HALIFAX -- Halifax Central Library staff found themselves babysitting a bunny Wednesday after a visitor found a rabbit hopping around in their washroom.
A video posted to Reddit captured library staff picking up the rabbit and putting him in a basket.
Library staff have jokingly named the rabbit "Flushy," and say he’s doing great now.
Sheena Jamieson, Halifax Central Library's community navigator, is one of the people in the video. Coincidentally, she has owned rabbits before and knew how to care for the animal.
Just before the library was closing for the day Wednesday, Jamieson says she was in her office chatting with a security guard.
She then overheard him take a call.
"He answered, and I could hear a staff person saying 'you need to get down to the third floor washroom, there’s a real life bunny – an actual rabbit – and I’m not kidding,'" she recalled with a laugh.
From there, Jamieson says they were both baffled and went to check it out.
When they arrived in the washroom, there was indeed a rabbit hopping around.
'NOW WHAT?'
Jamieson says at first, she thought the situation was cute and funny – but then she remembered how difficult rabbits are to care for, and knew she needed to do something.
"So, I put him into a basket," she said. "Then took him up to my office to get him a better basket with some coverage, because bunnies like that."
Jamieson says she then fed him some spinach, and called an emergency veterinarian for advice, as it was after hours.
With guidance from a veterinarian, Jamieson and her team called Halifax Animal Services, who came and picked up the rabbit.
Sheena Jamieson says luckily, she had owned rabbits before so knew how to care for them. This photo was taken in her office. (Photo: Halifax Public Libraries)
Jameson says she got an update from the department today, and the rabbit is doing great.
"He's hanging out with the other bunnies," she says. "They named him Orville, which is a step up from Flushy."
As for how the rabbit ended up in a library washroom, Jamieson says she doesn’t want to speculate, but says it’s possible he was abandoned.
"If this is someone’s circumstance, please reach out to us for help," she says. "There are a lot of resources we can connect you with – that’s the strength of the library – and we’re happy to help people navigate them."
Jamieson, tongue-in-cheek, added a simple request:
"Please do not put bunnies in our washroom."
NO LAUGHING MATTER: RESCUE CENTRE
Denise Halliday wasn’t laughing when she heard about the library bunny.
She's a member of 10,000 Carrots, a non-profit that rescues and rehabilitates abandoned rabbits. Halliday says it’s likely the bunny found in the library was somebody’s abandoned pet.
"When I read the story, my first reaction was disappointment, and then anger," said Halliday. "First, at the people who dumped their rabbit in the library, and secondly, at the media for the way this very serious situation was discussed as a 'cute, funny bunny story.'"
She says while it's common for rabbits to be abandoned all over the province, it’s especially prominent in HRM.
"We have taken in two rabbits from a box that was left outside the IWK hospital on a hot day with no water, one from the underground parking lot of Halifax Shopping Centre, a few that were running around in the south end," said Halliday.
She says she’s also seen rabbits "dumped" in the Public Gardens, and all over the province.
"No place is immune to the issue," added Halliday.
Halliday says her organization has been working hard to not only save rabbits, but get the provincial government to understand how serious the problem is, to little avail.
"While we have had a couple of meetings with different politicians, there has been no change to the plight of these innocent, sentient beings," she said.
One of the issues she highlights: they’re in a legal "grey area."
"In Nova Scotia, rabbits are farmed for their meat and fur, as well as being kept as pets," she said. "The Department of Agriculture says that rabbits fall under the responsibility of Animal Control, however, when you call animal control about rabbits running at large, they refer you to the Department of Lands and Forests, who refers you back to 311 to call Animal Control."
Halliday said as it stands now, mink have more protection than rabbits under provincial law.
"Rabbits need and deserve someone to step up and make better laws to protect them," said Halliday.
Backstory:
CTV News was contacted by 10,000 Carrots after this story was originally published. Their perspective was added at a later date.
