Bunny arrives at shelter and no one can believe how big he is

“He’s bigger than a lot of the small dogs we have up for adoption.” No Images? [Click here]( July 12, 2018 Good morning! Today we have a giant rabbit, a pit bull found in a birdcage and a duck mom who refused to give up on her lost babies. 1. Bunny Arrives At Shelter And No One Can Believe How Big He Is Photo Credit: Sacramento SPCA The staffers at the Sacramento SPCA have seen some pretty big rabbits over the years. But never this big. Last week, Benny the Flemish giant rabbit came into the California shelter’s care after his owners were unable to afford a surgery he needed. Weighing in at nearly 20 pounds, 5-year-old Benny is actually a pretty average size for his breed — despite looking so hefty. “He’s bigger than a lot of the small dogs we have up for adoption,” Sarah Varanini, PR and social media specialist for the rescue, told The Dodo. “We’ve had quite a few Flemish giants over the years, but no one as large as him.” He recently fractured his leg after jumping off a porch — and despite having it set by a vet, it healed incorrectly and started limiting his ability to hop. His family couldn’t afford further treatment, so they dropped him off at the shelter for him to be euthanized. Photo Credit: Sacramento SPCA But shelter workers knew they could help him. Benny’s leg was inoperable, but since he had already learned how to hop around on three paws, the veterinarians decided the best option for him would be to amputate the leg. “The leg was sticking out to the side and he wasn’t able to use it at all,” Varanini said. “Being such a large rabbit, the leg was hindering his ability to get exercise.” Thanks to the shelter’s Paws for Health program, which covers emergency surgeries, he was able to have it done right away. Benny is already doing well after surgery and seems comfortable. He’s spending the next few days lounging in his extra-large dog kennel, and will hopefully be ready for a home soon. Photo Credit: Sacramento SPCA Unfortunately, rabbits are often the “forgotten animals” when it comes to traditional shelter environments — but they are just as fun and rewarding pets as cats or dogs. Instead of a tiny hutch outdoors, many families keep their rabbits free-range in the house, which gives them room to exercise and be a true part of the family. “They deserve love, care and good homes just as any other animal,” Varanini said. “We are totally on board with house bunnies. You can litter box train them and let them run loose in the house just like a cat.” As such a sweet and curious rabbit, Benny would make a great house rabbit — and his large size means there’s so much more to love. “He’s a very nice little guy,” Varanini said. “When I go in to see him, he hops right up to greet me. It will be so fun to get him up and moving around with us more in the next few days.” 2. Skinny Pit Bull Was Abandoned Outside Shelter — In A Birdcage Photo Credit: Animal Aid One morning in late May, the staff at Animal Aid, a shelter in Oakland Park, Florida, arrived to find a birdcage sitting outside the door. There wasn’t a bird inside, but a skinny, scared-looking pit bull. The dog had likely belonged to someone, but she’d been badly neglected. She had a severe case of demodex mange, and her skin was covered in tender sores. It also looked like she’d had multiple litters of puppies. The shelter staff posted photos of the dog on Facebook, and the post found its way to Regina Vlasek, founder of Saving Sage Animal Rescue Foundation. Vlasek felt her heartstrings being tugged. “It was just so pathetic,” Vlasek told The Dodo. “She wouldn’t even hold her head up — she was just so sad.” Vlasek also couldn’t fathom how someone even managed to put the dog into the cage. “It’s like a parrot cage,” she said. Vlasek got in touch with Animal Aid, and asked if she could take the dog into the care of Saving Sage. Once Animal Aid had agreed, Vlasek went to pick up the dog, who was named Birdie, that same day. Photo Credit: Animal Aid The next thing Vlasek did was take Birdie to the vet for a full checkup. The pit bull, who is estimated to be about 3 years old, turned out to have allergies to dust mites. She also had a staph infection from the sores covering her skin, which the vet immediately started to treat. Vlasek suspects that Birdie’s health problems are why her former owner abandoned her. “I would say that the reason the majority of people leave their dogs is because they can’t properly care for medical conditions,” Vlasek said. “For people who don’t have enough money, it can be almost overwhelming.” Birdie may have had a lot of ailments, but Vlasek describes her as “perfect.” “She’s always just so grateful and happy for attention and love,” Vlasek said. “With that skin condition that she had before, she smelled really bad ... so I assume that she was looked at as if she was gross. We didn’t really care — we loved her anyways. And we love her up and hug her, and she’s just so grateful to be with people, and have attention and to be with other dogs. So she’s pretty perfect.” Photo Credit: Animal Aid Birdie currently lives with her foster mom, Amanda Trainer, while she waits for a forever home — and Birdie is loving every minute of her new life. “Birdie is a very sociable and playful dog,” Trainer told The Dodo. “She lives with me and my three other dogs and she also does well around my 3-year-old nieces.” “She loves chew toys and has a strong jaw and will chew through toys very fast,” Trainer added. “If she isn’t play-wrestling with my other pit bull, she is laying by my side. She is what I like to call a ‘velcro dog’ who does not like to be away from her humans. She is also very food-motivated and can be easily trained with positive reinforcement. She will be great pet for a family.” 3. Crying Duck Mom Stood By Tunnel Until Someone Saved Her Babies Photo Credit: Dan Martin A woman was heading into work one day when she suddenly heard the sound of crying ducklings coming from a drainage tunnel — and then noticed a mama stuck, standing near the entrance to the tunnel, crying nonstop. The mama duck was desperately missing her babies, and seemed to be trying to tell anyone who would listen that they needed help. The duck mom wouldn’t give up, and the next day the woman tried to go into the tunnel herself to find the babies, but the water was deep and the tunnel was incredibly dark, so she realized she wasn’t properly equipped to handle the situation. Instead, she contacted Dan Martin, a local wildlife rescuer, who quickly traveled out to the tunnel in hopes of finding the trapped ducklings. Martin began wading carefully into the tunnel, trying to follow the sound of the chirping ducklings, and it quickly became clear to him that there was no way the ducklings would ever be able to get out of this situation on their own. “It soon became apparent why they were trapped inside the tunnel as the opening had a large drop far too high for them to jump up to escape,” Martin told The Dodo. “I can only assume the current had swept them down there.” After shining a light into the dark for a while, with no idea if he was on the right track or not, Martin finally came across the scared little ducklings, running around the tunnel in a pack, looking for their mom just as frantically as she had been looking for them out on the street. Photo Credit: Dan Martin Unfortunately, one of the ducklings hadn’t made it, but the remaining ducklings all seemed to be just fine, so Martin scooped them up and began the trek out of the tunnel. Once he and the ducklings emerged from the drainage tunnel, Martin was delighted to see the mother duck was still there, waiting diligently for her babies to be returned to her. “I loaded the little guys into my car and was about to head home to feed them up when I noticed mama duck on a nearby roof,” Martin said. “She hadn’t given up on them.” Wanting to make sure the family would be safe, Martin made sure the mama duck could see her ducklings, and then he led her over to a safe, grassy area away from the road and reunited the ducklings with their worried mom at last. Photo Credit: Dan Martin As soon as the ducklings’ feet hit the grass, they raced to their mother, and the family disappeared into the bushes, so grateful to finally be together again. “It was the best feeling,” Martin said. This Woman's Soulmate Is A Possum [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( The Dodo 100 Crosby St., 201 New York, NY 10012 [Forward]( [Unsubscribe](