Once again, we find ourselves on the eve of Easter. Stores are overflowing with the images of this rite of spring. I urge anyone tempted to bring home living bunnies to please stop and resist that temptation. Shake off the intoxicating fairy dust of the holiday and educate yourself.
Tragically, most “Easter present� bunnies will be abandoned or die within their first year due to lack of information or compassion by their human caregivers. Of those that aren’t gone within that first year, most will be relegated to a life of solitary confinement within wire mesh, with little to no exercise and a steady diet of stale pellets and water, existing like that for years — a life of utter nothingness.
Rabbits are intelligent, sensitive animals that live in family groups, pair-bonding for life. Wild rabbits and indeed, domestic rabbits, need a great deal of exercise. I have rescued rabbits that have been caged so long that they can take only a few hops before lying down. Rabbits are a lot of work, either a labor of love or an imposition, depending on your relationship.
If you are committed to caring for a new bunny as a family member and not a child’s possession, wait until after Easter and adopt from a rescue agency, such as Bunnies Urgently Needing Shelter in Santa Barbara, which has already neutered the rabbits and pair-bonded some. Compassion and information are all you need to share a wonderful life together. See http://www.rabbit.org or http://www.bunssb.org.
— Mona Mansfield-Erhardt, Ojai
Leave a comment