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Volume 3 Number 4 – April 2005

Just as we feared

Easter has come and gone, and the bunny camp sanctuary is bursting at the seams with new buns. It’s the same every year, but people NEVER learn. All we can hope to do is to continue to educate people so that the message FINALLY gets home, a rabbit is not a toy, it’s a living breathing sensitive creature with needs that must be met if they are to live a happy and fulfilled life.

Dandy.

Bunny Camp Sanctuary Sponsor Bunny Information

For a mere £1 per month, £12 for the year you can sponsor one of these gorgeous but poorly bunnies and help towards their ongoing veterinary care.

FABIA. The sweetest little Lion Head bunny, female, black. Has been to the vets for several weeks has been treated for a very bad skin disorder due to previous life living with hens. Very effectionate, very easy going, will need on going veterinary treatment for skin.	CHRYSTAL .Stunning female silver Dwarf Lop born approx 1.9.99. On arrival had cataract in left eye and one forming in right. Now totally blind. Was unwanted due to stroppy nature after her partner died. Fear aggression.	ERICA. Cute and lovely natured female Dutch bunny born July 2002. Unwanted due to owners moving house. Had old, untreated brake on back right leg will have mobility problems and arthritis in the future.
CLYDE. Very handsome, nice natured male English born approx September 96. Came from a breeders home unfortunately kept for 3 years in a shed with no attention just fed and watered. Very nervous and requires surgery to his teeth every few months.	DUKE. Extremely placid and adorable male French lop born approx Feb 97. Arrived Feb 01 in shocking condition. Had lived in a 1 foot square box for 4 years. Had muscle wastage, poor skin and fur, mentally very unsure. Now partially sighted.	BLUEBELL. Female, spayed Dutch bunny born approx Jan 2001. Came in with HUGO, has been in re-homing section since October 03 with minor eye problems but now has developed teeth and related eye problems therefore cannot be re homed. Will require ongoing Veterinary treatment.
LITTLE JESS & MAZIE. 2 Female Guinea Pigs, LITTLE JESS just lost partner SPIKE, MAZIE came into Sanctuary as unwanted pet with bunny, the bunny died shortly after decided to pair up with LITTLE JESS and place on Sponsorship Scheme.	HUGO. Very sweet natured male Blue Dutch bunny born Jan 2001. Belonged to a Breeder but due to ill health couldn’t cope. Was very well cared for and 1 of 10 who came in. HUGO suffers problems with his left eye due to teeth problems will need regular teeth checks.	Midnight. Female black domestic rabbit born approx. Jan 1999. Been in re homing section for several months with no interest. Came into sanctuary as unwanted pet, very sweet, very gentle but does have weepy eye which will need constant veterinary attention which is why she has been put on sponsorship.
IVORY & BAILEY. Ivory born November 01. Was found in a shed at 7 days old with 19 other rabbits all born through interbreeding. Ivory has severe malocclusion, has had front teeth removed. Bailey brought in at 8 weeks old was to be put to sleep, has misaligned jaw requires Veterinary treatment every 2 weeks.	PAT. Black, male domestic bun born approx. November 2003. Came in with 5 bunnies lived in a run with a bucket and hay for a bed. Had pastruella and two large nasty abcesses on arrival, pasturella with reacure and therefore requires constant care and veterinary treatment. Very nervous and shy.	BONNY & BLOSSOM. 2 female white bunnies, Bonny Netherland Dwarf, Blossom cross Netherland Polish born approx 2000. Unfortunately these bunnies have been homed and re homed several times and keep coming back. Now permanently on Sponsor Scheme.
	TASHA & FIFI. are our newest sponsorship members, they came into the sanctuary about six months and have developed teeth problems and Fifi has also started with weepy eyes due to the teeth. Tasha is a white domestic bunny and Fifi a white lion head born about 2002. The bunny camp sanctuary prides itself on not homing bunnies with health issues and so these beautiful bunnies will stay with us.

This months Rabbit Welfare Association leaflet

The Long and the Short of it: Caring for long haired pet rabbits

Bunny Camp News Recipe Column

By Bramblespack

Well for this months column we though we would remember Hawthorn and Aniseed (formerly Annabel of Bunny Camp) who passed over the bridge during the last month. Hawthorn always loved to help the buck 2-foot cook porridge, or should that be hinder, so we will do porridge. As for Aniseed as far as we can tell 2-foots use Aniseed in sweet things so we will do Eclairs.

