2025 impact report
Your support of House Rabbit Society makes a real difference in the lives of so many rabbits and the people who love them. Thanks to your generosity, we accomplished so much in 2025. Every success you’ll read about here was made possible by donors, volunteers, adopters, and people like you.
While much of our lifesaving work happens at our facility in Richmond, California, our impact reaches far beyond the Bay Area. We’re working every day to create a safer, more compassionate world for rabbits. As we look back on the impact you helped us achieve this year, we’re deeply grateful. With your support, we can do even more for rabbits in 2026!
Photo caption: Provolone was transferred to HRS at the end of this year from a local shelter.
Our Educational Programs
Since HRS’ founding in 1988, education has always been a cornerstone of our mission, and this year, we reached more people than ever before. In 2025, we hosted 234 classes, both on Zoom and in person at our facility, with 885 participants, welcoming rabbit caregivers from both our local community and around the world.
We continued to offer regular sessions for Rabbit Care 101, Introducing Rabbits, and Rabbit Behavior, alongside one-on-one bonding support sessions and our monthly pet loss support group.
We also introduced several new offerings, including a Senior Rabbit Care Zoom class to help guardians navigate the changing needs of aging rabbits; an Introduction to Rabbit Grooming workshop that gives participants hands-on confidence with essential care; and Cats & Rabbits: A CoHOPitation, a popular new Zoom class designed to help multispecies households thrive. Each class combines expert guidance with practical tools and opportunities for questions. We’re committed to making learning about rabbit care accessible.
Be on the lookout for announcements throughout 2026 for new sessions of all of these classes, along with brand new offerings on bunny-proofing, making homemade enrichment toys, and rabbit health.
In 2025, we dramatically expanded our shelter assistance program, helping animal shelters better support the rabbits in their care and the people who adopt them. This year alone, we provided educational materials to 101 shelters across all 50 states. These materials equip shelters with practical, reliable information on a wide variety of rabbit-related topics, including diet, health, housing, litter box training, RHDV2, introductions, emergency preparedness, and more, along with a comprehensive 36-page guidebook that walks adopters through life with a house rabbit. To ensure accessibility, resources are available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and Mandarin to assist shelters in serving diverse communities and supporting successful, lasting adoptions.
As one Bay Area shelter partner shared: “Having HRS resources and flyers available to our adopters has been a game changer for our program! As a municipal shelter, many of our adopters are low-income or new to the rabbit world, so having free educational resources available to them in multiple languages allows them to continue to educate themselves on rabbit care. Once they adopt a rabbit, we know they have great options from a trusted source to answer their questions and help them become confident rabbit owners.”
Photo caption: Kari Hall is an HRS rabbit who has needed medical care during her time with us.
Our Medical Programs
Access to knowledgeable, affordable medical care is one of the greatest challenges facing rabbit guardians, and a critical service HRS provides.
In 2025, our dedicated medical team performed 333 surgeries at our in-house surgery suite, including 284 spays and neuters (137 neuters and 147 spays), preventing future litters and reducing the number of rabbits entering already overcrowded shelters. The remaining procedures included complex and lifesaving surgeries such as enucleations, limb removals, and dental work.
These services don’t just support HRS rabbits; they serve the broader rabbit community. Of all surgeries performed in 2025, 63% were rabbits owned by the public through our low-cost spay/neuter clinic, 21% were rabbits from other rescues or shelters, and 16% were HRS rabbits. This important work makes HRS a vital medical resource in the Bay Area, filling a critical gap for rabbit guardians and rescue organizations alike.
In addition to surgical care, our medical team administered 1,085 RHDV2 vaccines in 2025 through our low-cost vaccination clinics. Of those, 71% were rabbits owned by the public, 16% were HRS rabbits, and 13% were rabbits from other rescues or shelters. By making the RHDV2 vaccine accessible, we’re safeguarding rabbits against this deadly virus, preventing unnecessary illness and loss while strengthening community-wide protection.
As every rabbit guardian knows, rabbits face significant barriers to quality medical care, in large part due to the shortage of veterinarians trained to treat them. In 2023, we launched our veterinary training initiative to help address this gap by training the next generation of veterinary professionals in rabbit-specific medical care, expanding rabbit expertise far beyond our Bay Area facility.
Photo caption: Two HRS medical volunteers check in a public rabbit for our low-cost spay/neuter clinic.
In 2025, we hosted 77 participants in our veterinary training program, including nine practicing veterinarians, 15 registered veterinary technicians (RVTs), eight veterinary assistants, 35 RVTs in training, and 10 veterinary and pre-veterinary students.
