BURSTWhat started as Rabbitats Rescue Society taking in one rabbit, turned into an entire fluffle of baby bunnies being given an airlift to the Lower Mainland and rescued from euthanasia.
Six baby bunnies are nestled safely in Surrey, being bottle fed by a seasoned volunteer, alongside six other rabbits following a multi-organizational rescue that involved a veterinary service, volunteers and a sea plane.
On July 15, Rabbitats, a volunteer-run charity that works to safely house unwanted, abandoned and feral domestic rabbits, was contacted by a veterinary clinic in Parksville about taking in a rabbit that ended up in their care, named Oatmeal.
It would take some time for Oatmeal to gain weight and be in a condition to travel, and that gave Rabbitats time to prepare.
Running entirely on donations, grants and fundraising initiatives, Rabbitats requested help on social media to bring Oatmeal to the mainland, and Harbour Air volunteered, free of charge.
On the morning of, however, the veterinary clinic contacted them back with dire news.
“Six three-week-old babies had been dropped off for euthanasia,” Sorelle Saidman, Rabbitats executive director and founder, told the News Bulletin.
“They had somehow ended up in the hands of someone with a drug addiction who could no longer keep them. We still have no idea what happened to their mother.”
The six were still being bottle fed and would be no easy commitment, and if the rescue group left them, they would die.
The clinic gave them a choice: They could take Oatmeal and leave the others, take the others and leave Oatmeal, or take all seven.
“There were other options on the Island for Oatmeal, but six babies still in need of bottle feeding was a big ask for anyone, and we just happened to have a baby-specific foster on the Lower Mainland who could keep them alive and well, so we opted to take the babies,” Saidman said.
Harbour Air was on board, and soon the fluffle arrived in the hands of the foster volunteer, who was already caring for six others.
Saidman said Rabbitats limits its intake because “of a chronic lack of resources and the huge demand given all the rabbits in need,” but cases where the rabbits wouldn’t survive without intervention take priority “and these little guys fit that bill.”
After six baby bunnies were dropped off in Nanaimo, we were honoured to help transport them to the mainland, giving these little ones a second chance and saving them from euthanasia. A huge thank you to everyone who tagged us, reached out, and helped get the word out.
pic.twitter.com/6I7FoJPlQA
— Harbour Air (@HarbourAirLtd) August 27, 2026
In a statement, Harbour Air said it was “proud to have played a role in helping these bunnies access care, and its moments like this that remind us of the strength of community.”
While these bunnies were safe and sound, thanks to Rabbitats volunteers, Harbour Air and the veterinary service stepping up to help those bunnies in need, it was less pride Saidman expressed feeling and more strategizing about what the addition of these new animals means for their already stretched services from vaccinations, to spaying and re-homing.
“Animal welfare have been left in the dust, there is no grant money,” Saidman said.
“It’s a double-edged sword. We can’t turn away rabbits that are for sure not going to survive, but on the other hand we now have six spay and neuter bills, we need funding to basically care for them, because they will unlikely be adopted.”
If people want to show support, she said they can donate to their local rabbit rescue organizations. For Nanaimo, those are Vancouver Island Fluffle and Rabbitats.
If people have barns, sheds or chicken coops they aren’t using, Saidman said they could also help by “adopting a colony” through lending out the space.
A single barn stall could comfortably house a dozen rabbits, she said.
“There are too many to adopt into individual homes, but people with farms can pretty easily put them into chicken coops and different outbuildings that have indoor-outdoor runs. Like I said, barn stalls are perfect.”
Those interested can contact Rabbitats at info@rabbitats.org or VI Fluffle at admin@vifluffle.ca to receive a guide for making safe housing for rabbits.
Veterinarians and veterinary technicians are also appreciated, Saidman said, as Rabbitats relies on volunteer time for vaccinations, with the organization covering the supplies.
“We’d love to arrange those on Vancouver Island.”
As a message to the provincial government, Saidman said she would like to see government financial support for individual on-the-ground rescue organizations, like Rabbitats.
While B.C. does provide ongoing funding to Invasive Species Council of British Columbia, Saidman said the individual rabbit rescue groups don’t see a dime of it, and to address the boom of feral domestic pet rabbits, she advocates that the species have to be specifically focused on through on-the-ground collection, spaying/neutering and re-location to enclosed habitats or ‘micro-sanctuaries.’
“One of the main points that I keep trying to press upon [governments] is that you have to get the first two,” she said.
“Don’t wait until there is 40. If there are new rabbits in the neighbourhood, they haven’t been seen before, this is when animal control in that area needs to react and get these rabbits out of the environment.”
jessica.durling@nanaimobulletin.com