Amara was rescued by the ANNA Shelter in Erie, Pa., in 2023 amongst a group of 137 rabbits that were still alive in an original group of 300. Amara was rescued with diseases and injuries such as parasite overloads, upper respiratory conditions, broken limbs and more, according to the ANNA Shelter’s Facebook page. In August 2024 Miles Taylor and his family adopted Amara from the shelter. His mother, Tiffany Taylor, said that after his own hardships in life, Miles was looking for something he would be able to do to keep himself active.

“Miles was burned three years ago in a house fire,” Taylor said. “He is 91% burned and has a trach. So, because of this he is unable to do sports and wanted to find something that he would be able to do to stay active. My daughter showed rabbits, so he decided he wanted to try rabbits.”

When they went to the ANNA Shelter, Taylor said Miles took home a few rabbits but Amara was the one he gravitated to. While she was feisty in her cage she was a sweetheart outside of it, so she was the one he ended up taking home.

When it comes to the relationship between the two, Taylor said Miles spends hours of the day with his rabbits, grooming and taking care of them. She said it gives him a feeling of responsibility and gets them used to him so much that he can take them out and they will sit on his lap.

Pictured are Miles Taylor and Amara after they won Best Female Dwarf Rabbit at the Chautauqua County Fair. Submitted photo

“It gives him security because it is something he can do on his own without me or his dad helping him,” Taylor said.

This past Chautauqua County Fair was Miles’s first time showing rabbits, and so he did not expect to win anything, making the pair winning Best Female Dwarf Rabbit something that represented a lot to him.

“It shows he can do things that are not sports and can excel at them even though he is different,” Taylor said. “It’s not about winning, it’s about the experience and the friendships, but it is good for Miles because he didn’t think he could win. He is not at the fair for the win, but for the friends and the fun.”

As far as next year’s fair goes, Taylor said Miles is already looking into upgrading his rabbit pen, which is currently basically a large area where they are kept out of the wind, and getting more bunnies. She also praised the ANNA Shelter, specifically Ruth Thompson, who runs it and Jessica Kellogg, saying they helped make the adoption a seamless process.

“If you are looking to adopt any animal I would recommend the ANNA Shelter,” Taylor said. “They made it a seamless and easy process for us to adopt Amara and get Miles on his way to showing rabbits.”

For more information on the ANNA Shelter, visit them on Facebook or at theannashelter.com.