We had the good fortune of connecting with Vicki Anderholt and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Vicki, what are you inspired by?
Ever since I started rescuing rabbits I have become more and more inspired to help these sweet voiceless animals. They are so innocent and so sweet and they can not tell us anything at all. Dogs bark, and cats meow. Children cry and people talk.

But rabbits have none of those capabilities. And on top of that, they are so stoic and will not show their pain, because if they do, they become more vulnerable to the predator!

They really need humans to take care of them, but humans have not been kind to rabbits. People breed them with hardly any decent knowledge of how to breed them for health and temperament, and instead breed for so many wrong reasons, and we allow it……there are no licenses needed, no fines, nothing. And then every year we euthanize 3 million rabbits in our shelter system. How is it that Americans can allow this? I’ll never understand! If I was young, I would become a politician just so I could somehow make an impact on the lives of rabbits.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I was a mom and my kids were starting to leave home to go away for college back in 2005. (The story of our beginnings is told on my site at (www.bunnygroomer.com/My Story)
I was given a rabbit by someone who couldn’t keep it, and I didn’t know what to do with it. I knew nothing about them. But my heart just opened so wide to this tiny little BIG personality that loved me… and my heart melted. It took a long time to figure out everything I know today about rabbits…I just couldn’t find a lot of good information out there. I studied the internet, and read…. and collected more bunnies whenever people were giving them up in the penny saver, in local papers and at the shelter. Soon I had 10. I kept studying to learn more about them, I read up on nutrition, bought veterinarian medical books and talked to vets, and anyone else I could find that knew anything about rabbits. Then I discovered the House Rabbit Society (www.rabbit.org). They made me the best rescuer I could be with all their amazing information! We were able to keep taking in more rabbits. I have worked for 16 years building the best rabbit rescue I possibly could. There were so many challenges, including being evacuated for two LA fires (we had forty rabbits at the time)! I could write a book just about the evacuations!

I’ve learned more from rescuing than anything else in life except motherhood.
A huge take-away for me was how I had to learn to run a small “company”…..how to have “employees”(volunteers) and how to take care of them…..and how to run something financial! Finance is not my strong point! (We became a non profit in 2013) I learned how hard “Working” really is and that our men and women who work jobs every day of their lives have SO many things to contend with at work on a daily basis. Work is stressful and not easy in this day and age. But it CAN be very rewarding.

I just wish I could help rabbits more by getting the true information about them out there….! How fragile they are…how careful you must be in your feeding them correctly, how to know when they are sick because they don’t show it…..how we must protect them from household dangers and especially how they MUST become indoor pets because of the incredibly difficult dangers in the outdoors for bunnies nowadays….especially Rabbit Hemmoraghic disease (RHVD)!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My favorite spots in LA are the zoo and the beach. I also love the two Getty Museums! They are amazing. The sushi in LA is pretty darn good, but the best is Shibuya in Calabasas…not a fancy place but what amazing fish. But I love just adventuring anywhere in LA….there is so much here to explore and discover.
And I LOVE taking a bunny for a visit to the ocean. They revel in the fresh air and the adventure of a little outing. 🙂

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
All my amazing volunteers. I have the best. They are here each day to help and support me and to care for and love all our little buns! I love them all very much!

Website: http://www.adoptabunnyrabbit.org

Facebook: Adopt A Bunny Rabbit

Other: www.bunnygroomer.com

Image Credits
vicki anderholt

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