{"id":342557,"date":"2026-06-02T06:31:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T06:31:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/342557\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T06:31:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T06:31:10","slug":"up-the-rabbit-hole-sunshine-rabbit-center-celebrates-one-year-of-filling-a-pet-care-gap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/342557\/","title":{"rendered":"Up the rabbit hole: Sunshine Rabbit Center celebrates one year of filling a pet-care gap –"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sunshine<\/a>Sunshine Rabbit Center co-founder Bo Ruberg (second from right), flanked (L to R) by Leo Alvarado, Elsa Sanchez, and Danielle Gadia (credit: Stacey Sellers) <\/p>\n

Walk along the east side of the main business corridor in Bixby Knolls and you\u2019ll come to a building with a blue Allstate Insurance logo above a curving line of second-storey windows. But step inside and you may find yourself going down \u2014 or in this case, up \u2014 a rabbit hole unrelated to life\/home\/auto coverage.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because, as of June 1 last year, the second floor at the northeast corner of Atlantic Avenue and Cartagena Street has been home to Sunshine Rabbit Center, the passion project of a university professor and a staff dedicated to filling a gap in the world of pet care.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Bo Ruberg remembers it like it was 17 or 18 years ago\u2026which it was. A pair of her friends got engaged and decided to adopt a rabbit \u201cto represent their love.\u201d They named her Georgie.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then they promptly broke up, and neither of them could bear to look at Georgie because it represented their lost love,\u201d Ruberg recalls, \u201cso they suddenly had to find a home for her. And all of a sudden I found myself with Georgie, living in a small apartment in San Francisco and learning about rabbits as indoor pets.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Georgie passed in 2016, Ruberg was rabbitless until 2022, when they adopted a pair of siblings. Not long afterward, Ruberg started volunteering at Long Beach Animal Care Services. A year later, they had two more bunnies and was also volunteering at the nonprofit Rabbit Rescue in Paramount.<\/p>\n

So by 2025, when it became apparent that Rabbit Rescue would be closing (though it would later re-open under new management), Ruberg knew a thing or two about the world of rabbit care \u2014 and what was lacking therein.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere just aren\u2019t the same kind of support services that there are for dogs and cats,\u201d they say. \u201cSo even though lots of people in the area have them, you just don\u2019t see that much community around them, you don\u2019t see that much help for medical issues, and you don\u2019t see as much education and outreach. [\u2026 Rabbits] need a place to have grooming done [and] to board [when owners are out of town]; and also, we just need to educate the public about why they\u2019re wonderful pets and deserve the same care that other pets get.\u201d<\/p>\n

Resolved to create their own rabbit-centered community hub, Ruberg and about a dozen Rabbit Rescue staff members and volunteers \u2014 none of whom had ever started their own business or nonprofit organization \u2014 commenced an extensive search for the right Long Beach location. Six months later, they leased the former Allstate Insurance office, which, with minor renovations, became a \u201chappy, airy, bright space where people would want to spend time, [which] opened up the possibility of doing work and events where people could be invited in.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to providing a full range of products and services \u2014 grooming, vaccines, adoption (about 100 so far, with 12 to 15 available at any one time), a \u201cbunny hotel\u201d that accommodates up to 25 \u2014 Sunshine puts on a range of rabbit-related social events, such as \u201cDoodle Buns: Learn to Draw Your Bunny\u201d and \u201cDrag Story Time\u2026with Bunnies!<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnything you can do as a peaceful activity with bunnies present, we\u2019ve been trying it out,\u201d Ruberg says.<\/p>\n

