How an Emotional Support Bunny Hopped into Cornell Instagram Fame

Finn the Holland Lop is one busy rabbit. In addition to being a campus mini-celebrity and the face of the @bigredbun Instagram account, he is the certified emotional support animal to owner Erin Scannell ’21.  The duo has been together since February 2019, Scannell’s sophomore year, when she created the Big Red Bun account. After nearly 400 photos of Finn, the almost two-year-old account has reached more than 5,000 followers.  According to Scannell, Finn flipped around her Cornell experience, boosting her mental health and helping her find a community.  “He’s greatly improved my life at Cornell. After I made the Big Red Bun account, I was like, ‘This is what I was here to do,’” Scannell said. “He’s given me a little community and I get to feel like he’s my emotional support animal, but he can also be so many other peoples’.”  As a sophomore transfer, Scannell said she struggled with depression and anxiety. Placed in a single on West Campus, she felt extremely lonely, and to feel less isolated, often slept on the couch at the co-ed fraternity she joined.  Scannell said she contacted the housing department in November 2018 asking to move out of her single —…
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