Save a Bunny this Easter!
Posted by Lauren | Under Opinions of Sorts with 180 views Friday Apr 14, 2006I’m very disappointed at the Philippines’ lack of concern for animal rights or prevention of animal cruelty. People are always harping about how it’s good to be “socially involved”, but I’d rather save animals than do charity to those who are less fortunate than I am. In the first place, I don’t like helping people I don’t know or don’t care about; their problems are none of my concern. Even if roles were reversed, I would feel uncomfortable if a total stranger offered me their charity.
Animals, however, are an entirely different matter. Against a human being who threatens to harm them, abandon them, or destroy their natural habitat, claws and sharp teeth can’t always save them. While there are hardly any reports of animal abuse on the news in the Philippines, that doesn’t mean that crimes against animals are non-existent over here. And it’s depressing to note that a lot of people wouldn’t feel guilty about hurting an innocent critter because they’re “just animals”.
Since the Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) appears to be dead, I shall dub myself an animal rights activist and use my blog to protest against cruelty to animals. With this in mind, let me encourage you all to do a good deed and save some animals this Easter.
Any Christian or person living in the Philippines knows that today is Good Friday. Which means that two days from now, it will be Easter Sunday.
What usually happens on Easter Sunday?
Easter egg hunts.
Who participates in Easter egg hunts?
Little beasts people like to call “children”.
What kind of prizes are given away during Easter egg hunts?
Bunnies and other live, baby animals.
According to this website, bunnies are not as easy to take care of as they seem to be. While they may seem happy spending their days twitching their noses, rabbits need as much care as a young child. They have to be toilet-trained and constantly supervised while they are out of their cages. A feeding-routine and cage-cleaning routine needs to be established - and rabbits do tend to crap quite a lot. Aside from this, rabbits are social creatures and thus need daily exercise and plenty of attention. And guess what? They live up to ten years. Having a pet bunny means ten years of this kind of vigilant care for a decade and cute as they are, I doubt anyone will be up to the task.
But even with yaya taking care of the rabbit, they still do not make ideal pets for kids. They are very delicate creatures and can get hurt if a child handles them a little too roughly. Unlike cats and dogs, bunnies don’t show any affection to the hand that feeds them. Since watching the rabbit’s nose twitch doesn’t really count as real interaction, children will eventually lose interest in them and end up abandoning the pet. Now isn’t that cheerful?
Aside from bunnies, ducklings and dyed chicks are given away to children as consolation prizes and are far more difficult to care for. Ducklings need to be kept warm and dry, which can be quite a task since they like to make a mess with their drinking water. They need a constant supply of fresh waterl if they don’t get drink right after they eat, they could choke and die. And even with proper care, these little animals can get easily killed by neighborhood predators, e.g. cats, dogs, and rats.
So what can be done to prevent easter animal cruelty? Discourage your kid siblings, cousins, or your own children from attending Easter events that give away live animals as prizes. Let them know that pets aren’t mere playthings; they require proper care and attention and therefore, need responsible people to look after them. If they insist on getting something cute , cuddly and forgettable for Easter, buy them stuffed toys instead. (Or, get them candy. Candy always makes everything bad go away.)
Children just aren’t mature and responsible enough to properly care for high-maintenance pets like bunnies, and a busy adult has no time to look after them, either. So save a bunny and boycott an Easter egg hunt!
Relevant links:
Bunnies at Easter: A Sad Story
Chicks and Ducks and Bunnies
Easter Bunnies Face Sad Fate after Holiday Excitement Ends
Where do Bunnies Go after Easter?
Welfare Warning on Easter Bunnies
I agree. Little children can’t take care of those high-maintenance pets. They only find them cute (baby pets especially) and just want to play with them. It’s sad and sickening to hear that so many pets are dumped everyday.
That’s just sad. And I do believe you when you say that animal cruelty exists in the Philippines. I’ve seen how our neighbors and distant relatives treated their pets when I lived in Manila. I say you start your own anti-animal cruelty org in school.
That bunny pic is too cute.
I suppose I could, but there’s about 102831203 steps to go through to set up an org and 18703182730 big shots who have to approve it. I’d rather be part of an existing organization than make my own because I’d probably spend more time setting it up than doing any cruelty-preventing.
You have a nice blog, I’m visiting it every week. But I swear I saw the same design on Webhosting site a few months ago. Is design for your site 100% made by you?
Oh so that’s why James Cromwell (is that his name… the farmer in “Babe”?) is protesting against the Power Plant for giving away loads of bunnies for free last Easter Sunday. You’re right. It is cruel because they’re so sensitive.
Nope, I use a Wordpress theme and edit it a little because I’m too lazy to make my own. See credit at the very bottom.
Oh, was he the one who started that protest? I was actually inspired to write this entry because of a forwarded email I got asking me to boycott Power Plant’s Easter egg hunt.
I definitely agree with you. Unfortunately it’s a tradition (not sure if that is our real tradition in celebrating easters). They should just stick to the egg hunting. At least they could get goodies with the eggs (or a live one perhaps). Can be eaten or stored. People would be pampered with edible/non-edible colorful eggs. But pampered by a rabbit? Hmmm… care for a cat or a dog instead? No, i’m not suggesting to give away more species of domesticated animals ^_^.
Unless the receipient knows how to spray paint, petrify, or cook a rabbit, perhaps.
It’s worse… Dog being hit by 2×2, cats pulled on their tails, stuff like that, are uhbviazlee animal abuse. But abandoning a rabbit after getting tired of watching its nose twitch is like abandoning, or neglecting life to live in its more appropriate ways. Poor rabbits.
Probably most of them are getting pissed by the stench of their wastes and soon, they’ll decide to give it to their neighbors.
By the way, your rabbit pics are cute. Aww…