Bonnie-Mia's Journey Home
Bonnie-Mia had two previous homes before arriving at C.A.R.R.O.T. (Care And Rehoming Rabbits Of Tayside). Up until last September she lived with another rabbit which subsequently died of Myxi. Her first owners took her to the vet because they wanted the vet to make her stop being vicious. The owners children were mishandling her and when the vet explained this was the cause of her biting the owners asked for her put to sleep. The vet rehomed Mia (then called Hoppy) to a local rabbit owner but she fought with the owners rabbits and was returned to the vet. Luckily for Mia C.A.R.R.O.T took her in and set about finding the right owner who would understand Mia's needs.
Shantel, a rabbit lover with 9 bunnies already, heard about Mia on the Tufty Fund Forum and offered her a home. The only trouble was Shantel lives in Exeter (South England) and Mia was in Arbroath (Scotland). The 650 miles was no match for the forum members however, and soon a marathon relay was organised to transport Mia to her new home.
Friday 4th June Starting from Arbroath (1) to Nether Barr (2) - 187 Miles
Pictured right is Mia enjoying a last run around the garden at C.A.R.R.O.T before her journey began the following day. Mia set out bright and early with CARROT volunteers Susan and Martin Cleghorn (who very kindly took a day of work to help - thank you). They took Mia from Arbroath to Nether Barr (just outside Newton Stewart) a five hour trip, not including their journey home!
Saturday 5th June Starting from Netherbar (2) to Corley Service Station (3) - 294 Miles
In Nether Barr Mia met Tunja & Colin, parents of Tamsin (owner of Rabbit Rehome), who were holidaying in Scotland at just the right time to help. After spending the night in a holiday cottage Mia set out again the next morning.
The longest leg of the journey took Mia from Nether Barr down the M6 to Corley Motorway Services to meet up with Adele and David from Rabbit Guardian Angel's.Pictured Right - Mia leaving Netherbar.
Starting from Corley Servive Station (3) to Worcester (4) - 45 Miles
From Corley Motorway Services Mia travelled to Worcester to spent the night in comfort.
"After a rendezvous with Tamsins parents in Corley Services (pictured right), we spent several minutes checking that Bonnie was well and it was very evident that she was bearing up well to the long journey, no doubt as a result of all the rabbit relay teams careful handling of her, so to avoid stress to her as much as possible.
We brought Bonnie to our Rabbit Sanctuary in Worcestershire for an overnight stop in our rabbit Hotel facilities. We let Bonnie have a good hop about our kitchen and through into the lounge so she could stretch her legs. We delighted in watching her antics for a few hours, and then popped her back into her cage for a snooze. Bonnie was allowed out again the next day and we cherished our time with such a beautiful and inquisitive bunny. Bonnie was scared to be picked up, but once placed firmly on a lap and cradled securely, she adored a stroke and settled down and had a rabbit nap!.
We reluctantly handed Bonnie over to Lizzie on Sunday afternoon, but we have some lovely memories of our time with Bonnie and it was a pleasure to help, albeit in a small capacity with this remarkable rabbit relay." - Adele
Sunday 6th June Starting from Worcester (4) to Evesham and on to Gloucester (5) - 50 Miles
The next hand over of the relay was just outside Eversham and Mia was passed from Adele to
Lizzie, another forum member.
"I took her back to Rous Lench, my friend's house, just outside Evesham where she spent the evening and then brought her the 30 or so miles back to my house in Gloucester. Shantel is coming up to Gloucester with Tania tomorrow to collect the lovely girl if I haven't secreted her away somewhere meanwhile!
She really is very relaxed I'm pleased to say. Not bothered by the dogs barking thank goodness, not that they bark all the time. She is eating well too, loved the hay that I gave her, ate every scrap and I left this morning with her tucking into celery, apple and organic carrot!" - Lizzie
Tuesday 8th June Starting from Gloucester to Exeter (6) - 110 Miles
After being filmed by an ITV News crew Mia was ready for the final stage of the journey. Shantel and her friend Tania had travelled up to Gloucester to collect her.
Wow! What a journey it's been eh? But SO worth it. Bonnie is.... just the bonniest! She is lovely, a real beauty THANK YOU SO MUCH for everybody that hepled bring Bonnie down, it really was a marathon bunny run, but looking out of the window today... she looks at home already, and I love her to bits! - Shantel
Pictured right: Mia in her new home meeting just a couple of her new friends
Total Journey - 686 Miles over 5 days
Note: A journey of this nature is not suitable for all rabbits, some travel better than others. Throughout Mia's journey she was relayed by experienced rabbit owners and precautions were taken to ensure she was as comfortable as possible. This included things like breaks from travelling, a supply of food so her diet remaining consistent, detailed instructions on her routine, making sure she didn't become over heated and using Bach Rescue Remedy to help her relax.
For more information on travelling see: Travelling With Rabbits by Lizzie Smith
Above map is Reproduced from Ordnance Survey map data by permission of the Ordnance Survey © Crown copyright 2001.