Welcome to Hazel House!
Hazel house is the building dedicated to caring for our small animals such as rabbits and guinea pigs. It was built in the early 2000’s with help from the Jean Sainsbury Animal Welfare Trust, more recently it underwent a refurbishment in 2017.
Throughout the years it has gone through various changes; as animal welfare recommendations improved, so did our level of care and enclosures.
Hazel house has sheltered many small animals throughout its lifetime, giving us the opportunity to help them all find their forever homes with people that are able to care for them properly. In more recent years, we have found ourselves looking after mainly rabbits due to the current influx of rabbits requiring rescue space. Finding the right home for each rabbit or group of rabbits can be difficult; people are often looking to bond their own rabbit with a new friend, meaning that our pairs can often get overlooked and tend to have longer stays.
In the meantime before they find their forever homes, we would love for you to meet some of our current occupants down below!
The Bungalow: Josephine
Mary and Josephine arrived to us on the 23rd of December 2022, after a family saw a box on the side of a quiet road. To their surprise, there were rabbits in it!
While they were in isolation, we were able to take them to the vets and have them vaccinated and spayed; during Josephine’s operation, the vets found a uterine tumour and were able to remove it during the procedure. This does require constant monitoring to make sure it does not return.
Not knowing what to do, they found us and fortunately we were able to take them in and care for them; because we had no information about either of them, we had to care for them in isolation from our other rabbits to prevent risk of illnesses/disease spreading.
Shortly after the pair came to us we noticed that Josephine would make sneezing sounds and coughs during the day; after a vet visit, it was identified as pasteurella symptoms and prescribed daily 20 minute sessions with a nebuliser, to keep her respiratory tact as clear and comfortable as possible..
Over time these girls have settled in to sanctuary life quite well. In recent months especially, they have both gotten much more confident with people thanks to caring volunteers taking time to socialise with everyone in Hazel House and improving the bond they have with humans.
Since beginning her treatment, we have definitely noticed an improvement. They have been keeping her comfortable and we monitor her daily so that if we notice any subtle changes, we can contact our vets for advice.
Mary sadly passed away this summer during the night, and we have been closely monitoring Josephine for any concerns ever since. We all miss her very much and Josephine especially, but she has been continuing on, keeping her run as tidy as can be and has been loving cuddling up with our surrogate teddies for comfort.
Bramble Cottage: Fudge and Caramel
Fudge and Caramel were originally bonded with one of our own rabbits, Toffee, who sadly passed away from suspected pneumonia. The girls have coped with the heartbreaking loss well together and spend a lot of their days glued to the hip.
The three of them lived on site at an Animal Assisted Therapy care home. They didn’t really enjoy being handled there and would often avoid people, preferring to keep to themselves. Due to the organisation having to re-evaluate the size of their operation, they were forced to make the decision to rehome this trio to us.
Over time they all came out of their shell quickly enough, they will often fight with you for the broom when cleaning, and play around you while you try to clean! The second their food gets placed in their run they get so excited and come hopping over to dig in!
We love seeing them curled up together sunbathing in their new outdoor enclosure, taking in their surroundings. They love to explore every nook and cranny of their enclosure and climb on anything and everything!
Both of these bunnies have been relatively healthy, with the occasional dietary change to curb their very healthy eating habits just a little bit!
These girls are looking for a home with a lot of space for them to roam around and make their own, it can be difficult finding homes for pairs, so we’re all hoping their personalities can convince a caring adopter to give them a chance!
Please Sponsor Us
To help us provide the best care that we can for our fluffy occupants.
Giving us more opportunities to give them all as much enrichment to keep their minds as active as possible!
To make it possible for us to continue paying for specialist veterinary treatment and medication for the animals that need it.
And it means we can give our bunnies all the love and attention they deserve!