Addressing Misinformation About Fires in Los Angeles

As They Impact Domestic Rabbits

Many organizations have been soliciting donations for fire victims or asking for adopters or foster homes. You can help the rabbits in Los Angeles by donating to the rabbit organizations linked below, or, if you live in the Los Angeles, area, by fostering for Los Angeles Rabbit Foundation.

Facts:

• The animal shelters such as LA Animal Services and Pasadena Humane Society are not being inundated with rabbits from the fire zones. Please note that Los Angeles Rabbit Foundation provides rabbit care supplies for LAAS. The shelters are referring potential foster homes to us.
• The Palisades fire is in the West Los Angeles jurisdiction. As of yesterday, no rabbits have come from the fires to West LA Animal Shelter. We expect that rabbits left behind in the fire zone would no longer be alive at this point. Anyone who left without their animals would not have been allowed back in the area--there are 500 National Guard personnel preventing them from doing so.
• Some of the public shelters have used this opportunity to clear out their small animal populations by transporting them out of the area. Whether or not this is an upgrade or downgrade depends on the individual shelter and their level of care for rabbits and rodents.
• Transports can be extremely risky for the rabbits, as we know from the San Diego to Arizona transport in 2023, when 323 rabbits and rodents were sent on a long, dangerous transport to be diverted for reptile food.
• Therefore, we have an urgent need to find safe, committed and long-term foster homes for the rabbits currently in the public shelters.

Here are the organizations we know and have verified are helping rabbits from the fires, and you can feel good about supporting them:

Bunnyluv Rabbit Resource Center has taken in many rabbits from the fire zones, most of them former adopters who had no place to house their rabbits, but also a farm sanctuary that was displaced by the Palisades fire.

Zooh Corner's rental home in Altadena burned to the ground, along with all the supplies except the critical medications they brought with them when evacuating the rabbits. Fortunately, the rabbits and humans are all safe. They have a personal GoFundMe in addition to Zooh Corner's non-profit account. Donations to the non-profit are deductible as allowed by law. Donations to the GoFundMe are not. Note that securing a rental property to house rabbits in that area is likely to be expensive.

Representatives from Bunnyluv and Los Angeles Rabbit Foundation have reached out to Zooh Corner to offer assistance.

Bunny Bunch has taken in some rabbits impacted by the fires and has offered to help with any others. Their founder has reached out to a displaced petting zoo to educate and offer help. We expect Bunny Bunch to be impacted more in future weeks and months.

Los Angeles Rabbit Foundation is a foster-based organization with rabbits in individual homes, cared for by loving humans. Our founder and her husband took in several rabbits displaced because of the fire, but had to immediately re-foster them because their home is in an area designated by CalFire as a High Fire Hazard Severity Zone (HFHSZ). This means that we must sign up dozens of new foster homes to address all rabbits coming from the public shelters or displaced foster homes and adopters.

Some other organizations have been posting misleading information online and asking for donations. The organizations linked above are helping, have helped or will help rabbits. Donate wisely.

How You Can Help: Donate $ or Foster

Our greatest need is for people who are able to foster long-term for rabbits from public shelters who are likely to be displaced in the coming weeks and months. We are asking for a minimum 1 month commitment, no predators in the home, and we are setting up foster homes in the Los Angeles area only, as we require a home safety visit. Fostering application here.

If you can't foster, please consider donating any amount here, or through Venmo.

Thanks to everyone's generosity, we have tons of food! Literally. At this time, we do not need any more donations of food. We will share bunny food with other organizations or displaced families to feed their rabbits.

Storage of donations is an issue. We can't store large numbers of ex pens, etc for a length of time. That is why we ask for financial donations, so that we can buy supplies as we need them. We understand that many feel more comfortable donating supplies rather than money. See below for a list of the things we need for our Foster Kits and our Wish Lists on Amazon and Chewy are listed on our Donate page.

Thank you! Adoptable Caraway, shown here with one of his foster parents, approves of this message.

Cost of a foster starter kit (strikethrough means we have those items already):

• Playpen: $40
• Flooring: $14
• Carrier: $30
• Litterbox: $10
• Food pellets (20 lbs): $18
• Litter: $20
• Hay (20 lbs): $10 from hay barns
• Vinegar in spray bottle: $3
• Toys, treats and willow chews: $15
• Hiding house: $20

Total: $92

With additional funds, we can also supply some of the bunny-proofing.

Tips to Improve Indoor Air Quality Near Fire Zones

• Stay indoors with windows and doors shut
• If you have electricity and a central a/c system, do NOT turn on the a/c as that will pull in outside air. DO turn on the fan, which will push inside air through the air filters.
• Change/clean filters in your air purifier
• If you have electricity but no a/c, you can create a homemade air scrubber by attaching an air filter to a box fan.
• Change air filters in your vehicle.

Charitable Receipts

When you donate through our donate button at PayPal Giving, we do not get immediate notification of who donates. Know that we do get the funds and we are grateful for your support!

PayPal Giving should provide you with a receipt for your taxes. If you need any additional acknowledgement of your donation, please don't hesitate to email us at larabbits@gmail.com.