After eating two sets of owners out of house and home, Roo, a European giant rabbit, was sent back to a pet shop in Scotland.

According to Tracy Simpson, a staff member, “Her new owners thought they were buying an animal similar to a cat who would come and sit on their lap and quietly move around the house. But Roo isn’t like that. She’s full of life and because her teeth never stop growing, she likes to munch on things. That didn’t go down well.”

Fortunately, Roo has found a suitable home with one of the staff from the pet shop who is happy to accommodate Roo’s personality and habits.

For more info:
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/news-feed/2008/08/14/jabba-the-hutch-86908-20696403/
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2008/08/14/picture-the-monster-rabbit-the-size-of-a-dog-115875-20696552/

Once her husband and three children had safely evacuated, Leanne Bieg of South Australia ran back inside her burning home to rescue their new pet rabbit.  The rabbit survived, and the family is being treated for smoke inhalation. Unfortunately, the fire ravaged the house and caused $200,000 worth of damage. It may have to be demolished.

For more info: http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24185455-2682,00.html

Joey was rescued from an air vent in Wakefield, MA earlier this month. It is presumed that he was released into the wild by a family that had grown tired of caring for him and his partner, a still missing white rabbit. The House Rabbit Network has photos of Joey’s rescue as well as a narrative of the events.

See more photos: http://blog.rabbitnetwork.org/?cat=259

To celebrate Beatrix Potter’s birthday the always impressive folks at Google came up with this fine little logo.

(Photo - Mercury News)

A Melbourne couple has their pet rabbit, Rabbit, to credit with saving their lives.  Rabbit, who roams the house freely, began urgently scratching the couple’s bedroom door after a fire started in another portion of the house.  Later today Rabbit will get a vet check-up to be treated for smoke inhalation.

Read More: http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,24070028-921,00.html

This Beatrix Potter watercolor recently sold for a £289,250, a record for a book illustration.  The Rabbit’s Christmas Party was painted by Potter in the 1890s and was sold to a private collector.

Additional Story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7513296.stm

Bunnies living in hutches have to contend with inclement weather, predators, and parasites. But, in Germany, they face yet another threat to survival: a ruthless rabbit killer on the loose.  Police believe the person uses Google satellite images to locate hutches that are otherwise hidden from view in Germany’s Ruhr Valley.  The killer beheads the pet rabbit, drains its blood into a container, and takes both the blood and head from the scene, leaving only a lifeless body.

Police have not yet figured out the motives behind the cruelty and fear the behavior may continue on to human victims.

For more information: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7494184.stm

Kerry Quintilliani caught a glimpse of a white, lop-eared rabbit outside her office in a business complex in Wakefield, MA.  She’d seen wild rabbits there before, but this one stuck out as a domesticated bunny.  She called her sister to help try to capture the abandoned pet, but to no avail. So she left some food out and decided to call the House Rabbit Network and try again the next day.

Unfortunately, the white rabbit was nowhere to be found. But Quintilliani and volunteers from the House Rabbit Network did discover the white rabbit’s buddy, a brown domestic rabbit, who was trapped in an air vent.  According to Quintilliani, “There was no way into this space except for a 3-inch gap the bunny had fallen through. The bunny responded to food and water passed into the space [by volunteers] and seemed to be healthy so a plan was made to find someone who could open up the grates so he could be rescued.”

That someone was Joe Voto, who spent 5 hours sawing through the vent to make a hole large enough for a person to get in and bring the rabbit to safety.

The rabbit, named Joey after Voto’s son, will be neutered and available for adoption from the House Rabbit Network soon.

Good job to the good samaritans and and the volunteers of the House Rabbit Network for sparing one rabbit’s life!

For more info: http://www.wickedlocal.com/wakefield/news/x2043504462/Volunteers-hop-to-it-in-rabbit-rescue-effort
House Rabbit Network

Lucile C. Moore and Kathy Smith, authors of A House Rabbit Primer and Rabbit Health in the 21st Century, respectively, have teamed up to write a much needed new book.  When Your Rabbit Needs Special Care: Traditional and Alternative Healing Methods provides information about various conditions, illnesses, and disabilities along with different methods for care, treatment, and pain control.

This book, which will be released this week, focuses on an area of rabbit health in need of attention.  Now, owners of rabbits with special needs have a comprehensive resource to reference when they are unsure how to care for their pets.

Pre-order When Your Rabbit Needs Special Care: Traditional and Alternative Healing Methods from Amazon »

Warner Bros. will be releasing a deluxe DVD offering of Watership Down in November of this year to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the film’s release. Watership Down is a great story for anyone, not just a bunny fan.  If you’ve never read the book, this summer would be a great time to get around to it.