By Will Sheeline
Rabbits are hopping their method back into Sea Cliff with the return of the Long Island Rabbit Rescue Group fundraising event on Saturday. The occasion raises money for Long Island’s biggest volunteer bunny rescue organization.
The occasion is the Rescue Group’s very first in-person fundraising event in Sea Cliff because the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The group is comprised of bunny lovers and owners from throughout Long Island, who deal with rabbit-related problems in their neighborhoods.
Mary Anne Maier, the group’s co-founder and a Sea Cliff homeowner, said the volunteer organization gets 30 to 60 calls a month about a range of issues, from owners with ill family pets to finding houses for abandoned bunnies.
One of the most heartbreaking issues they handle is discovering and conserving abandoned family pet bunnies delegated take care of themselves in the wild. Maier said domesticated bunnies have no survival impulses after a life time in captivity. Her group have actually discovered and rescued over 1,000 homeless bunnies in 2015.
“That’s the big problem that no one knows about because they don’t bark and they’re under the radar once they’re on the street,” Maier said. “It’s kind of a different scene from cat and dog rescue in that it’s like this quiet little epidemic.”
The group started holding its fundraising event in 2015, thanks in big part to the efforts of another Sea Cliff homeowner and rabbit-owner, Mark Hagan. He initially ended up being conscious of the group after a possibility encounter with Maier, where he went over the health problems of his cherished family pet bunny, Lucy.
Maier assisted Hagan get in contact with her vet to address Lucy’s health issues. Hagan revealed his appreciation by hiring buddies to assemble the group’s very first significant fundraiser occasion at Still Partners in Sea Cliff, the home of the occasion every year because.
“It’s an educational event to encourage adoption under the right conditions and discourage impulse buying,” Hagan said. “This is really my thank you for giving the directions to help my own rabbit, and it’s one of their biggest fundraisers of the year.”
The occasion leans greatly towards an Easter Bunny style with the fundraising event generally held the week prior to Easter Sunday. This year it’s being held previously, on Saturday.
The Easter Bunny will make a look supplying kids and grownups with a chance to take pictures. Attendees can likewise buy Tee shirts and lug bags with the Easter Bunny image.
The group likewise brings a number of “ambassador bunnies” with them to the occasion — rescued bunnies accustomed to deal with bigger crowds. While guests won’t have the ability to hold or get the bunnies, they will have the chance to family pet them to their hearts’ material.
“We have to make sure that we’re going to bring only what we call our ‘bombproof bunnies’ to the event,” Maier explained, “rabbits who will be comfortable and not panic and either get sick or injure themselves by being afraid.”
Additionally, there will be a raffle including both rabbit-themed rewards such as huge chocolate Easter Bunnies, bottles of red wine or paintings. Hagan said that the majority of the presents are contributed by various businesses and neighborhood members, such as the Onion Tree, Country Club Florist and Brooklyn-based chocolaterie Jacques Torres Chocolates.
All money raised goes towards supporting the Rescue Group. Hagan said that previous fundraising occasions, made as much as $6,000 for the group. He prepares to match a minimum of half of the overall raised, which he has actually done at every fundraising event in the past.
Maier and Hagan both pointed out how thrilled they were to be holding the fundraising event after a three-year hiatus, and they anticipate the fundraising event to be as enjoyable for the neighborhood as it is important to the Rescue Group.
