Bona Tucker, widely respected throughout the South Bay and Harbor Area as the region’s foremost rabbit rescuer, died Friday morning after a battle with leukemia.

Tucker, a graduate of Carson High School who attended UCLA, would have been 60 years old on Jan. 26.

“Our community lost a hero,” said Shelly Tiedeman-Gomez of the Noah’s Bark animal rescue.

Her love of animals spanned a lifetime, said her brother, Ron Honabach of Nampa, Idaho.

“We always had animals as kids,” he said of their childhood growing up in Torrance and Long Beach. “She loved all animals and was a strong advocate for spaying and neutering.”

Tucker, a Torrance resident who worked professionally as a toy designer, rescued and placed thousands of rabbits in homes over the past two decades, often shouldering financial and other burdens to carry on the work.

Praise for her devotion

Many of her friends took to Facebook on Friday to express their sorrow and admiration for Tucker.

• “The rescue community lost a wonderful bunny advocate and kind-hearted friend today,” said Alison Giese.

• “Bona was a truly good and lovely human. She was fun, witty, and above all an immensely dedicated and compassionate rescuer. She saved so many animal lives, but of course her true love was the rabbits. I am truly honored to have called her friend,” said Cat Logsdon.

• “Everyone who knew her loved her and will always remember her kindness, sense of humor, generosity, and talent. … The world was a better place with her in it,” said Nan Bishko Iwasaki.

Tucker’s Rabbitat boutique in Torrance, which opened in 2001, helped support her PetSaveFoundation rescue through selling upscale animal-themed gifts, garden statues and novelty jewelry and home decor.

The PetSave nonprofit organization rescued domestic rabbits, cats and dogs, but rabbits were always the central focus.

When the store lost its space in 2003 to make way for the Kohl’s on Crenshaw Boulevard at Pacific Coast Highway, she and her husband began looking for a new space.

In December 2004, they purchased a 2,340-square-foot commercial space at 522 W. Ninth St. in San Pedro.

Catering to a new demographic, the new store began emphasizing children’s gifts and hosting on-site children’s birthday parties. In an adjoining area, cages held their rescue rabbits available for adoption.

The store did well until the recession of 2008. By 2009, they were scrambling to find a buyer for the property. A new site for the rabbits was found in El Segundo.

“Every penny from every (store) purchase went to support those bunnies, whether it was food or vet bills or the overhead,” Tucker said in a December 2009 interview with the Daily Breeze. “We did everything we could to make it work. We put a lot of heart and soul into it.”

Online business

She didn’t open another brick-and-mortar store, but remained devoted to continuing the mission and launched Etched in My Heart, an online business with an office in Hawthorne that specializes in pet memorials, to help support the rescue work.

In addition to rescuing thousands of rabbits, PetSave provided valuable public education events and materials for the community.

“They’re pretty low-maintenance pets,” she said in the 2009 interview.

But many people would wind up getting rabbits, especially at Easter, without knowing much about their diets and other care, she said. As a result, the animals often would end up in shelters or be set loose in parks.

There are plans for the organization to continue under new leadership.

In addition to her brother, Tucker is survived by a daughter, Denise Howard of Los Angeles; a brother, Dana Honabach of Fort Payne, Alabama; and a sister, Cara Davis of Nampa, Idaho.

Services are pending.

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