‘I’ve always loved bunnies’: Widow who has been saving rabbits for 50 years

Widow Kim Cooney has been nominated for an award for her work saving hundreds of unwanted bunnies at the Rabbit Rescue Sanctuary in Northern NSW.

Kim Mooney from the Rabbit Sanctuary in Grafton with Boo the bunny rescued by her after Qld police seized it in raid. Pic Nathan Edwards

AT 14, Kim Cooney would rise before dawn, grab a stick and head out to set off rabbit snares trappers had laid along the banks of a river near her home south of Sydney.

“If I ever found a rabbit trapped, I’d try and help it,” says Kim, “I’ve always loved bunnies; dear, delicate little creatures.”

Fifty years on, Kim’s still at it. Today, she is nominated as Australian of the Day for running the Rabbit Rescue Sanctuary in Northern NSW and saving many hundreds of unwanted pets. “We rescue, we rehabilitate and we rehome rabbits,” explains Kim, 64.

Boo is a real handful. Picture: Nathan Edwards

Who are you calling big ears? Picture: Nathan Edwards

After a career teaching special education students, Kim and husband Jim — who shared her love of rabbits — set up the sanctuary in 2008. Since Jim’s death from cancer in 2011, Kim has continued her work with the help of volunteers.

“Jim and I became aware of the problem of abandoned rabbits in Queensland, where owning rabbits is illegal,” Kim says of the early days. “Owners would either let them loose or take them to the pound where they’d be put down. It seemed so horrific to me that such a thing could be going on.”

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At Easter, Kim — whose sanctuary is equipped to care for around 100 rabbits while she looks for new homes for them — is particularly busy.

“More and more people want to buy rabbits for presents at Easter — for children, fiancees, sweethearts,” she says. “After Easter we get an influx of abandoned rabbits.”

The volume is so great Kim has foster programs along the NSW coast.

Kim only releases rabbits to owners who can show they’re committed to keeping them as a house pet.

“They run up to you like they’re little dogs and sit up and have a little treat,” Kim says. “They’re beautiful little pets who sit around your house like a fluffy couch potato.”

While we celebrate celebrities in so many ways it’s also worth our while to take stock and shine a light on those who make our communities great. This is the goal of the Australian of the Day program — a CommBank initiative that has partnered with News Corp Australia to reach as many Australians as possible. So get on board and if you know any inspiring people and go to australianoftheday.com.au, where you can nominate someone who deserves to be acknowledged.