Rabbits rescued from Toms River home get ready for new lives

PLUMSTED — Jody Caizza took turns cradling two male rabbits who, before coming to her Cream Ridge neighborhood rabbit rescue, had hard lives fighting in crowded and dirty conditions.

Agusta, a gray and white male rabbit named because his ears resemble the blades of an Agusta brand helicopter, still shows evidence of his ordeal days. The rabbit was seized on Jan. 29, along with 21 others, from a Harrison Road home near Cattus Island County Park in Toms River, according to local law enforcement. A healing wound on his side and stained fur on his feet and legs are evidence of his prior living conditions.

His shed mate Grumman, an all-black male bunny, also has wounds: puncture holes in an ear from bites that are slowly healing.

Despite their gentle appearances, intact male rabbits, or those who have not been neutered, will scrap violently over females, said 68-year-old Caizza, who has cared for the rabbits since their seizure. Her Kind Heart Rescue has funded their care and medical bills in the days since they were removed from their prior home.

"You can't usually hold a rabbit like this," she said. "They don't like being picked up. It's against their very DNA to be off the ground."

On Wednesday, she prepared to pick up another three rabbits, all females, that were seized from the Harrison Road home and were waiting at the Toms River Animal Shelter.

Already, Caizza's home is filed with rescued rabbits. Three cages line her kitchen and three more are kept out of eyesight of one another in her living room. Each contained a rabbit that was waiting for a spay and neuter visit with a veterinarian.

Without spaying and neutering, a pair of bunnies can have a litter within a month's time, according to the House Rabbit Society, the nation's largest rabbit welfare organization. Because rabbits reach sexual maturity by about 3 months old, one breeding pair and their offspring can create about 4 million rabbits within four years, according to the organization.

Rabbits make wonderful pets, but they require routine veterinary care and typically have more expensive medical bills than dogs or cats, Caizza said. With the proper training and home bunny-proofing, rabbits can be free roaming, she said.

Once Agusta and Grumman are fully recovered, vaccinated and neutered, they will be ready for permanent homes, Caizza said.

"Somebody will be lucky to adopt him, because he's so sweet," she said as she held Agusta.

Grumman, too, is a sweet rabbit, she said.

"He (Grumman) is going to make a wonderful companion for somebody, because he's very friendly and outgoing, in spite of everything they've been through," Caizza said. "He's still a sweet boy."

Caizza and her brother David Couse spend much of their days caring for the rabbits of Kind Heart Rescue, fundraising for their care and screening potential adopters. It's a job Caizza said is round-the-clock work.

Despite the hours and cost, she said it's well worth the effort.

"The reward is when somebody adopts them," said Caizza. "They send me pictures on Facebook, or they're laying on somebody's couch… That's the reward."

Toms River Police did not identify the Harrison Road homeowners or say if they faced any charges in regards to the rabbits' care and conditions.

Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers Brick, Barnegat and Lacey townships as well as the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than a decade. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Toms River rabbits heal from trauma at Cream Ridge rescue