Dusty was our shelter bunny. He and his girlfriend, Alice, lived at the Shelter. Dusty had a big impact on the staff and volunteers – truly teaching everyone about the joy of bunny love. He changed many, many people’s views about rabbits – helping them to understand that they are emotional, personable creatures who should be cared for and adopted just like the dogs and cats at the shelter. He made sure no one ever forgot that fact – hopping up to greet every staff member as they arrived to work and sniff inspecting new volunteers. Dusty made the shelter’s courtyard his – even jumping up on our picnic table while the staff ate lunch! Dusty led the way for us to turn our courtyard into a playground for all of the shelter rabbits and he brought us into a new era at the Shelter where rabbits were no longer euthanized for space. It is truly amazing how one bunny could have such an impact on so much and so many.
Very sadly, Dusty recently broke his back, hind leg. We don’t know how but it appears now that Dusty probably had bone cancer…we won’t know for a week or more. We found an orthopedic specialist who was willing to try to fix Dusty’s leg. However, when he went in, he found that the break was worse than anticipated and there was “suspicious” tissue. The leg could not be saved. He began to perform the amputation of the leg when Dusty’s heart stopped. The surgical team was able to peform CPR and bring him back but his prognosis was not good. Dusty returned to OAS and Animal Control Officer Liang took Dusty home to monitor him. Dusty passed away in the middle of the night. We buried Dusty in the courtyard on Wednesday. We will all miss him terribly. 
