Rescue Journal

The hardest part about rescue...

Alison  ·  Sep. 18, 2006

is always the people part. and most of rescue involves people. It is people who get and then get rid of animals. It is people who breed them and sell them for profit. It is people who buy them for gifts for their kids and then toss them away when the kids get bored. It is people who think they want a pet and then change their minds because they don't.

Today, Eva is really upset. Two more rabbits have been abandoned in the school yard next door and she can't catch them. They are a male and a female and she knows the family that set them loose there. When SAINTS moved here last December, there were 19 wild domestic rabbits loose in the neighborhood, a week ago there was one. We have managed to catch 4, and we watched as the adults and the countless babies they produced were killed by predators or disappeared over the ensuing months. The original pair of tame rabbits, came from this house, they were set loose by the owners and it took 5 years for all but 5 of their descendents to fade away. I feel a special responsibility that the house that SAINTS abides in was the original sinner for the rabbits that have died.

The City of Richmond is battling a huge wild domestic rabbit overpopulation issue. At one point they were considering letting their citizens freely shoot roaming rabbits. Considering that most humans probably are lousy shots, the potential for wounded, suffering rabbits (or other animals, if someone's eye sighte was poor) or the potential for human injury with a bunch of wanna-be cowboys out shooting rabbits, was pretty high. The last I heard they were re-thinking this not-such-a-bright-idea plan.

Rabbits are the very most disposable pet out there. They are easily bought, easily ignored, and easily gotten rid of. All of the suffering that they endure because their lack of value, rest solely upon a human's shoulders. I call them the silent screamers, they suffer in breeding rabbitries, they suffer in petstores til their sale, they suffer in homes ill prepared to care for them, and they suffer when they are no longer of use.

The human race has alot to answer for if anyone is keeping score.

Comments

Faith

So sad but true. My parents neighbour had a rabbit. The kids wanted it of course. This poor bun was so neglected. Not in the food part, the attention part. During the hottest part of the summer, they had left him in the sun in a small fenced pen. He had knocked over his water and I filled it. I was visiting my parents home that day and they were away. I saw the kids and dad come home. The kids ran over to see their friends, the dad went in the house. 10 minutes later, they all got back in the car and left. No one even checked on the bunny. Well, their bunny also left that day. I was so angry I was shaking. He's in a safe and caring place now, just as he should have been from the start. Rabbits are funny, mischevious, and smart. I hope people who neglect or harm any animals have a special place in hell.....