Making the Commitment

A few posts ago, I wrote about the return of Noddy & Jughead, only five months after they'd been adopted (well, five months for Jughead, only 3 months for Noddy). In real life, I ranted to my friends about the lack of commitment in people, how no one seems to think what they'll be doing in six months from now.
Then, in beautiful contrast to that situation, I got this email out of the blue:

Hi Laura, 
We were at the downtown shelter yesterday and saw that you had a blog for the small animals! We read some updates on adopted animals and decided to look for our Sharpie - and there he was in two posts from November 2009 (back then he was Shrek). (Note - you can read Shrek's original posts here and here)

Just wanted to share an update and some videos of him.
We picked him up in December 2009 after he was neutered. He was the sweetest bunny! He settled in very quickly and ran circles around my boyfriend everytime he stepped into the room. We renamed him Sharpie (due to his colour, his extreme intelligence, and we wanted to keep it in the 's' family). He is the best at solving problems and sometimes I think he can read my mind! 

After a few months, we tried bonding him with my bunny Sabrina. She hated other rabbits and we were warned by her shelter that she had to be the only rabbit in the house. Sharpie humped her a lot in the beginning but after his hormones finally settled down - look what happened! (Video of the bonding here)

They are now totally in love. Sabrina cannot leave Sharpie's side and follows him everywhere. And whenever Sharpie is scared, he goes to Sabrina for comfort :) They spend the day eating, snuggling and exchanging kisses. 

Keep up the great work at the shelter! I drop by everytime I go to the CNE grounds and am always impressed with the wonderfully kept small animal room.  

That. Is. Awesome!

I love all updates (obviously) but getting an update a whole year after adoption is just wonderful!

I get updates because for each small animal that comes into the Room, I write a short biography for them and put it up on their cage. The bio asks for them to send an update and lists the blog's address and email. I only started doing that in 2010 though, so I never expected to get an update from a 2009 bunny! That's amazing! Huge, HUGE thanks to Shrek's new family! 

I also received this recently:

Chloe was adopted on January 10 of last year. She was one of my favourite rabbits ever, and her new family have sent us regular updates (here and here). To celebrate their one-year anniversary, they made this beautiful video of her journey home (including the photos I took when she was at the shelter), and sent me this email with photos:

Hi Laura, 

We're sending you this update celebrating 1 year with Chloe. From the first day we got her, she has brought so much more happiness into our lives. Chloe is a very happy, playful bun, loves to hop around and cuddle. We don't know what we would do without her. 

 

And finally, I got an email from Summer the canary's new owner (the one who saw him on Craigslist!):

Hi Laura, He's doing fine! He had a cold, so he spent a few days in a small cage under a heat lamp, drinking echinacea/goldenseal tincture in his water, and now he's fine again. He loves greens and apple. He flew around a bit yesterday for the first time. His wings aren't very strong yet, but they will get there. And he looked pretty happy jumping around the bejaminas! He's getting along with all the other birds and settling in nicely. He's a nice little guy. I'm so glad you posted him or I never would have known about him. 

Summer shares his new family with three other canaries, some budgies and society finches. He is getting a wonderful diet and she hopes to reverse his splayed leg with nutrition and exercise, if possible.

These adopters made the commitment. Shrek/Sharpie's family and Chloe's family have cared for and loved their adopted bunnies for over a year now. Summer's family made the commitment to care for a special needs bird who might have had a hard time otherwise. This is what we aim for.
This is why I love rescue!