Jay Buchman and Michael Moon met Eastern Shore Rabbit Rescue and Education Center (ESRREC) President Cora Dickson while attending a rabbit adoption event in 2017. Buchman and Moon were already big advocates for rescue animals. So, after chatting with Dickson and learning more about the organization and its mission, they instantly knew they wanted to be involved.
Moon was born and raised in Easton, and serves as the general manager of Bridges Restaurant in Grasonville, while Buchman, who has lived on the Eastern Shore for about three years, hails from various parts of the West Coast, and now works in agriculture. The couple was married back in October and live in Ridgely.
ESRREC was founded in April 2015 and is the only rabbit rescue and education center on the Eastern Shore. Its goal is to provide a safe, healthy environment for abandoned pet rabbits through shelter and care.
Buchman and Moon’s principal role with the nonprofit is outreach, including running the Facebook page and helping out during adoption events, which often take place at the PetSmart in Easton and the Petco in Denton. Buchman also serves as a point of contact for questions that come through to the organization. Both volunteers also assist in scheduling and attending vet appointments for the rabbits, which can be very taxing.
“We use a specialty vet, a small animal vet that’s recommended by Eastern Shore Rabbit Rescue, and they are in Abingdon,” Moon says. “It’s about an hour-and-a-half drive for appointments, spays and neuters, and wellness checks. So, it’s a three-hour round trip essentially. And every time a rabbit needs to go, multiply that by 50 and it’s a lot of time.”
Last May, ESRREC caught word of a large group of endangered rabbits in Denton that was burrowed under a wooden gazebo. The Caroline County Humane Society reached out to the Rock Hall-based organization, needing advice and assistance on the situation, and the two of them immediately dropped everything to support the rescue.
“There were a number of them that were under the gazebo, and they were just not coming out,” Buchman explains. “So, they contacted a tow truck company, and they came and put the tow truck forks underneath, and physically lifted the gazebo. And underneath were rabbits and there were tunnels, and they had a whole room set up underneath there. They were very resistant of wanting to be rescued.”
“He was on the ground, grabbing rabbits out of burrows,” Moon says of Buchman. “I mean, he was amazing.”
The mission took over a week, and the group of volunteers ended up saving 21 adult rabbits, five of which were pregnant. But that wasn’t the end of their contributions to the rescue. Because the ESRREC shelter was at capacity, Moon and Buchman took in those rabbits, and eventually their babies, to nurse back to health. In total, the couple ended up with 51 rabbits in their home.
“When you’re there and stuff needs to get done, you just go and do it,” Buchman says humbly.
Eventually, when the rescued rabbits that Buchman and Moon kept at their home were back in good health, they were either adopted or transferred to other shelters. Now, the two have nine rabbits of their own, as well as a few foster rabbits for ESRREC.
“I get feedback like, ‘Why aren’t you helping with humans, with people, instead of putting all your time towards animals?’” Moon says. “It’s all commingled for me. Through this, we are helping people, and we’re helping animals, and these animals are bringing good things into people’s lives.”
For more information on the Eastern Shore Rabbit Rescue and Education Center, visit esrrec.org
