How it started.............
Seventeen years ago, whilst organising a short break away from home, I realized how difficult it was to find someone responsible to look after the family’s pet rabbit.
It was then I decided that I would enjoy looking after other people’s animals.
Very soon my friends and neighbours were calling me to look after their animals while they were on holiday.
At this stage I realized that very little was known about rabbits, particularly in the veterinary field. My vet invited me to The Royal Veterinary College on an in-depth animal course dealing with small animals including rabbits. That started my thirst for knowledge and I well and truly ‘caught the bug’. I studied rabbits at every available moment and built up quite an understanding of these creatures, and I am often contacted by vets to give information and advice. I became involved with the Medivet Group of veterinary surgeries and twice a week would work alongside the vets dealing with small animal ailments and surgery.
During that time the RSPCA became aware of my involvement with rabbits and asked me to foster abandoned, neglected or abused animals and I had as many as 200 rabbits at any one time. I found it enormously rewarding to nurse these poor helpless animals and then see them settled into good homes.
I decided to organize veterinary conferences dealing specifically with rabbits, as there seemed so little knowledge in the veterinary world. ‘The First Of Its Kind’ veterinary conference in Watford was a huge success with 200 veterinary surgeons attending. I went on to organize further conferences throughout England and Scotland.
Around that time The Evening Standard contacted me with regard to my house rabbits. The full page spread on my work with rabbits caused media interest and I was interviewed for the evening TV news and since then have appeared on ‘This Morning’, Blue Peter, The Big Breakfast, ‘Capital Woman’, Animal Hospital, plus other TV and radio programmes here and in Australia and New Zealand. I have also appeared in articles in The Sunday Times, The Daily Mail, Woman’s Own and other journals and newspapers. I was also invited on a panel of speakers on Radio 5 Live, which was very interesting and exciting.
The media hype naturally died down and I concentrated once more on my study of rabbits. I set up an area in which to study domestic rabbits. The domestic rabbits I chose reverted back to their natural habitat of burrowing underground warrens and their behaviour and instincts were both enjoyable and fascinating to watch.
I have reached the stage where I feel this knowledge should be passed on and I am now concentrating on lecturing in schools and colleges dealing specifically with all animal welfare.