House Rabbit Society Educator Application 2017
Before you fill out this application please determine ....is this is the the right application for you?
NO: IF you volunteer for a rabbit group that is an HRS chapter
YES: IF you do not have an HRS chapter in your area
If you volunteer for a rabbit group that is an HRS Chapter then you should contact the Chapter Manager to apply to be an educator within that chapter. Volunteers living within the boundaries of an HRS chapter are licensed ONLY through that chapter and are not eligible to be licensed through this application.
Introduction
Thank you for your interest in being a Non-Chapter HRS educator.
If you feel you meet the qualifications below, AND you do NOT volunteer for an HRS Chapter, please fill out the application that follows.
If you are working with, or live within the boundaries of, one of our HRS chapters please email the chapter manager directly about becoming an educator. DO NOT FILL OUT THIS APPLICATION! Each Chapter Manager licenses their own volunteers through there only application process. A complete list of chapters can be found here.
If you live in a region without an HRS chapter, it is up to the national Licensing Committee to review your application to be a Non-Chapter Educator.
If you are going to be a non-chapter educator, we expect that you will be involved in national outreach activities or projects.
Please understand that the Non-Chapter HRS Educator licensing program is not a mentoring program. To be approved as an educator, you must already have a very good and complete knowledge of house rabbit care and behavior coming into the program.
We expect that you have been volunteering on a local level with a humane society or other organization for at least one year before applying to be a licensed educator.
NON-CHAPTER EDUCATOR QUALIFICATIONS
- You must NOT be working with or in the boundaries of a House Rabbit Society Chapter
- You must be in agreement with the House Rabbit Society philosophy and policies. (SeeHRS Philosophy )
- You should have continuous, on-going, hands-on experience with a variety of individual rabbits. This may include fostering in your home, volunteering/working at your local animal shelter, a veterinary clinic, etc.
- It is expected that you will have at least 1 year of volunteer experience before applying to be an educator.
- You should have good rapport with at least one rabbit veterinarian.
- Be a member of the House Rabbit Society (send $20 to House Rabbit Society, 148 Broadway, Richmond, CA 94804, or join online)
- You should have as many back issues to the House Rabbit Journal as are available (you can download them from our website at rabbit.org
- You should have access to the Fourth Edition of the House Rabbit Handbook.
- You should have managerial skills for coordinating activities and volunteers.
- You should be an articulate and tactful self-starter.
- You must (except in the case of medical reasons) not maintain any unneutered or unspayed rabbits.
- You must house your rabbits indoors. If you have a fostering program, you must house your foster rabbits indoors.
EDUCATOR RESPONSIBILITIES
House Rabbit Society educators are responsible for:
- Working with local shelters to help them with their rescue and adoption programs.
- Educating the public through distributing educational handouts, holding educational seminars, and working with shelters and veterinarians.
- Operating a phone help line to help local people with health and behavior questions
- Cultivating a referral list of veterinarians who safely work with rabbits in your area.
- Providing assistance with helping people to find homes for their unwanted rabbits, and with helping others to adopt needy rabbits.
- Spreading the HRS message of spay/neuter, indoor living, and other basic tenets.
- Filling out a year-end report detailing your activities.
- Signing the HRS Educators Code-of-conduct and agree to uphold it for as long as you are an HRS Volunteer. (You can download a copy of the Code to your computer by clicking here)
- Volunteering on projects that help the House Rabbit Society directly (in addition to time spent working on local or regional volunteer activities.)
EDUCATOR BENEFITS
If you are already actively working to educate on rabbit care, workingas a licensed House Rabbit Society educator has many benefits:
- Access to a knowledgeable and welcoming online community. House Rabbit Society maintains several online discussion forums available only to licensed educators. These forums are a wonderful place to share and exchange knowledge with over 100 other licensed educators who all have a shared philosophy and purpose.
- House Rabbit Society’s reputation. As a licensed educator, you are empowered to speak on behalf of our organization. Our name is well known and respected in the animal rescue world and across the Internet.
- Access to our wide variety of education materials.
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS
Please take your time to read and thoroughly answer the questions on the following pages. This application was designed to get to know you and your approaches to rabbit care and public education. Your answers are the primary criteria used for evaluation. Please email your completed application to , and . Thank you!
1. Please provide your contact information.
Name:
Email Address:
Street Address:
City, State and Zip:
Day Telephone:
Evening Telephone:
Birthdate:
Profession:
2. Please describe the other members of your household: (adults, kids [plus their ages]), and other animals. How does each relate to the rabbit(s)?
3. Are you currently working with... (Yes or No answer)
An HRS Chapter:
An HRS Educator:
4. If you are currently working with a local HRS chapter or an educator...
When did you being to volunteer?:
5. Have you read theHouse Rabbit Handbook?
6. If so, which editions?
7. What other books about rabbits have you read?
8. One of the requirements of a nationally licensed HRS educator is to be involved in national outreach activities.
What kinds of projects do you anticipate doing as an HRS educator?:
Do you have experience working with or speaking in front of large groups of people?:
Are you comfortable working with groups of people?:
Do you object to your phone number and email address being provided to the public?:
9. Do you run a fostering program? (Yes or No answer)
If you do not run a fostering program please skip to question # 18.
10. What guidelines do you use to screen potential adopters?
(Feel free to cut and paste if you use a questionnaire. We are also interested in hearing about your personal screening approach.)
