VIDEO: Redmond Animal Shelter Prepares for Expansion

It all started with one rabbit.

More than two decades ago, Sandi Ackerman adopted an abandoned bunny named Duster who had grooming issues and ended up dying when he was a few months old. But in the short span that Duster was in her life, Ackerman developed a strong appreciation for the animal's sense of reason and ability to interact with humans.

"They get to the intelligence of about a 3-year-old child, so they are a smart animal," Ackerman said.

Today, Ackerman looks after more than 200 rabbits—and a handful of abandoned rodents—at an animal shelter in Redmond called Rabbit Meadows. The facility's adoption center is currently housed in a trailer, but that will change when the shelter builds a new 2,500 square foot facility later this year.

Ackerman said she anticipates construction on the barn-like structure to start sometime this summer. The building will feature a reception area, spacious adoption area, an education room, boarding room and a quarantine area for animals that are waiting to be spayed or neutered.

"We're so excited it's finally going to happen," Ackerman said, adding that the current adoption trailer is so small that only a few visitors can meet the animals at a time. "You get two people in here, and it's crowded."

Aside from serving as a rabbit adoption center, Rabbit Meadows is also a feral rabbit rescue that takes in pets who are abandoned into the wild and become un-adoptable. In 1996, the feral shelter formed when 650 rabbits were found living in a Redmond business park that was about to be bulldozed, Ackerman said.

No one knows where all the rabbits came from, but Ackerman said it's common for pet owners who can no longer care for their animals to release rabbits in parks or other grassy areas because they mistakenly believe the animals are better off "in the wild."

In reality, Ackerman said, rabbits are social animals, and they are susceptible to a variety of hazards if abandoned, including disease and getting hit by cars. Domesticated rabbits prefer to be indoors and interacting with humans on a regular basis, Ackerman said.

"Don't bother getting a rabbit if you're going to put him outside," she said.

Many rabbit owners run into problems because they don't spay or neuter their pets, a procedure that Ackerman said goes a long way toward cutting down rabbit mess. After the new shelter, Ackerman's next goal is to bring in a veterinarian who could spay or neuter for a nominal fee.

In the meantime, Ackerman is focused on getting the new shelter built and continuing to find homes for abandoned rabbits. To help raise money for the project, Rabbit Meadows will hold its first Easter egg hunt from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on April 23. A $5 donation is suggested.

And even though Ackerman, now 67, has cared for thousands of rabbits over the years, she has no intention of slowing down anytime soon.

"I cannot visualize retiring," she said. "The shelter's on my bucket list."