If online votes could multiply as quickly as rabbits, the Gainesville Rabbit Rescue would have no problem securing $5,000.
A nonprofit organization, the shelter provides a variety of services such as sterilization and providing foster homes with necessary equipment and supplies.
But these services all come with a price.
While they have donors and grants, the cost of taking care of so many small animals can add up.
Now, it is trying out a new money-making method: an online survey.
The “Nurture Their Nature Animal Rescue Giveback” is a contest held by Oxbow Animal Health, a supplier of food and care products for small exotic animals.
The online competition is open to small-animal organizations not only in Florida, but across the world. The survey asks individuals to nominate their favorite rescue and provide a brief explanation.
Oxbow will be accepting nominations until Aug. 26. It will then move into another round of 10 semifinalists.
The $5,000 prize will be awarded to the rescue with the most votes by Sep. 24.
Executive director Kathy Finelli said the rescue currently relies on the generosity of volunteers and donors to run its services.
“We are 100% publicly funded,” Finelli said. “The help of those who adopt rabbits or just love rabbits is really what sustains us.”
Conary Bullard, a recent political science graduate from the University of Florida and a volunteer at the rescue, said that by winning this money, the shelter will be able to not only take in new rabbits but also provide better care to the rabbits it already has.
The money will also go toward purchasing food and supplies, expanding the shelter’s marketing and foster care expenses.
Bullard said the rescue has anywhere from 30-50 rabbits at any given time, although it currently have 110 rabbits in their care between the shelter and foster homes.
According to Finelli, the rescue accept rabbits from all circumstances, such as owners making impulsive pet purchases or accidentally purchasing two rabbits of the opposite gender.
The rescue will only refuse an animal if it is at capacity, she said.
Aside from completing the survey, Bullard said there are other ways to help out. Basic volunteer applications are available on the rescue’s website and anyone is welcome to come to the barn, whether it’s to feed rabbits or clean kennels.
For being such a small operation, he said it’s a large part of the community.
“I think it’s really a testament to the giving nature of the students in Gainesville,” he said.
Nora O'Neill is a fourth-year journalism and philosophy student and the Enterprise Editor for The Alligator. She previously served as the Avenue Editor and the business and economics beat reporter. In her free time you can find her reading books with no plot and abusing her Chemex.
