Tue 19 Aug 2008
UPDATE 8/19/08: Joey’s story has a very happy ending. After coming into HRN care, he received veterinary attention (including being neutered), lots of love and has now been adopted. Yahhhhh Joey!
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As told by Kerry Quintiliani (employee at Edgewater Office Park):
I just wanted to let you know how the House Rabbit Network and employees from CBRE helped with a bunny rescue this past weekend. I don’t work with these groups and just met them, but just had to write to tell you this story.
As I left my job on Friday night, I noticed a floppy-eared white rabbit sitting next to my building. I had noticed wild rabbits in the area before, this one definitely stuck out as a
domestic bunny. While my sister and I tried to catch it, a gentleman leaving the building told us that a man had walked behind the building and dumped two domestic rabbits out of cages before running back to his car.
We got really close a couple of times but the bunny proved to be too quick. After a couple of hours, we left some carrots and celery out and planned to come back in the morning to try again. My sister found the House Rabbit Network online and sent them an email that night. Saturday morning, she received a call and email from Shannon, a HRN volunteer and bunny foster mom, who met us back at the office that morning to search again but no dice.
Shannon and a team of HRN volunteers met back to the office park at dusk on Saturday to continue searching. After looking around in the swamp and woods, a domestic brown bunny was found stuck in an air intake vent that was surrounded by cement and metal grates.
Look Closely: “Joey” sitting on a bucket in the concrete intake vent underground. This is the 3 inch opening mentioned below.
There was no way into this space except a three-inch gap that the bunny had fallen through. The bunny responded to food and water passed into the space and seemed to be healthy so a plan was made to find someone who could open up the grates so he could be rescued.
Security contacted a maintenance man who brought his tools down and went to work opening up the metal shields.
After hours of jig-sawing and prying, a hole big enough for a person to slide through opened up.
Then people slid in through the opening and grabbed the feisty bunny.
It was a long five hours, but totally worth it to rescue this sweet bunny (named “Joey). Joey will be taken to the vet for an exam and to be neutered and will be posted to the House Rabbit Network site when he’s ready for adoption.
It’s sad that the white bunny is still not accounted for, but I’ll keep my eyes open. It’s even sadder that these innocent bunnies were literally dumped out into the wild by a man who didn’t want them anymore. These two bunnies were most likely Easter gifts that grew up too fast and were given a death sentence since abandoned bunnies can’t adapt from domestic life. They are most often hunted and eaten by predators or, as was the fate of the brown bunny before he was rescued today, get trapped and end up starving to death – a very slow and painful way to die.
Special thanks to my sister Amy Ahern for finding and contacting the HRN for help; the HRN team of Shannon Cail, Tricia Hart, Tom McDonald, Suzanne Trayhan and Carol Youngclaus for volunteering to help rescue not just this bunny, but hundreds of bunnies in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut; to Jeff Baker from security, Joe Voto and Chris Caruso from CBRE, and Amy Felicani (who slid into the air shaft) for their willingness to help rescue a bunny on a bug-filled Saturday night. Thank you all for saving Joey!
Side Note: Joey was named after Joe Voto’s 6 year old son who told his dad that he had to leave dinner to go and save the bunny! “Joey” the bunny, is an approx. 3 lb., Jersey Wooley mix. Most likely a young “easter bunny” who was bought for children at Easter then released into the wild when the family and children lost interest.
Enjoy reading about Joey’s rescue in the Woburn Advocate: “Down The Rabit Hole” : http://www.wickedlocal.com/wilmington/news/x2043505582/Down-the-rabbit-hole
July 1st, 2008 at 3:49 pm
You guys did such a great job, I’m so proud of you all!
I’ll be swinging through the office park every night on my way home from work to just peek for the white one. If I see no signs after a couple of weeks, I will sadly admit that he/she was likely taken by natural predators in the area.
Keep up the good work, and you can bet I’ll keep my eyes peeled now.
Amy
July 2nd, 2008 at 7:53 am
That’s AMAZING! WOW! what an interesting story/happy ending for that poor guy.
Great effort!
July 2nd, 2008 at 2:13 pm
There will be a story about “Joey’s” rescue in the Woburn Advocate next week (7/7)! Thanks Kerry!
July 2nd, 2008 at 11:00 pm
From far across the country a bunch of bunns are happy for Joey and thanks for the effort!
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:23 pm
There will also be a story about Joey’s rescue in the Wakefield Observer next week :) Look for that one as well.
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:29 pm
I’m also glad that little Joey Voto will grow up with a very positive attitude towards rabbits and the knowledge that he helped save this one.
July 8th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Read about it here: http://www.wickedlocal.com/wakefield/news/x2043504462/Volunteers-hop-to-it-in-rabbit-rescue-effort
July 10th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
This is such a touching story to hear. It is reasuring to hear about people who take time out of their own busy lives to save a helpless animal. As for the man who dumped the bunnies, I hope he hears of this story and is ashamed of himself. Especially because he clearly knew what he was doing, because the “Joey” did not look like it was negelcted. He was cared for, and fed, then just dumped.
Thank you to everyone who helped saved “Joey”. ~Amy F. I didn’t expect anything less from you, you always go above and beyond.
July 11th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Another article written about the rescue: http://www.wickedlocal.com/wilmington/news/lifestyle/x2043505582/Down-the-rabbit-hole
July 16th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Just Amy being Amy
August 20th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
More good news!!!!!!