Easter is over for another yer but here are still bunnies taking up every spare inch of Gwen Butler's home. LUCIA CHARNOCK meets the over of Bunny Burrows

IF Gwen Butler's dream ever became a reality, she would be out of a job. For the saviour of hundreds of rabbits, guinea pigs and a whole host of other small animals wants people across the North-East and North Yorkshire to realise that a rabbit is not just for Easter.

But for Gwen, teaching people how to properly care for their hopping pets, is not just a job, it is a vocation.

It is more than five years since TV vet Mark Evans filmed Gwen volunteering at the RSPCA centre at Great Ayton and gave her the idea of converting her home into a sanctuary for unwanted rabbits. Since then, Bunny Burrows has grown quicker than the population of rabbits in a field.

Gwen, 55, was born and brought up in Richmond and has never lived anywhere else. Her parents were happy to abide by her request that they provided her with pets rather than baby brothers and sisters.

She says she was bullied at school but her work at the rabbit sanctuary has given her happiness, confidence and a sense of purpose.

"I love it when people ask me about rabbits and want to learn. Rabbits aren't animals which should be shut up in a hutch at the bottom of the garden - they are intelligent and have feelings and characters."

But it takes real passion, vocation and dedication to allow furry friends to hop all over your house, eat all the grass in your garden and take over your entire life, as they have done with Gwen.

A housing estate on the edge of Richmond may be an unlikely place to find a bunny haven but Gwen's house - which she shares with her patient husband John, as well as the menagerie of animals - is easy to spot.

The front garden is full of stone models of rabbits and there is a dainty sign welcoming the unsuspecting visitor to Bunny Burrows. A polite notice asks visitors to close the gate as there are animals running freely around.

But it is only as you go through Gwen's garage and into her back garden that the true enormity of just what she has chosen to take on becomes apparent.

There are guinea pigs and rabbits in cages all over the garage while there are more rabbits in a further two sheds, a few more in outdoor runs and two rabbits hopping freely around the back garden.

There is room for about 20 animals in a shed, the garage and hutches in the garden. Gwen has another four rabbits of her own in another shed, a further six rabbits which live in the house plus Thora, a very sick rabbit. The spare room is home to another two rabbits and six guinea pigs.

Hopping around the garden is Paris, the largest, fattest, rabbit imaginable, (after Tullulah, which needed a tummy tuck and Faberge, which went on a sponsored slim) and Gwen delights in revealing that she made rabbit history. When Bunny Burrows paid to have her speyed by the country's leading rabbit vet in Harrogate and her uterus was removed, it weighed five pounds.

While Paris might be at the top end of the scale, Bunny Burrows' vet bill still amounts to some £800 a month - the sanctuary pays for the animals to be neutered and picks up all other medical bills, which can be costly for the charity.

"I don't worry about the money. I believe if what I am doing is right, the money will be there and it always is," says Gwen philosophically.

The animals come to Bunny Burrows for a variety of reasons - owners discover they are allergic to their pets or have a change in circumstances which means they can no longer look after them. Some of the animals have been abused or neglected or have illnesses which mean they need extra care.

And on top of the day to day responsibility of caring for dozens of pets, Gwen also goes to schools, youth groups and community organisations to talk about Bunny Burrows and to advise people on how to look after their rabbits.

So far this year, Bunny Burrows has rehomed 60 rabbits and 50 guinea pigs. None are sold in the true sense of the word but all new owners are asked to make a contribution to the sanctuary, which relies completely on donations.

"I believe people come here to find a companion for another pet. If they just wanted a rabbit or a guinea pig they would go to a pet shop and just buy a cutie baby animal," said Gwen.

Gwen is the first to admit that she could not do it alone and she has an army of helpers, volunteers and friends who are happy to lend their hutches and gardens to Bunny Burrows by fostering some of the animals.

Most of them started off with just one rabbit and one guinea pig but Gwen's infectious enthusiasm and passion for pets rubs off and more and more volunteers are providing more and more foster homes for Bunny Burrows pets.

And Gwen does not intend to quit. "So long as I am fit and able, and have the help and support, I will continue to do this. The rabbits are my babies and they are all very special. I love them all to bits."

* For further information about Bunny Burrows, call 01748 824788