Date
September 8, 2006
Contact
Kristie Phelps
(757) 423-0093
In Defense of Animals
3010 Kerner Blvd
San Rafael
CA 94901
IDA is an international, California-based animal advocacy organization dedicated to ending the abuse and exploitation of animals by defending their rights, welfare and habitats.
Mill Valley Bunny Rescuer Named IDA’s “Guardian of the Month”
Local Woman Turns Animal Rescue into Life’s Pursuit
San Rafael, Calif.—In Defense of Animals (IDA), an international animal protection organization with more than 85,000 members worldwide, is proud to honor Mill Valley resident Marcy Schaaf as their “Guardian of the Month” for September.
Schaaf is the founder and director of SaveABunny, one of the largest, most active regional groups in the country dedicated to rabbit rescue. This all-volunteer non-profit organization based in Mill Valley, Calif. rescues over 250 rabbits a year from euthanasia and coordinates with many San Francisco Bay Area shelters to find homes for these abandoned animals.
Even when she was a toddler, Marcy had a strong affinity for animals. As a young girl, she spent hours each day with the “stray” cats who had been abandoned by their guardians on the country club golf course. A tiny white kitten she named Kivvy was her first “rescue,” and he remained a close companion throughout Marcy’s teens.
Before founding SaveABunny, Schaaf was a dedicated volunteer with San Francisco Animal Care and Control and the House Rabbit Society (HRS), fostering many homeless rabbits to learn about their care and behavior. She started SaveABunny as a licensed chapter of HRS, and is now taking the organization through the process of becoming a separate 501(c)3 non-profit.
Volunteer-run and funded entirely by donations, SaveABunny assists with community outreach, public education and rabbit rescue efforts all over the Bay Area. Schaaf is particularly proud of the close partnerships she has built with diverse groups and people, including the Girl Scouts and staff at animal shelters. These collaborations raise rabbits' quality of life at shelters and increase their adoptability.
SaveABunny is one of the only resources in the Bay Area for injured and abused companion rabbits needing medical attention -- whether they have broken limbs, misaligned teeth or life-threatening injuries. One of SaveABunny’s most famous rescues is Phoenix, a rabbit who received national news coverage after being tortured with cigarette burns and then soaked in lighter fluid and set on fire by a Bay Area teenager. Phoenix miraculously survived second and third degree burns and is recovering nicely at SaveABunny’s shelter.
“My heart goes out to the underdog, and in the case of companion animals, rabbits are the underdogs,” explains Schaaf. “Most shelters devote the bulk of their resources to cats and dogs and too often aren’t able to provide the special care and attention that rabbits need. Plus, rabbits are the only companion animals in the U.S. that are killed for their meat and fur. These sweet, wonderful and loving creatures deserve so much better than that, and they need all the help they can get.”