time. Every rabbit has been
special. Every rabbit has been memorable. Some
examples;
- Arthur, a
beautiful harlequin/rex mix, the only
survivor from a dog fighting group in North
Carolina.
- Feather, a
brown and white Dutch that died giving birth
just two days after being taken from the
Fairfax County shelter.
- Boo, a
black Netherland dwarf, infected with fleas
and so badly mallocluded that she succumbed
to abscesses nine months later.
- Skipper, a
French lop rescued from a school and kept on
antibiotics for the remainder of his life.
- April
suffered from the cruelest of abuses when
her foot was cut off for a good luck charm.
- Precious,
a Holland lop with deformed hips and rear
legs that refused to give in to her
handicaps.
- Lil Bit, a
baby no more than a few days old found in
someone’s yard that we were only able to
keep alive a couple of hours.
- Madeline,
kicked, spit on and starved and taken from a
residence in the City of Fairfax.
- Hope,
severely handicapped after being attacked by
dogs.
- Charmer, a
five-week old angora, taken in to be
euthanized because he was blind.
- And of
course Domino, scheduled to be euthanized on
the day we picked him up at the shelter, he
taught us more about rabbits, ourselves and
even more about love than we could have
imagined.
I’ve been very lucky to share this work with
Sandi, the sweetest most wonderful
wife, anyone could ever have. When Sandi got
sick a few years ago we had to curtail the
number of rabbits that we could take in at the
sanctuary. When Domino left us, for a higher
calling, part of us went with him. Since then,
it has been harder to maintain the pace at which
we once pursued our rescue and education
efforts.
Sandi and I had built the foundation for the
House Rabbit Sanctuary. We could not let this
organization fall into obscurity. We needed
someone to take over the operation, an
intelligent, very caring person and someone with
a tremendous amount of energy. Who fits that
description any better than Susan Wong?
We’ve
known, and loved Susan, ever since we met her
ten years ago. She
will be taking our foundation and building the
walls, putting on a roof and I imagine
furnishing it with the very latest in innovation
and technology. Sandi and I will be taking a
supporting roll as we celebrate our 30 plus
years of marriage love and our life together. We
hope all of you will show Susan the same support
that you’ve shown us over the years. Thank you
all so very, very much!
We’d also like to say a special “Thank you” to
Dr. Valerie Campbell of the Blue Ridge
Veterinary Clinic in Purcellville and Dr. Scott
Stahl of Stahl Exotic Animal Veterinary Services
in Vienna for all of the care and support that
they’ve given the Sanctuary rabbits.
Joe and Sandi Monaco
Click
here to
access the old Friends of Rabbits web site. |
