* After being in foster care for more than a year, Philomena’s foster mom decided that she should stay forever! Yay Philomena! *

We rescued Philomena from Hamilton Animal Control. Philomena was found in Gage Park and brought to HAC. It’s likely that her previous owner dumped her in the park, thinking she could live outdoors on her own. Domestic rabbits are not wild rabbits, and they don’t often survive being let go in the wild. We’re not sure how long Philomena was alone in the park, but she was suffering some health issues. Her underside was urine covered, she was badly matted and she has some hair loss. You could tell she’s wasn’t feeling very well just from her demeanour. We picked her up from HAC and took her straight to the vet. She had a check-up and a grooming there, and she went to her foster home until she was healthy enough to be spayed. While she was under for her spay, it was discovered by our vets that she was already spayed! A rare thing indeed to find a spayed stray rabbit. And shocking that her previous owner would go through the expense and trouble to spay her, only to abandon her. Philomena has healed nicely from her surgery and her fur has grown back now in the areas that had to be shaved when she was groomed. She is now looking for a forever home with someone who can give her the love and attention she needs. We want her to know that she is safe now, and will never be abandoned and alone again.

Here’s a note from Philomena’s foster mom:

“Philomena (Philly) is a large, relaxed rabbit. Always gentle, she can be shy when initially petted and may flatten herself down submissively. But she is very receptive if you are soft spoken and especially if you have a nice treat to offer 🙂 She has been very good for me when I need to do nail trims etc. I can wrap her in a towel and hold her like a baby in one arm while I trim her nails and do other basic care – she is always very tolerant.
She really seems to like being outdoors and I think she would enjoy a home that had a fenced yard or other secure outdoor space for her to exercise in. While staying with me Philly has been living in a large x pen (4 ft x 10 ft) because she is far too large to live in a traditional cage. In her pen she has three large litter boxes which she uses consistently but she does like them to be cleaned daily.
Philly has been with me for quite a while now and if only I had the space to make a rabbit of her size happy over the long term I would love to keep her. She has such a sweet temper – I’ll be sorry to let her go but I’m really hoping Ladybird can find her a loving forever home.”

Please adopt Philomena!

We ask that our rabbits not be housed in the types of rabbit cages they sell in pet stores. Our fostered rabbits are housed in x-pens or similar enclosures so they have lots of room to move around when they aren’t out for floor time. Commercially made pet store rabbit cages are far too small to allow rabbits to stretch out and move around with ease.
Here are some great websites outlining alternative rabbit housing using x pens and similar enclosures.
sandiegorabbits.org
hopperhome.com
therabbithouse.com
Pinterest- Rabbit home ideas

Philomena photos by Ted Buck