Rabbit and Small Animal Rescue

Volunteer!  We've listed some of our volunteer opportunities below.  Fill out our Volunteer Application if you'd like to help or email us at [email protected] if you'd like more information. 

• Foster:  Whether you have room for one mouse or six rabbits (or anything in between!), we're looking for you!  We provide all equipment and necessities.  However, we are an all-volunteer organization, so we don't drop animals off. Our main fosters are located in Westland (Newburgh and Cherry Hill) and Livonia (7 Mile and Middlebelt).  At most, you'll need to drive to either of those locations once a week to pick up animals and supplies.  Most of our fosters handle their own adoptions as well (though this is not necessary), either out of their homes or at the local Petco store.  Some of our fosters have never handled the types of animals they end up fostering until they start working with us, so we've got practice in training volunteers.  We'll teach you everything you need to know about fostering and handling adoptions.  And the whole time you'll have us at your back, in case you ever need help or have questions.

• Socialize and/or Clean:  Some of our main foster homes have a lot of animals, and most need socializing.  Whether you want to stop by every week or every other week or once a month, we're always happy to have help.  Socializing and cleaning cages tend to go hand-in-hand, though if you're not interested in doing the dirty work, we're still happy to have you.  Our animals need all the attention they can get.  Because these opportunities are in private homes, all minors under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.  The foster home must meet the parents of any 16 or 17 year olds.  Schedules vary widely for these opportunities as some fosters are home all day and some work 8-5 jobs.   

• Petco Guardian:  We only have animals in one store--the Westland Petco.  In order to ensure the well being of the animals at Petco, we check on them daily.  This is a big task for one person because it involves both feeding and socializing.  It can take five minutes or an hour, depending on how much time you want to spend playing with the animals.  It's important to maintain their social skills by providing them with daily human contact.  So if you've got time once or twice a week (or more, if you're up for it!), we'd love to have help with this.

• Fundraise:  Interested in working with local businesses?  There are fundraising opportunities all over the place.  Our fosters are usually busy caring for the animals in their homes, so it's difficult to find time to put fundraisers together.  We're open to ideas and opportunities.   

• Grant Writing:  Feeding all of these animals and providing for their vet bills is expensive.  We're looking to put together grant applications that we can turn in as soon as our 501(c)3 status comes through.  This is the one thing we can't train you to do, as we don't know how ourselves.  We're about to learn though, and if you'd like to learn with us, we'd love to hear from you. 

• Update Petfinder:  It takes a lot of time to photograph all of animals, upload them to petfinder, and write out their stories.  When there's cleaning and feeding to be done too, cleaning and feeding always come first.  We have animals in our care for weeks sometimes before they get onto the internet.  This opportunity would be a great way to help out the rescue, interact with the animals, and not even have to clean anything!

We're always short on money.  Vet bills are often unexpected.  While we require donations from people who surrender their animals, we often accept animals from local humane societies and even meat farms, neither of which provides any money towards their care.  Even small amounts help a lot, as we're good at finding good prices. 

We also accept donations of useful items, such as these:

• Glass and plastic aquariums
• Cages of all sizes, shapes, and styles, from mouse cages to rabbit cages
• Water bottles of all sizes
• Water bottle holders of all sizes
• Rodent wheels, all sizes
• Plastic accessories of all sizes (houses, food bowls, hiding spots, etc)  
• Bedding, most types (but not cedar or pine) 
• Aspen
• Shredded newspaper 
• Shelving units (ones that are made of hard-wire squares are especially useful)
• Old (but clean) towels and pillow cases 
• Craft wire
• Tape of all sorts (plastic, masking, duct, etc)
• Zip ties (like the ones they use for handcuffs in the movies)

Email us at [email protected] if you'd like to donate any of these items! 

To give a monetary donation, please click the button below: