[Published in the newsletter of Rabbit Advocates (adoptarabbit.org)]

Lorraine Bushek, Rabbit Advocate

In chatting with Lorraine Bushek at her kitchen table on the day after Thanksgiving, I found not only another lifelong animal lover (or rather, devotee), and another one who stumbled on the wonders of rabbit companionship almost by accident, but also a woman who has given much of her time and energy over the last seven or eight years to the operations Rabbit Advocates and to the welfare of many a rabbit.

Lorraine, who will be finishing a term on the RA board at the end of 2004, originally found out about the group by way of a vet tech in Beaverton who was one of the original RA members. Lorraine had brought her rabbit Mona in for a check up after a raccoon got into Mona's outdoor pen; the vet tech, Kimberley, asked if Lorraine might be interested in joining the group. At that time, Oregon Humane Society was still in its old, 1930s building, and the "rabbit room" was an old janitorial closet which still shared space with janitorial supplies. When the first Rabbit Awareness Day happened, in that old OHS building, Lorraine had already decided to volunteer at OHS, but RAD helped her focus her efforts.

In fact, Lorraine was working for PG&E at the time, and though the company offered incentives for employees to volunteer at various organizations, OHS was not on their list of suitable organizations. Lorraine saw to it that OHS was added in due time. In the years since, she has helped RA with a wide variety of endeavors, including the Beaverton Rabbit Roundup Project which took place in the winter of '98-'99, helping Mary Huey fielding phone calls from interested rabbit care givers, and spearheading PR for RA, along with Erika Robinson and Dezi Gowdy. Lorraine is a trained OHS volunteer and now trained to do health evaluations on rabbits incoming to OHS.

During her time with RA, Lorraine has gotten the reputation for being "the one" to take care of aggressive rabbits. Her technique? She lets the rabbit in question live in one of the cupboards in the kitchen so it has no choice but to get used to people and commotion. Asked what has given her the greatest rewards in her work with RA, Lorraine was quick to respond that it is giving so many abandoned rabbits, with so much to give, a second chance, allowing them to "prosper and bloom." She went on to say that, while some folks don't know exactly why they've been put on this planet, she knows for sure: she's an "animal slave." With great friends like Lorraine, Rabbit Advocates is sure to live long and heartily!