Porridge – to serve 2 2-foots

For this you need

• A Saucepan
• A Wooden Spoon
• Some Milk – 2 and ½ Food Bowls (2 ½ cups)
• Some Oats – 1 food bowl (1 cup)
• Some Coriander

What to do

1. Put the oats in the pan with the milk. Hawthorn used to do this by throwing the oats everywhere and hoping some went into the pan. Stir and heat gently until thick (A bit like Teasel). This gets boring as it takes a while. So get your 2-foot to do it and eat the coriander
2. Serve it in 2 bowls. If you like you can add sugar to it or just put more of the coriander in it. Well we think it tastes nice.

Éclairs

What you need

Shoe (Choux) pastry
For shoe pastry

• A Shoe
• Some butter
• A bit of mashed egg

For Choux pastry

• Just over ½ a food bowl (2 ½ oz) plain or strong plain flower (Such as Calendula)
• ½ (2 oz) a food bowl butter or margarine
• 2 Eggs lightly mashed

Chocolate Sauce
For chocolate Sauce

• 1 food bowl (4 oz) plain chocolate
• 1/8 of a food bowl (1/ oz) Butter or Margarine
• 2 Rex Earfuls (2 tsp) of golden syrup – although another bunny is needed to lick it out the ear hole

To finish

What to do

1. If using Shoe pastry (not recommended) take the shoe and mash it till it’s flat. Then put it in the pan with the other ingredients and heat gently till it forms a dough. We found this wasn’t very effective, especially after the buck 2-foot got moody and took his shoes back. Why do 2 foots call it Shoe pastry?
2. If using Choux Pastry. Sift the flower onto a plate or piece of paper. Don’t let any bun run off with the paper as this makes loads of mess.
3. Put the butter and ¼ a pint of water in a saucepan. Heat gently till butter has melted. Then bring to boil.
4. Remove pan from heat and chuck in the flower.
5. Mash thoroughly with a wooden spoon. That’s the mixture not bunnies.
6. Continue mashing over a low heat. Until the mixture forms a soft dough ball in the middle of the pan. Take care not to over beat as the mixture will become fatty (like Bittersweet and Henbane)
7. Remove from heat and leave to cool for a couple of minutes
8. Mash in the eggs a little at a time. Adding only enough to be able to pipe it. It’s important to mash the mixture vigorously at this stage to incorporate as much air as possible.
9. Put pastry in a piping bag and pipe out into 10 long sausages (or spoon into mounds) onto a damped baking sheet. Don’t let the bucks do this as the Eclairs taste rather funny
10. Bake at 220 gas mark 7 for 20 –25 minutes until well risen and golden brown. Hopefully not because the bucks damped the baking sheet. Reduce to 180 gas mark 4 and make a hole in the side of each pastry case and return to the oven for 5 minutes to dry out completely.
11. Leave to cool on a wire rack. (Not the medieval torture device Elderberry).
For the chocolate sauce
12. 11. Melt the ingredients and 2 tablespoons of water in a small saucepan over a very low heat. Stir until smooth and well blended.
13. 12. Whiskey (see Recipe from November 2004) the cream until it holds it’s shape.
14. 13. Spoon into a piping bag or use a spoon and fill the pastry cases through the hole in their sides. Pour chocolate sauce over the top.

p.s. No Buns where harmed in the making of this column. Although Tayberry was almost mashed by Marjoram who misread the instructions.

£250 fine for crossbow man who killed rabbit

A MAN who shot a pet rabbit with a crossbow bolt has been fined £250.

Mark Inglis, 22, admitted fatally wounding the animal when he was out stalking wild rabbits using a weapon he purchased on the internet.

After shooting the pet rabbit he then wrenched the bolt out of its injured leg. The animal later died.

Haddington Sheriff Court had earlier heard how Inglis lost his job at an animal-testing lab in pharmaceutical giant Inveresk as a result of the incident.

Inglis, of Tranent, East Lothian, was fined £250 after charges of possessing an offensive weapon and torturing the rabbit were dropped.

Alison Craig, defending, said her client had already paid a high price by losing his job.

