How would you respond?

[ladysown]

Email received

Hi there.. not sure if this would be something you could help me with... We are looking to rent (for an afternoon) a few white bunnies. My little girl will be turning 5 and we are having an Alice in Wonderland themed party... and I thought it would be a nice introduction to bunnies for the girls. We may be interested in buying one for our daughter as her birthday gift.
Sorry for the winded msg...

My response

Thank you for contacting me.
I am near London, not sure if I'd want my bunnies traveling that far away for an afternoon.
BUT I don't have much in the way of white rabbits anyways.

Thinking Pickering area... Can't say I know anyone with well handled white bunnies up in that neck of the woods. Most I know do colour or do meat rabbits.

My inclination is to send a secondary response but I'm not sure what to put in beyond... this would not be a good way to introduce your daughter to bunnies... so .. thoughts? thanks.

 

[Dood]

I would add something along the lines of...

A party is not a good way to introduce a rabbit. The fun and novelty of the animal will last a few hours but rabbits are a long term commitment as they can live for 8 years or more.

In my opinion, 5 years old is also too young of an age for a child to be responsible for a rabbit, even small ones can seriously bite or scratch if they are handled improperly. If you are committed to caring for a rabbit for its entire lifetime then please wait until after the excitement of your daughters birthday.

 

[Schipperkesue]

Hmmm, something about using a living animal as a prop for a child's party raises the hackles on my neck...don't like the message it sends to the young ones.

 

[Zass]

Stuffed rabbits are easy enough to come by. I dunno. A child's birthday party is really the last place most rabbits would want to be.

I'm not against the idea of rabbit rentals...but...the only way I would consent to the situation would be if the rabbits came with a "rabbit handler" being part of the rental package. To transport the animals, supervise the situation, and make sure the rabbits aren't dropped by children, or fed anything weird (among infinite other dangers).

The renter would have to pay for the "rabbit handlers" gas and time.(upfront) and It would be EXPENSIVE.
The rabbit handler would have a special uniform or outfit to set them apart from party or event guests.
(so everyone can clearly see that person is the handler, uniforms establish a kind of psychological authority that most children and adults respond to)
There would be a contract to be signed by the renter clearly stating what is acceptable and what isn't.

Somehow, I suspect few people who want rabbits for events would consent to all that, but tough, live animals are not props.

 

[Ivory]

Why not suggest that this person get in touch with a traveling petting zoo that has rabbits?

I have a friend who has a traveling petting zoo, and occasionally I have helped her with birthday parties. as a general rule she picks which animals to take but I'm sure if someone requested "rabbits only" or even "white rabbits only" she'd be willing to accommodate them, quite likely at reduced rate so long as her travel costs were covered.

 

[ladysown]

thank you so much everyone for taking the time out of your busy days to help me formulate a good answer to this person's follow up email.

I appreciate it.