As we’ve entered December and the holiday season, I want to share a lovely story of compassion, generosity, dedication and collective action. The story starts with Toronto Animal Services (TAS). The shelter that housed many beautiful little bunnies was having a difficult time finding them homes. Shelters across the country face similar problems.
Ashley to the rescue!
Luckily, Ashley of Ashley’s Little Rabbit Rescue contacted us to say she could take more bunnies if we could get them to Thunder Bay. We worked with Ashley earlier in the year to rehome six rabbits. Now all we had to do was figure out how to get the bunnies there.
The job of making this all happen fell to Lia Laskaris, who manages our operations. She had to coordinate between TAS, Ashley’s Little Rabbit Rescue, and Pilots 4 Paws – an organization that agreed to fly them to their new home. Lia reached out to Dr. Esther Attard, Chief Veterinarian and Director of Toronto Animal Services to see if this was all possible and Esther enthusiastically said yes!
Despite being on vacation, David, the volunteer pilot who would fly the bunnies north, reached out to everyone to get a suitable date. Finally, November 23rd would be the day and David would meet Jennifer from TAS at Billy Bishop Airport in Toronto. Pilots 4 Paws flies rescued animals for free, relying entirely on donations to cover the cost of fuel (all of their pilots donate their time!).
On Thursday morning, November 23rd, Jennifer prepared the bunnies for their long trip and met David at the airport. As you can see, the plane was “full of bunnies”. Thanks to David the bunnies arrived safely!
Ashley’s Post on Facebook on November 23, 2023
“The bunnies are on their way!!!! AHHH I’m so excited for them and THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH Pilots4Paws for flying them to Thunder Bay from Toronto, special thanks to Dave for being so amazing and flying them down for us, thank you so much Lia and Esther from Toronto Animal Services for covering the flight and reaching out to us and working with us to get these bunnies to their new lives. It couldn’t be done without all of you. Welcome sweet bunnies in a few short hours you will be here! I’ll post photos when they arrive!” At 5:46pm, Ashley said the rabbits were all well after their long trip and sent pictures of the bunnies settling in for the night.
Working Together Saves Lives
We could not have made it happen without the cooperation, dedication and hard work of Dr. Attard, Jennifer and other Toronto Animal Services staff.
We could not have flown them to Thunder Bay without the generosity of David and Pilots 4 Paws.
We could not have given them a new chance at life without a commitment from Ashley’s Little Rabbit Rescue.
We could not have made it all happen without Lia at Animal Alliance coordinating everything.
And, perhaps most importantly, rescue stories like this could not be possible without the generous financial support from donors like you. You have our deepest gratitude for funding our work for the animals.
Thanks to everyone who made this possible. Millie, Chelsea Bun, Augie, Betula, Bingo and Lily are all safe and sound and ready to start a new life!
