*sigh* That's the reason I wouldn't let our local paper do a story on our rescue for the Easter edition of their paper. I really don't need the PR at that time of year, sorry.
I got a couple bundles of fresh apple twigs from a guy who posted on craigslist and since it's way more than Pepper can eat, I'm taking them over to Red Door this weekend so all the shelter bunnies can have yummies!.
Well, I got home and went "it's going to take Pepper a YEAR to go through these, so who else needs them?" I can smell them from across the room when Pepper's busily stripping hers down :)
We have a lot around here - Mother Nature's fast food.
In the US domestic buns are actually a different species than the wild ones - they are more like European buns, and can't actually interbreed at all. And they are NOT suited for life in the wild at all. My Pepper was dumped in a city park when her people decided she wasn't cute and fluffy any more. She's a large black and white spotted lop, so she's not exactly camoflaged. She's really lucky that a feral or stray dog or a coyote etc didn't get her.
My bun was dumped at an intersection in a residential neighborhood. Thankfully a neighbor noticed and took her in, treated her like a princess all summer. When the weather started to cool she came to live with me so she could be inside. Now she has a BIG cage, and shares her home with 6 other furry mammals, including 4 cats whom she bums around the house with when she's out.
Yep. Pepper likely managed on her own for a couple of months - she was malnourished and had sore hocks and was covered in fleas but still "very hormonal" according to the intake form. (that's my girl!)
Bunnies, dogs, cats....the recession has led to an increase in the dumping of all of them. This is one reason I'll only get rescued pets. Bottom line - people suck.
For a change of subject, check out http://tinyurl.com/c7mmxk It's a link to NPR called "Caution Signs Endangered Movie Characters Really Need" There's a good reference to "Night of the Lepus" I though you'd enjoy this.
The problem is, with bunnies it typically happens about a month after easter... When that "cute little bunny" that someone went out to get for their kid for easter gets the hormone hit when he suddenly goes through puberty, or it's taken a couple of weeks for the kid to already stop caring for the animal,and the parents just dump them at the shelters because they don't want to deal with them.
And every year, parents will go out to get those "cute baby bunnies" for easter... And every year, 3/4 of them wind up in shelters or "set free" (or as I put it, "allowing nature to take its course", because they won't survive more than a few days at most) because the parents didn't bother to research the animal before getting it for the child, and they think it's a "throwaway pet". They don't realize that a rabbit is a 7-12 year responsibility, and the rabbit needs to be neutered and get vet visits just like any dog or cat, and needs socialization just like any other pet.
Every one of my rabbits has been a rescue of one kind or another. And it's usually because the owner just didn't understand what they were getting into and wants someone else to take care of the "problem".
Recession aside (my local shelter's intake is up 2/3 over last year) "Easter Bunnies" are an annual problem.
Pet stores and Feed stores sell them like stuffed toys, and people buy a cute fluffy bunny as a basket stuffer for their kid. Then in a couple of weeks the kid gets bored and bunbun gets dropped at a shelter if they are lucky or "set free" more often than not, which is pretty much a death sentence.
Or even if the family is a little more involved, most places that sell them as impulse pets provide no info on the fact that they need to be speutered and that they can live 8-10 years with proper care. So in a few months when little bunbun hits puberty and starts getting territorrial - growling, lunging, biting, spraying pee - the same thing happens. Even the most well-meaning bunny people are often overwhelmed at this stage.
This is what we think happened to Pepper. ACC found her in a park in early November, with sore hocks and fleas and undernourished but still "very hormonal" it says on the intake form. So obviously I'm terribly aware of this issue.
It's that peculiar idea that bunnies are a kind of pet that don't count. Now dogs and cats have, you know, personalities and minds and emotions, but everyone knows that bunnies are just nature's chicken nuggets. *sigh*
I still get stares when I tell people about Huck's personality and quirks--and amazement that, two years after she died, we're still reminiscing about her. People may not believe we had her for ten years.
One of the women in my knitting group tonight was telling us how "adorable" it was that her nephews (5 of them!) all got baby chicks for Easter. And they were taking such good care of them and of course they've all died. I believe my exact words were "fucking idiacy" and I went and took a walk. She joined our group as the friend of a friend of someone who is in the group, hopefully she's learned there are some places you just don't go around me. Just adorable.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 07:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 07:09 pm (UTC)I got a couple bundles of fresh apple twigs from a guy who posted on craigslist and since it's way more than Pepper can eat, I'm taking them over to Red Door this weekend so all the shelter bunnies can have yummies!.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 07:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 07:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 08:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 08:27 pm (UTC)Nice that you have yummies to take to them, though.
Round here, unfortunately, bunnies (the wild brown sort) are more than abundant and a bit of a pest.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 08:38 pm (UTC)In the US domestic buns are actually a different species than the wild ones - they are more like European buns, and can't actually interbreed at all. And they are NOT suited for life in the wild at all. My Pepper was dumped in a city park when her people decided she wasn't cute and fluffy any more. She's a large black and white spotted lop, so she's not exactly camoflaged. She's really lucky that a feral or stray dog or a coyote etc didn't get her.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 11:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 11:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 10:24 pm (UTC)For a change of subject, check out http://tinyurl.com/c7mmxk It's a link to NPR called "Caution Signs Endangered Movie Characters Really Need" There's a good reference to "Night of the Lepus" I though you'd enjoy this.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 10:30 pm (UTC)And every year, parents will go out to get those "cute baby bunnies" for easter... And every year, 3/4 of them wind up in shelters or "set free" (or as I put it, "allowing nature to take its course", because they won't survive more than a few days at most) because the parents didn't bother to research the animal before getting it for the child, and they think it's a "throwaway pet". They don't realize that a rabbit is a 7-12 year responsibility, and the rabbit needs to be neutered and get vet visits just like any dog or cat, and needs socialization just like any other pet.
Every one of my rabbits has been a rescue of one kind or another. And it's usually because the owner just didn't understand what they were getting into and wants someone else to take care of the "problem".
no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 11:38 pm (UTC)Pet stores and Feed stores sell them like stuffed toys, and people buy a cute fluffy bunny as a basket stuffer for their kid. Then in a couple of weeks the kid gets bored and bunbun gets dropped at a shelter if they are lucky or "set free" more often than not, which is pretty much a death sentence.
Or even if the family is a little more involved, most places that sell them as impulse pets provide no info on the fact that they need to be speutered and that they can live 8-10 years with proper care. So in a few months when little bunbun hits puberty and starts getting territorrial - growling, lunging, biting, spraying pee - the same thing happens. Even the most well-meaning bunny people are often overwhelmed at this stage.
This is what we think happened to Pepper. ACC found her in a park in early November, with sore hocks and fleas and undernourished but still "very hormonal" it says on the intake form. So obviously I'm terribly aware of this issue.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-23 10:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-04-24 04:38 am (UTC)I still get stares when I tell people about Huck's personality and quirks--and amazement that, two years after she died, we're still reminiscing about her. People may not believe we had her for ten years.
Because, you know, bunnies aren't REAL pets.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-24 12:28 pm (UTC)A lot of people who read my LJ do so mostly for the Pepper stories.
no subject
Date: 2009-04-24 04:43 am (UTC)