If you can’t care for pets, don’t abandon them

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Recently my sister stopped by the Viking Village parking lot in Stanwood and put a bag of clothing in one of the donation bins. As she walked back to her car she heard something and looked back, one of the boxes next to the bin was moving. She walked back and lifted a flap on the box and there were two domestic bunnies in there.

She called me distraught and I called three animal rescue sites, two went to voicemail and Sarvey wildlife answered but they don’t take rabbits. My husband and I got my dog carrier and went to help, the bunnies were very tame and it was easy to put them in the carrier. We stopped at the Country Store for some rabbit food.

We were helped by Greg and told him the situation, he immediately offered to take the rabbits as he had one at home and was set up to look after them. He also said he would put a notice on the bulletin board in case anyone wanted a pet rabbit. Later I heard back from NOAH and CASA and they both directed me to the Everett humane society which accepts rabbits and has a foster program in place for them. Today I went to retrieve my dog carrier and Greg said that a lady came in and adopted the rabbits that same day.

I wanted to tell this story in case anyone else out there is in a situation where they can’t keep their pets. There are safer and kinder options available.

Ellen Lowell-Hazleton

Stanwood