ANIMAL SHELTER WILL BE HOPPIN'

They are cute and cuddly. But all too often Easter bunnies end up in animal shelters, as unwanted as colored eggs in May.

"Months after Easter has come and gone, we will start getting a lot of bunnies in," said Jhan White, administrator of the local animal shelter run by the Humane Society of Southeast Missouri.

White said Easter bunnies often end up at the shelter six, seven or eight months after Easter.

"It's hard to resist that impulse to pick them up because they are so cute when they are little," she said.

But White said people should make sure they have a suitable place to raise and care for rabbits.

Having a rabbit in the house can be bad news: They can chew up electrical cords and damage furniture, she said.

February and March typically are relatively slow months at the shelter. "We are kind of catching our breath," said White, "doing a little bit of extra cleaning." But White said, "when May hits we will be inundated with animals."

The kitten season typically starts the first week of May. Last year the harsh winter delayed breeding. The kitten season didn't arrive until the third week of May, she said.

"The puppies never stop coming in. We have puppies year round," White said.

Currently, the shelter has about 65 to 70 animals on hand. Most are adult dogs and puppies.

The shelter annually takes in more than 4,500 animals. About 70 percent are euthanized; the others are adopted.

White said more people are adopting animals than in the past. Last year people adopted more than 1,000 animals.

Most of the adoptions involve dogs and cats. But the shelter also places other animals. "We do our share of rodents, birds, bunnies and pigs."

The shelter has housed potbellied pigs.

Not long ago people bought them for pets. Today it is hard to even give them away. "They were never really intended to be pets," White said.

It takes a lot of money to operate an animal shelter. The shelter on Route W costs more than $150,000 a year to operate.

"People who have pets at home know how expensive it is to keep animals," she said.

Phi Sigma Kappa, a Southeast Missouri State University fraternity, will collect pet food, kitty litter and donations today to help the shelter.

The fraternity will collect the items from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Lowe's Home Center in Cape Girardeau. Later in the day, fraternity members plan to help out at the shelter.

"We are just happy that somebody thought of us," White said.