Participants came from across the U.S. and beyond, including Texas, Washington State, Georgia, and as far away as the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Locally, we welcomed professionals from Bay Area clinics, including those already seeing rabbits as well as those hoping to begin offering rabbit care, along with students from UC Berkeley, UC Davis, and Carrington College.
As the only rabbit rescue in the country with a staff veterinarian and on-site surgery suite, HRS is uniquely positioned to provide hands-on, rabbit-specific training. Each week, our facility is filled with professionals and students eager to learn, whether it’s mastering safe handling techniques, understanding rabbit-specific anesthesia protocols, or gaining confidence in performing spay and neuter surgeries; skills many have little opportunity to practice elsewhere. By investing in education at every level, we’re helping build a future where rabbits are no longer overlooked in veterinary medicine and where more communities have access to quality rabbit medical care.
The impact of this program is felt by both students and educators alike. One veterinary student shared: “The HRS veterinary training initiative is a great way to familiarize yourself with both rabbit care and surgery. Dr. Austin and her team are patient, enthusiastic teachers, and their passion for rabbits is clear. Thanks to their on-site training, I now have hands-on experience and a much stronger understanding of rabbit-specific care.”
An instructor from Carrington College echoed that sentiment: “Partnering with House Rabbit Society allows our students to gain experience with animals we couldn’t otherwise provide. Rabbits are unique, and many students have never worked with them before. Spending a day learning alongside rabbit experts, observing procedures, and receiving hands-on guidance is incredibly valuable. This partnership truly enhances the experience we can offer our students.”
Photo caption: Relay was adopted from HRS earlier this year and is thriving in a loving home.
Our Bay Area Programs
Our monthly rabbit essentials pantry continues to be a vital resource for the Bay Area rabbit community, especially during these difficult economic times. For many rabbit guardians, access to basic necessities can make the difference between keeping their beloved rabbit or facing rehoming them.
In 2025, the pantry supported 218 households, helping keep 736 rabbits in loving homes; a significant increase compared to the previous year, when 137 households and 572 rabbits benefited.
This resource is more critical than ever, allowing families facing hardship to continue to care for the rabbits they love and prevent these rabbits from the threat of rehoming, abandonment, or ending up at overcrowded shelters.
One pantry recipient shared their experience: “We are incredibly grateful for the support we receive from the HRS pantry each month. After recently becoming disabled and losing my job, our finances have been tight. Without the help of HRS, it would be incredibly difficult to care for our bunny. Fortunately, he doesn't eat too much, so we're able to use the pantry for only the essentials we run out of each month. Thank you to HRS and their generous donors for making it possible for us to keep our bunny. Caring for him has been a truly rewarding experience. Not only have we been able to provide a loving home for a rabbit in need (foster fail), having him has brought us so much joy and fulfillment. He has been a source of comfort and companionship during a challenging time. HRS's no-pressure, judgement free, encouraging approach has been invaluable in this journey. I always highly recommend HRS to anyone interested in helping rabbits. Their support makes it possible for owners and rabbits to stay together through the difficult times. HRS has been providing an essential community service in Richmond that needs more recognition and support.”
Photo caption: Caramelito is one of the rabbits transferred to HRS from a local shelter this year.
Rescue and adoption have been at the heart of our work in the Bay Area since 1988.
In 2025, we transferred 101 rabbits from 13 local shelters and provided care for a total of 204 rabbits at our Richmond facility. Every rabbit received any necessary medical care, time to heal, and a safe space to wait for a loving home, with 116 rabbits adopted this year.
This work is powered by community: 309 individuals and families opened their homes this year to an HRS foster rabbit, helping each one gain confidence and blossom into the house rabbit they were always meant to be; and more than 100 dedicated volunteers contributed over 2,800 volunteer hours, supporting daily operations at our shelter, from daily care and laundry to grooming and socializing. With the help of our volunteers and fosters, it makes it possible for HRS to continue to help make a difference for rabbits in the Bay Area.
Whether you’ve volunteered, fostered, donated, or simply shared our mission, you’ve given countless rabbits a second chance at a happy life. Your generosity strengthens a network of education and care that reaches rabbit guardians, shelters and rescues, veterinary professionals, and rabbit advocates worldwide. Together, we can continue rescuing, educating, and advocating for these wonderful animals and create a brighter future for them. We look forward to partnering with you in the year ahead!
