Workplace Observation Report

For my service hours, I focused on my issue on the treatment of the animal and volunteered at Bunny Bunch in Orange County. During my time there, I helped around with Carolina, the person in change, doing any task need. Some examples are bagging hay, sweeping the cages for bunny dropping and hay, filling up water bowls, and stocking inventory. One day during Sunday, it was happy hour, so over 20 bunnies were brought into the bunny shelter to interact with each other. All I did was to make sure the bunnies behave, moving some away with a broomstick, and in the end, it was fun. This discreet shelter was taking care of bunnies but there were a lot of bunnies that still do not have a home. By helping this shelter, they were able to keep them away
from any cruel treatment such as being used as test subject for makeup or ignorant care. I found out that I learned a lot from Carolina, overhearing her as she was taking to her customers. It seems that bunnies need a certain amount of area to live which should include a litter box, water bowl, and a towel. They do not vomit like cats do so they must ingest all their hair. This results in them needing a high fiber diet to flush everything out. Apparently, bunnies also eat wood in order to trim their teeth. It was a surprise for me when I saw a bunny eating wood. They are also very sensitive to their diet and weather, having a chance to die within 24 hours if something is wrong or if it is too hot. When taken care of properly, a bunny will live for about 18 years, just until a child is old enough to go to college. I also heard of how many bunnies are returned back to the shelter because the owner does not want them anymore. Apparently, many people do not understand the full responsibly of owning a pet and this has been revealed to me when Carolina recalled how she receives many phone calls each day from owners who wants to return them. A solution to mitigate the amount of return was to not allow an owner to bring the bunny home the same day. Just like guns, this allows the owner to think more about their decision. Carolina was also kind to inform the owners about the responsibility as she tries her best to make sure the owners understand the impressive amount of responsibility need and including the need to really want it; that even if their child goes off to college, the parent will be okay with taking care of the bunny. I believe this is a good way to find a pet a home, even if it is slow, it is effective. If I could do this type of community service again, I would likely do so.
Apart from the heavy lifting, I was allowed to take care of animals and learn about them. It is an interesting experience seeing 20 bunnies all together in a pen and it was fun to watch over them. I had done other community service in the past where I would just pick up trash or watch over children. It was tedious work. I am not inclined to work that is repetitive nor uninteresting as it is not as exciting. Working in a bunny shelter allowed me to help in a variety if actions and at a time, even teaches me something informative. I find that it is what community service should have, something that impacts the helper in a positive manner. For other future service hours, I would ideally do something that involves a skill I have and I am good in such as something which would involve my artistic skills or scientific knowledge. One example would be teaching children to draw and paint at an after school program. Another is a service project that anyone can do which would be taking care of the wildlife and greenery in the urban city. This would require my knowledge on ecology. This would also be attracting to me because I am interested in plants and taking care of them. My last example would be washing graffiti from the walls of Fountain Valley. I had found out that our city has a goal of getting rid of graffiti in 3 days and they apparently spend much money on getting rid of them. If I and a group of people were to go out and wash the graffiti away, it would help the city council deficit budget and in turn, help the city
itself.