House Rabbit Society of Missouri

We are a 100% volunteer organization that has been in St. Louis for 25 years. We have over 50 different animal shelters and organizations calling us for help regarding domestic rabbits. Our rabbits are spayed/neutered, health checked by a veterinarian highly skilled in rabbit health care, medically treated as needed, socialized, and litter box trained. Adopters attend an orientation class on rabbit care & behavior plus we provide a variety of on-going support. We have volunteers who go out to catch unfortunate rabbits which have been abandoned outdoors. Last year we caught 63 abandoned rabbits and took in over 50 others caught by other people. We also did over 130 community or in-shelter activities and events. Rabbits are not what most people believe so education about them is extremely important. They are not low cost, nor low maintenance, nor good starter pets for children "to learn responsibility." Rabbits are very smart and very complex creatures that can live 10 years or longer and many of the items sold for them can cause a great deal of harm. Rabbits are happiest and healthiest when living indoors with their people. Our educational efforts span from pre-school to accredited continuing education events for veterinarians and vet techs. Although primarily active in the St. Louis metro region, our rescues have come from all over Missouri and Illinois plus all of the other surrounding states to Missouri and we have traveled to other rabbit rescues to help with education. In 2013 we were able to open the first all rabbit shelter in Missouri located in southwest St. Louis County. It is the only free standing rabbit shelter in Missouri and one of only a handful in the United States or the world. We still have many foster homes, but most of them now care for our sanctuary rabbits (those unlikely to get adopted due to age, health, or temperament,) so that they can live a happy life in a home and so that the majority of our adoptable bunnies are available to be seen by adopters at our shelter/adoption center after setting up an appointment to visit. .