11. Please provide web addresses for the following:
(See note if If you don't have your policy, application or contract online).
Your adoption policy:
Your adoption application:
Your adoption contract:
Photos of you foster rabbit housing/setup:
12. What is your current adoption policy?
(If you provided the link to your policy in question # 11 then skip this question. Otherwise, please cut and paste a copy of your policy here.)
13. Please provide a copy of your adoption application.
(If you provided the link to your application in question # 11 then skip this question. Otherwise, please cut and paste a copy of your application here.)
14. Please provide a copy of your adoption contract.
(If you provided the link to your contract in question # 11 then skip this question. Otherwise, please cut and paste a copy of your policy here.)
15. How and where do you keep/plan to keep your foster rabbits?
16. How many rabbits are you equipped to take care of?
Please keep time, funding and volunteer resources in mind.
17. Where do/will your foster rabbits come from?
(Shelter? Owner relinquished? Stray? Other?)
18. How many rabbits are currently living with you?
19. Please provide the following information about one of the rabbit(s) who lives with you.
Name:
Age:
Sex:
Size and Breed:
Where Obtained:
Neutered or Spayed or Intact:
Personal companion, sanctuary rabbit or foster rabbit available for adoption:
(For Questions 20-24 the same information is asked as in question 19).
20. If you have another rabbit living with you, please provide information about him (or her).
21. If you have another rabbit living with you, please provide information about him (or her).
22. If you have another rabbit living with you, please provide information about him (or her).
23. If you have another rabbit living with you, please provide information about him (or her).
24. If you have another rabbit living with you, please provide information about him (or her).
25. If you have additional rabbits who live with you please list the following information for each:
Name, Age, Sex, Size/Breed, Where Obtained, Neutered/Spayed or Intact, personal rabbit, sanctuary rabbit or foster rabbit available for adoption.
26. Have any of the rabbits in your past or current care been mothers or fathers?
27. If any of your rabbits have been mothers or fathers please provide the following information:
●Number of litters
●Were the litters planned or accidental
●Are future litters planned, not planned but possible, not medically possible
28. Describe where your rabbits(s) spend(s) the night.
29. Describe where your rabbits(s) spend(s) the day.
30. Do you have experience nursing a sick rabbit? (Yes or No question)
31. If so, please describe the types of treatment and duration for each ill rabbit you have treated.
Please use a new line for each rabbit/treatment
32. How many rabbits have you had who are no longer living with you?
33. Please provide the following information about a rabbit who no longer lives with you.
●Name
●Sex and breed
●Where obtained.
●How long did this rabbit live with you?
●What happened to this rabbit?
(For questions 34 -38 the please provide the same information as in question 33)
34. Please provide the following information about a different rabbit who no longer lives with you.
35. Please provide the following information about a different rabbit who no longer lives with you.
36. Please provide the following information about a different rabbit who no longer lives with you.
37. Please provide the following information about a different rabbit who no longer lives with you.
38. Please provide the following information about a different rabbit who no longer lives with you.
39. If you have had additional rabbits who no longer live with you please tell us for each one:
Name, Description, How long Buns lived with you, What happened to Buns.
40. Which of the following describes the area where you live:
41. What are the prevailing attitudes towards rabbits in your area?
42. Do you know other people with house rabbits in your area? If so, how many?
43. What kind of experience do you have working with rabbits that are not yours? Note here if you are working with a House Rabbit Society fosterer.
44. Describe some of the volunteer activities you have performed, as well as any other things you have done to help rabbits in your area.
45. How far do you live from the animal shelter in your area?
46. About your local shelter:
Do they acceptrabbits?:
If they acceptrabbits, do theykeep themindoors?:
Do they providerabbit careinformation?:
Will they provideanimal careinformationproduced by otheranimal welfareorganizations?:
Do they spay orneuter rabbitsprior to adoption?:
Is overpopulationof rabbits in animalshelters a problemin your area?:
47. About you and your local shelter:
Have you visitedit?:
Volunteeredthere?:
Adopted animalsfrom there?:
Surrenderedanimals there?:
Stayed awaybecause sadthings happenedthere?:
48. If you need a letter of introduction from us to present to your animal shelter, just let us know in an email and we can do that for you.
Please tell us your philosophy on the following:
49. Lab rabbits
50. Domestic rabbits living outdoors
51. Show rabbits
52. 4-H rabbits
53. Breeders
54. Pet stores that sell rabbits
55. Rabbits used for meat
56. What is your own philosophy about rabbits as well as other animals?
57. Have you had a mentor to help you with learning about house rabbits?
58. If you have had a mentor, please provide their contact info and title and describe your relationship.
59. Please describe how and where you have volunteered for the past year to gain local education experience:
60. What were the primary ways in which you educated yourself about house rabbits?
61. How many copies of House Rabbit Journal do you have?
62. How do I get my rabbit to use his litter box?
63. My rabbit is chewing up my house. How do I stop him?
64. My rabbit has a cold. What should I do?
65. What should I feed my rabbit?
66. My rabbit lives outside and is healthy as can be. I think your organization is wrong to promote rabbits as only indoor-only companions
67. I’m looking to find a new home for my rabbit. She’s aggressive and I’m allergic to her. Can you help me find her a new home?
68. I want to purchase a rabbit for my child. Can you help me find a suitable bunny?
Please email your completed application to , and . Thank you!