She said: "He is currently unemployed although he is actively seeking work.

"He has already suffered a serious consequence as a result of what is a very, very serious error of judgement on his part.

"He shows great remorse about what happened."

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was shocked at the "lenient" punishment.

She said: "The fine does not seem adequate given the crime."

Bunny Humour

The Barbara Peters Page

Keep it simple stupid, or “KISS” as the old saying goes is a very good adage when thinking about what to feed your bun.

As I’m sure you all know, I am a great believer in feeding only natural things to my buns as I strongly believe that manufactured foods and treats are not nearly so beneficial as the things that appear naturally in a rabbit’s normal habitat.

What could be more natural then than grass? Grass or hay we are told should form the major part of a rabbit’s diet, but what do you do if you don’t have a lawn? The answer is, GROW ONE INDOORS!

This is not nearly so stupid as it sounds, as all you need is a plastic tray, some soil, and a packet of grass seed. It will keep your bun amused for hours, and it might even save you some money on hay.

Bunny camp news does not have quite so many pages this month. Please don’t think though that we are losing interest, far from it, it’s just that we would rather have quality than quantity, and rather than let the stupid 2-foots fill it with rubbish, I have only allowed the very best stuff in.

Millie bun’s problem page is a bit special this month, as she has decided to devote the whole thing to the problems we have had with each other. I think it was a very brave thing to do, and I congratulate her on coming up with the idea.

Bun of the month
Millie

Millie Bun’s Problem Pages

Hello everybun. Last month, if you remember, I had a question from Melster. He asked:-

"Dear Millie Bun...
I was wondering (and think it may be relevant for other buns) what advice Millie Bun would give to anybun who is moving burrow to help them get along with their new burrow-mates and create a harmonious living environment for all?”

Well I must admit, I was a bit hard on Dandy when I gave Melster my reply, so it got me to thinking, if me and Dandy could get to be good friends, I could use these pages to tell you all about how we got over our problems.

If you remember, I agreed to come and live with Dandy when he came to Bunny Camp looking for a new friend. He seemed fine at Bunny Camp, but when we went home, he kept on laying the law down about how things were going to be, and how although he was glad of my company, he was boss bun, and I had to accept that; well that dear readers is when the problems started. We had an argument, and the argument became a fight, and I ended up having to wear a bandage to stop me from scratching my battle scars.

It wasn’t all bad news though. The 2-foots divided their house in two, and let Dandy stay in the half where he spent the majority of his time anyway, and that meant that everywhere else was mine to explore.

It was quite nice laying by the door, as it’s really cool there, although it could get a bit lonely if I stayed there too long.

Then there were all the stairs to run up and down. I like to do that a lot as it helps keep me in shape.

At the end of the day though, both Dandy and I REALLY wanted to get to know each other better, so we agreed that every day I would swap with Dandy, and he would spend time in my side of the house, and he would spend time in mine. That way, we could get used to each other’s smells.

Even after a few weeks, we still could not agree enough to get together in the house, so we decided to try to get to know each other better in the garden. After 2 or 3 false starts, we decided that actually, we quite liked each other after all!

Dandy suggested that perhaps it was time that we tried to get to know each other better in the house so that we could keep each other company. I agreed, and we started to become friends.

We are now firm friends. We both have very different personalities, Dandy is quiet and thoughtful, but I am a ball of energy. Having said that, Dandy is definitely a lot livelier than he used to be, and I have introduced him to a whole new world. Every night, when the 2-foots go to bed, I run upstairs so that I can keep a check on them. Dandy doesn’t do the stairs thing though, so he now gets a 2-foot to carry him up last thing at night, and then down again first thing in the morning.

Both Dandy and I have agreed that it’s a lot better to be friends than to fight, and I have reluctantly agreed to let him pretend to be in charge… Until feeding time………. With any luck, we will be back to normal next month, so please send questions for Millie to:- pookiesplodge@hotmail.com

Bunny Camp is not a large undertaking. It is all run from a normal house in a normal street. However, we do our best to help as many bunnies as possible given our very limited resources. Bunny Camp is situated at:-

4 Stoney Ridge Avenue,
Heaton,
Bradford
West Yorkshire
BD9 6PA
England
Tel: (0044) 01274 821665
Email: bunnycampsan@blueyonder.co.uk