In year two, Ruberg hopes to expand Sunshine\u2019s event roster, as well as to lock in certain events as monthly staples. This is because, although the business side of Sunshine has been \u201cmixed, the community response has been fabulous.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe side of it that is not necessarily financial, that is about whether we were right that there is a need in the community to support one another and educate themselves around rabbits, has [proved] absolutely true,\u201d Ruberg says. \u201cWe\u2019ve had a really fabulous response from people who come to our events. People find an excuse to come by about something small so they can just stand here and talk to us about their rabbit. It\u2019s a younger and more diverse version of this community than I\u2019ve seen anywhere else. And that\u2019s awesome. Financially, we\u2019re kind of still finding our footing and finding the most consistent, reliable way to bring in money to pay our rent and utilities and staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bixby Knolls in particular has been \u201ca really helpful community,\u201d says Ruberg. \u201cWe\u2019ve done a lot of collaborations with the other businesses and nonprofits up and down the street,\u201d including events with ABLE Arts Work, the Long Beach Historical Society, and even an Easter-themed event at Eclipsed Emporium, the goth\/alternative fashion boutique up the street.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been very impressed with Sunshine Rabbit Center since the minute they moved in,\u201d says Blair Cohn, executive director of the Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association. \u201cIt\u2019s a clean, friendly space, and the organization hit the ground running with collaborations with their neighboring businesses. They have set a new standard for partnerships in the neighborhood. We also see the care and attention they give to the animals and those who come to adopt a bunny or participate in one of their social events. They are a fun addition to the neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ruberg says another of Sunshine\u2019s goals is \u201cbroadening our network of collaboration.\u201d A recent step in that direction was Sunshine\u2019s first event with the LGBTQ Center Long Beach. And that broadening includes pertinent political engagement, such as trying to get City to change codes so (for example) there will be City money to help offset the cost of spaying and neutering rabbits \u2014 as there is for dogs and cats \u2014 since owners often have to shell out more for rabbits than for the Big Two pets due to the veterinary industry\u2019s classification rabbits as \u201cexotic\u201d pets.<\/p>\n

To say that Ruberg is all in on Sunshine is an understatement. Not only did they put in a significant amount of seed money (\u201ca [five-figure] investment that will take a long time to come back\u201d), but they serve as team lead in Sunshine\u2019s day-to-day operations \u2014 this while holding down a full-time professorship at UC Irvine.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy family thinks I\u2019m a little crazy,\u201d Ruberg says. \u201c[\u2026] I don\u2019t sleep a lot, and I haven\u2019t for a while. [\u2026 Sunshine] is a big leap of faith and a big risk. And as the person who carries a lot of that particular kind of stress and responsibility for the organization, there are days when that\u2019s really scary, for sure. And then there are days when it feels really rewarding. For me, I kind of hit a point in my \u2018actual, official\u2019 career where I was doing quite well and feel quite competent in what I do, and I think I needed to feel challenged. And I need to feel I had a community around me that wasn\u2019t just fellow professors. That has meant needing to learn a lot, hitting midlife and needing to learn a lot of new skills, and it\u2019s very humbling. And still scary, because I have no idea if that money will come back to me. It\u2019s my own little very productive midlife crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Ruberg is quick to point out that Sunshine Rabbit Center \u201cis possible only because lots of different people are bringing together their expertise and their passion\u201d \u2014 a team ranging from Audrey Poole-Brown, a groomer with three decades of experience, to 18-year-old volunteers who just went to prom and are \u201cbubbly, friendly advocates in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another valued team member is Elsa Sanchez, a veterinary assistant who leads what Ruberg calls \u201cspeed dating for rabbits.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRabbits are social and like living in pairs, but they\u2019re also territorial, so two incompatible rabbits will fight, even to the death,\u201d Ruberg explains. \u201cSo if you have someone who wants a partner for the rabbit they already own, we kind of set them up with three or four \u2018single\u2019 bunnies who are available for adoption, and then the rabbit gets to kind of pick who they\u2019ve got the best chemistry with. We keep them here for a week, when they go through what we call \u2018the bonding process,\u2019 where they become a pair, and then once they\u2019re bonded they go home and they\u2019re bonded for life.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Sunshine Rabbit Center, the human community is just as much a focus as the leporine.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re here to help the rabbits and find them wonderful homes, but helping people is also really critical,\u201d they say. \u201cA lot of animal rescue organizations can get cliquey or judgmental, but it\u2019s been really important to us to be educational. When somebody walks through the door who is new to rabbits and some of the things they are doing with them aren\u2019t super safe, instead of being judgmental, we use that as a chance to welcome them and show them alternative ways to be. And it\u2019s been a pleasant surprise just how well people respond to that. And they just keep coming back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunshine Rabbit Center, a registered rescue facility with Long Beach Animal Care
WHERE: 4202 Atlantic Ave., Unit 201, Long Beach 90807
WHEN: 11am\u20135pm Wednesday through Sunday
PHONE: 562.231.7116 (call or text)
INSTA: @sunshine_rabbit_center
WEB: sunshinerabbit.org<\/a><\/p>\n

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