neversabrina
New member
...before you choose to breed rabbits for pets or meat.
I've been involved in rabbit rescue for over 30 years. There are already thousands of rabbits waiting for homes throughout this country in rescues, homes that for many will never come. There are thousands of rabbits dumped yearly by people who think they're cute for 5 minutes and then no longer want to care for them. Often they are not brought to shelters but dumped outside where a rabbit is lucky if it escapes a predator attack or illness and even luckier if a kind samaritan is able to catch it and find a rescue that is not already full and brimming with unwanted rabbits. These same rescues are working on shoestring budgets and generally 100% volunteer run trying to give these rabbits care.
You may say it's not me causing the problem but unless you're also involved in rabbit rescue, helping these discarded animals live better lives, find new homes with people willing to spend the money and time and give care for an animal that can live 8-12 years and are invested in the animal's long term well being you are indeed contributing to the problem. It's irresponsible to keep breeding rabbits while so many get dumped yearly, live short lives or die tragically. It's irresponsible to keep breeding rabbits while other good samaritans clean up a mess they neither caused nor contributed to.
Many people do not want to pay for the veterinary care needed for healthy rabbits and many people don't understand how quickly you need to move if you have an ill rabbit and/or a rabbit in stasis. Veterinary costs are expensive and it's expensive to care for a rabbit - often times more so than cats or dogs because of the specialized illnesses associated with rabbits. Unless a rabbit's owner lives near an urban area there are very few veterinarians across the United States that are knowledgeable, trained and experienced in rabbit medicine. Many people do not realize rabbits are not a good fit for young children and don't belong in petting zoos or classrooms. Many rabbits die within their first year when they are sold or given to families with young children, especially first time rabbit owners. It's disheartening, discouraging and a moral and ethical failure on the part of all involved in this industry to not take responsibility for the sad reality for many rabbits.
I've seen innumerable breeders sell their rabbits without RHDV2 vaccines while telling their customers it's ok to keep their rabbits outside. We have a RHDV2 pandemic in this country and it's a horrible and guaranteed death for a rabbit should they come in contact with this highly transmissible disease.
I've seem innumerable breeders sell their rabbits unspayed and unneutered. Far too many are sold as babies as the incorrect sex and more unwanted litters are born and dumped. Far too many female rabbits develop uterine cancer by age 3-4 because a pet owner does not want to pay for the veterinary care or was never informed that an unspayed female will most likely develop cancer.
If you're a meat breeder you are currently part of an industry that does not even consider a rabbit important enough to regulate farming standards for. There are multitudes of backyard and commercial breeders that do not care for their rabbits properly and provide miserable existences for these animals. You may say you are not one of those people but if you're not committed to advocating for legislative action that requires rabbits to have, at the very least, the same standards of protections as other famed animals which are currently, barely adequate in the U.S. as compared to many other western countries abroad, you are helping to perpetuate an industry that is inherently cruel and discompassionate. It teaches children to normalize cruelty and adults to act indifferently. Every animal that gives up its life through no choice of its own to feed you or someone else, at the very least, deserves a life free from cruelty and suffering. It's the very least we can do for another living being. There are far too many cases of neglect and cruelty in this industry throughout this country.
Lastly, you are the center of the universe for domesticated and/or farmed animal and, as such, have a moral obligation to be worthy of the trust they put in you from their very first to last dying breath. Please consider this as you move forward and give a thought to those of us that are picking up another discarded, abandoned or deceased pet rabbit or rescuing meat rabbits from abhorrent and heartbreaking living conditions. I'm exhausted, heartbroken and tired of cleaning up a mess I did not create and perhaps, more importantly, deeply saddened that these animals did not get the life they so deserved, each and every one.
I've been involved in rabbit rescue for over 30 years. There are already thousands of rabbits waiting for homes throughout this country in rescues, homes that for many will never come. There are thousands of rabbits dumped yearly by people who think they're cute for 5 minutes and then no longer want to care for them. Often they are not brought to shelters but dumped outside where a rabbit is lucky if it escapes a predator attack or illness and even luckier if a kind samaritan is able to catch it and find a rescue that is not already full and brimming with unwanted rabbits. These same rescues are working on shoestring budgets and generally 100% volunteer run trying to give these rabbits care.
You may say it's not me causing the problem but unless you're also involved in rabbit rescue, helping these discarded animals live better lives, find new homes with people willing to spend the money and time and give care for an animal that can live 8-12 years and are invested in the animal's long term well being you are indeed contributing to the problem. It's irresponsible to keep breeding rabbits while so many get dumped yearly, live short lives or die tragically. It's irresponsible to keep breeding rabbits while other good samaritans clean up a mess they neither caused nor contributed to.
Many people do not want to pay for the veterinary care needed for healthy rabbits and many people don't understand how quickly you need to move if you have an ill rabbit and/or a rabbit in stasis. Veterinary costs are expensive and it's expensive to care for a rabbit - often times more so than cats or dogs because of the specialized illnesses associated with rabbits. Unless a rabbit's owner lives near an urban area there are very few veterinarians across the United States that are knowledgeable, trained and experienced in rabbit medicine. Many people do not realize rabbits are not a good fit for young children and don't belong in petting zoos or classrooms. Many rabbits die within their first year when they are sold or given to families with young children, especially first time rabbit owners. It's disheartening, discouraging and a moral and ethical failure on the part of all involved in this industry to not take responsibility for the sad reality for many rabbits.
I've seen innumerable breeders sell their rabbits without RHDV2 vaccines while telling their customers it's ok to keep their rabbits outside. We have a RHDV2 pandemic in this country and it's a horrible and guaranteed death for a rabbit should they come in contact with this highly transmissible disease.
I've seem innumerable breeders sell their rabbits unspayed and unneutered. Far too many are sold as babies as the incorrect sex and more unwanted litters are born and dumped. Far too many female rabbits develop uterine cancer by age 3-4 because a pet owner does not want to pay for the veterinary care or was never informed that an unspayed female will most likely develop cancer.
If you're a meat breeder you are currently part of an industry that does not even consider a rabbit important enough to regulate farming standards for. There are multitudes of backyard and commercial breeders that do not care for their rabbits properly and provide miserable existences for these animals. You may say you are not one of those people but if you're not committed to advocating for legislative action that requires rabbits to have, at the very least, the same standards of protections as other famed animals which are currently, barely adequate in the U.S. as compared to many other western countries abroad, you are helping to perpetuate an industry that is inherently cruel and discompassionate. It teaches children to normalize cruelty and adults to act indifferently. Every animal that gives up its life through no choice of its own to feed you or someone else, at the very least, deserves a life free from cruelty and suffering. It's the very least we can do for another living being. There are far too many cases of neglect and cruelty in this industry throughout this country.
Lastly, you are the center of the universe for domesticated and/or farmed animal and, as such, have a moral obligation to be worthy of the trust they put in you from their very first to last dying breath. Please consider this as you move forward and give a thought to those of us that are picking up another discarded, abandoned or deceased pet rabbit or rescuing meat rabbits from abhorrent and heartbreaking living conditions. I'm exhausted, heartbroken and tired of cleaning up a mess I did not create and perhaps, more importantly, deeply saddened that these animals did not get the life they so deserved, each and every one.
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Perhaps, instead of blaming each other... we should actually try to understand each other a bit more. Then perhaps, just perhaps, solutions can be achieved?
