I know I'm not on the pootie diaries schedule but I was really annoyed after my trip to the pet store.
I went to the pet store recently to say hi to the puppies (it's next to the grocery store[Acme]and I often stop in to pet the puppies) and found cages full of bunnies. As it's close to Easter, I'm not particularly surprised. What I want to make you aware of below the fold is the fate of Post-Easter bunnies.
Rabbits are the third most surrendered animal in America's shelters. Some of this is due to myths, such as the one that bunnies are low-maintenance and can be left in a hutch with no attention whatsoever. The truth is bunnies are intelligent animals who require stimulation and exercise just like cats and dogs. rabbits are are also susceptible to extreme temperatures and stress related heart attacks from seeing predators they can't run away from (such as your neighbor's German Shepard/Rottweiler mix). Rabbits should not be pruchased as an impulse gift for Easter baskets, and when the novelty of a new pet wears off, rabbits are often let go where they become food for snakes and hawks (particularly the easy to see white ones). The luckier rabbits are surrendered to animal shelters (e.g. Alex and his friend Stripe) at the Chester County SPCA. The weeks and months following Easter see the biggest influx of rabbits.
Rescued Rabbits can be a lot of fun as a house pet, but require time and attention, making them a less than ideal pet for overscheduled highschool students who have lots of extracirricular and weekend activities and no time for a pet. However, older children and adults who have the time and attention for a pet who enjoys cuddling, watching TV with the humans, burrowing under the covers on Saturday morning and playing will find bunnies to be a cuddly and loving pet. Rabbits are very clean; they groom themselves like cats and they can even be litterbox trained. (Hence the label vegetarian pooties for this diaries. Rabbits are like vegetarian kitties with floppy ears.)
The Houserabbit Society holds a Make Mine Chocolate Campaign every year just before easter to raise awareness about the problem of Rabbits being given as impulse gifts.
If you are committed to the time and expenses involved in with any animal companion, consider visiting your local SPCA, Humane Society, or Rabbit Rescue in the weeks following Easter. There will plenty of bunnies looking for a forever home.
Top 10 Rabbit Sounds
(Sure, they don't make any noise)
- The scoot and shuffle of a litterbox being moved from here to over there
- Shriek of "Argh!" by human roommate on discovering that the fresh cut flowers are now only a vase full of stems
- "Crash-boom-bang" from landsliding books, papers and pens while investigating the top of the desk
- Nasal grunt, accompanied by flailing fore paws, when being impolite to guests
- Lips smacking bananas
- Snort of disgust on being offered a zucchini snack
- "Tooth purring"--the grind of contentment
- Silence on the phone line because the cord has been chomped again
- Toenails that go "click-click" on the linoleum
And the number 1 sound produced by rabbits:
The "clackety-clack-clack" of the water bottle at three o'clock in the morning