When Gretchen Underwood got the call about a displaced pet rabbit, she quickly welcomed the 8-pound mini-lop into her Greensburg home.

Already “mom” to four other bunnies, Underwood, a foster volunteer with the Pittsburgh-based rescue group Rabbit Wranglers, was happy to give the rabbit she named C.J. a temporary place to stay.

That was three years ago. C.J. is now a permanent member of the Underwood abode, sharing space with seven other rabbits and a cocker spaniel named Ellie, and displaying none of the aggressiveness her former owners had complained about. She even hops into bed at night with Underwood and her husband, Bob Schaefer.

“She had been adopted out a couple of times and then brought back to the shelter for behavioral issues,” Underwood says. “The first house she was adopted to, the person had been bringing a lot of other people in and wanted them to be able to play with her. She got frightened and lashed out, so he brought her back.”

A second adoption failed, too. Because Rabbit Wranglers specializes in helping sick, mistreated and unwanted bunnies, it is a scenario Underwood has seen time and again. Yet as a licensed educator with the House Rabbit Society, Underwood knew that with proper care, C.J. would make a fine pet.

“People who get rabbits may not know what they're getting into,” says Underwood, 39, whose bunny-love began in childhood with a pet Himalayan named Mittens. “They may not give them adequate attention or room to exercise. One reason a rabbit becomes aggressive is if they're confined to too small a space, and then someone grabs at them. They'll box or try to scratch you in self-defense.”

Underwood is one of about 130 foster volunteers with Rabbit Wranglers, which was founded by Suaz Forsythe in 2002 as a way to assist Animal Friends — the Ohio Township shelter where she works as a graphics designer — manage its rabbit program.

Since then, Wranglers has grown in its mission, along with bunny ownership, Forsythe says.

“Rabbits make great pets, but they can be high maintenance. We realized that all shelters needed help with them. We fill in the gap that shelters can't provide.”

Besides educating would-be owners and facilitating adoptions, Wranglers rescues rabbits from neglect and abuse or when owners can't cope with their medical needs. Rabbits are vulnerable to kidney failure, reproductive system cancers and upper respiratory infections as well as broken backs and limbs from having been mishandled.

“It can happen when a child is too rough,” says Forsythe, who recalls a bunny surrendered to Wranglers with a rubber band embedded in its neck. “A child had used the rubber band as a collar when the rabbit was young, and it was never removed, so the skin grew around it. It had gotten so tight the rabbit's eyes were bulging. We had to have the rubber band surgically removed.”

The bunny had been an Easter gift from the child's grandmother, but had outworn its novelty within months, says Forsythe, who says holiday adoptions result in a plethora of unwanted rabbits by late summer every year.

Despite the sad cases they see, Forsythe and her colleagues say surrendering a pet bunny to a shelter is far better than releasing it to the wild, where it almost certainly will not survive. “That's the worst thing you can do, because a domesticated rabbit cannot fend for itself,” Forsythe says. “It will either become prey or it will contract a disease.”

Veterinarian Michaelene Gates treats rabbits in her practice at Norwin Veterinary Hospital in North Huntingdon and takes time to orient new owners, both kids and adults, in proper handling and care.

“Their hind ends are strong and powerful, but their skeletons are fragile,” Gates says. “When you carry them, you want to tuck their bum in the crook of your arm, and put your other hand over their lumbar spine and rump to keep them from jumping and hurting themselves.”

Because they become sexually mature within four to six months, rabbits should be neutered or spayed, especially females, who are otherwise prone to developing ovarian, uterine and mammary cancers if left intact, says Gates. “Spaying and neutering also can limit aggressiveness.”

Rabbits require a diet rich in fibrous roughage, particularly timothy hay. They should have access to spinach and other leafy greens, while apples and bananas should be given only as an occasional treat, Gates says. The fiber keeps dental as well as stomach problems at bay.

“Their teeth are constantly growing, so if they aren't getting enough grass or hay, they have to be filed down periodically by a vet.”

As prey animals, rabbits are easily stressed, which can affect their immune or gastrointestinal systems, Gates says. “If they see someone as a predator, it can cause their gut to go in the wrong direction.”

Poor immunity makes rabbits that live in pairs or groups more vulnerable to snuffles — a bacterial infection of the upper respiratory system that bunnies pass to each other.

Owners also should be prepared for the frequency with which rabbits move their bowels. “They walk and drop,” Gates says. “They don't like to be in a dirty place, so they'll designate a bathroom area and they will use a litter box. It's important to keep the litter box clean.”

Folks willing to adapt to a rabbit's needs will find ownership rewarding, says Underwood, who notes that bunnies can have a calming effect.

An assistant professor of communications at the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, Underwood has taken her rabbits to campus to interact with stressed students, and to community events aimed at raising awareness about bunnies as pets.

“Every rabbit has a unique personality,” she says, “and their personalities emerge in ways you don't see with dogs and cats.”

Deborah Weisberg is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.

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