My wife had to stop at a shopping center and next door to where she had to go was a pet store. Actually, it was the pet store from which my daughter surreptitiously purchased Bunya, on sale for $10.
Unfortunately, I went in.
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| The gray bunny is blurry because he was in motion, basically flopping right there to snuggle. |
In divided huge glass "cages" were tons o' buns. There were a couple of more in a cage on the floor. Some looked like siblings and there were different breeds ... rex, lionhead .... they were all so cute.
And that is the problem.
My initial reaction is "so cute", which is what will attract people to buy them, but then I immediately start thinking about what's wrong with this.
Why don't they have more room? That's not enough.
While some customers were gently stroking a few buns, others would just grab them;
I cringed.
How many are already pregnant?
How many will get sick because the store personnel don't know enough about bunnies to educate potential purchasers about their needs and how to feed and care for them?
How many domesticated bunny babies will be let go into the wild after people get bored with them?
How many would essentially be abandoned in a small cage in the corner of some ice-cold fume-filled garage?
And why wasn't there any freakin' hay in their cages?!? A bunny's diet is about 85% hay.
Very nicely, I asked one of the store clerks if they sold Timothy hay. They did and I asked her if she could put some in the bunnies' cages, which she did. They practically pounced on it and began chowing down.
I love and have had all kinds of animals (dogs, cats, hamsters ... and now bunnies). Bunnies are not our sole focus. We know there is a lot of stuff wrong in the world with the way so many people are treated ... I do not understand why people do the things they do to other people. We are partial to charities benefiting children, education, disease research and food for the hungry (don't send us solicitations - we already picked ours out and have been giving to them for decades). But this is a bunny blog.
And I was in a pet store and looking at bunnies. I have these stupid "business" cards I made up for the blog and on the back are a list of Rabbit Resources, the first of which is for the Georgia House Rabbit Society. So a few of them ended up in the hands of the people around the bunny cages, with the explanation that there were rescued bunnies available for adoption ... already fixed (which makes them really bargain priced). One lady overheard me and, bless her, came over and asked for the site. If these people go to HRS, they will at least get some education and be knowledgeable adopters if they still decide they want a bunny.
Well, you may have discerned that this has been another personal therapy blog. Or vent. Or rant.
I'm done now.
This time.
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FYI, the Rabbit Resources are in the right hand column.
These are the ones I squeezed on the card:
Bunny Resources
HRS - GA http://www.houserabbitga.com/
House Rabbit Society http://www.rabbit.org/
So much info at http://www.hopperhome.com/
How much a bunny costs is on http://www.binkybunny.com/
Bunny language is explored at http://language.rabbitspeak.com/
Bunny health info is on http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/rabbithealth.html
I understand your frustration. My husband and I volunteer at our local sanctuary. It broke my heart when a lady came in and mentioned that she and her VERY young daughter had just bought an eight week old Holland Lop from a breeder with no understanding of how to take care of the rabbit. Although these are definitely teachable moments, it is also very heartbreaking and frustrating at the same time.
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