Make Mine Chocolate!

submitted by KAllen1210 on Thursday, March 2 2006 at 5:33 PM

Over the next few weeks, thousands of people will be tempted to buy an Easter rabbit for a beloved child. And a few months from now, our local animal shelters will be inundated by a flood of cast-off bunnies. The All Creatures Rescue asks that everyone who is considering buying a rabbit this year stop and think about two important facts:

First, rabbits are naturally fragile and timid. An active child who expects a cuddly pet can easily terrify or even injure a rabbit.

Second, a well cared for rabbit should live as long as large dog (ten years or more) and will require just as much attention and veterinary care. So don’t give an Easter rabbit to a child unless you want to make a decade-long commitment.

If you want to make someone's Easter happy, don’t give a live rabbit unless you know it will be loved and cared for throughout its natural life. If there’s any doubt, give a stuffed or chocolate bunny instead.
For more information, please visit the organization here or for NC rescue and adoption information, visit all creatures rescue.org

posted by JAllen1127 on Friday, March 3 2006 at 1:07 PM

Gypsy

[Edited on March 3, 2006 at 7:09 PM. Reason : foo]

3/3/2006 7:08:48 PM

Another thing people often do with rabbits they no longer want is release them into the wild. Domestic rabbits don't live long in the wild.

Rabbits are wonderful, personable pets, but they require lots of care!

3/3/2006 7:38:15 PM

did somebody say CHOCOLATE!?

3/3/2006 7:57:20 PM

thanks for this!
this is a huge issue!

3/3/2006 8:55:46 PM

Why chocolate rabbits, aren’t the regular kind edible?

3/3/2006 8:57:53 PM

I am definately adopting a bunny for Easter!

3/3/2006 11:14:48 PM

i can't believe this is something serious...

3/4/2006 1:18:24 AM

I never really thought about this. I didn't know many people actually bought rabbits just for Easter.

3/4/2006 10:18:06 AM

Do you have a link for some statistics on animal shelters? I'm curios if there are other times of year that see unusual increases in a specific animal.

3/4/2006 10:28:08 AM

Some neighbor kids who lived up the street from me got rabbits for Easter one year. It seemed like it was tragedy after tragedy. After the initial excitement wore off, caring for them seemed to be a chore, the sister rabbit got pregnant by the brother rabbit and miscarried but I don’t think the baby rabbits that had been growing inside her were ever dispelled; one of the rabbits got a crazy neck injury from rough play with kids. Needless to say, they didn’t live long enough to require a decade-long commitment.

3/4/2006 1:02:32 PM

Just eat the damn things...

3/4/2006 3:39:05 PM

I took in a bunny a few years ago that someone had abandoned in front of the pet store. They had dyed his fur purple

3/4/2006 5:22:36 PM

i don't understand why someone would want a rabbit for a pet.

3/4/2006 10:36:45 PM

i think the point is that people dont want them as pets, people want them as seasonal entertainment.

3/4/2006 10:44:55 PM

Quote :

"Just eat the damn things... "

Rabbit is actually very good . . . tastes like chicken. Yeah, if you get tired of taking care of it, have somebody cook it up for you in a stew or casserole.

3/5/2006 12:15:59 AM

i hit a rabbit with my car once

3/5/2006 9:05:35 AM

^^ Then you could name your rabbit Stew from the beginning. Get it? Rabbit Stew.

3/5/2006 12:29:02 PM

Someone asked for a statistic...here you go: Rabbits are the third most popular pet, behind dogs and cats, and they are also the third most surrendered pet at shelters.

I couldn't find any more published statistics about the time of the year, but you can read some more interesting stats and facts here:
http://www.3bunnies.org/trivia.htm

3/5/2006 5:35:14 PM

i would have thought gerbil, hamsters, or fish would come in before rabbits because of the relative ease of care

3/5/2006 6:13:54 PM

Quote :

"I never really thought about this. I didn't know many people actually bought rabbits just for Easter."

i didn't know that people bought black cats for halloween and threw them away, but i do now.

3/5/2006 8:15:04 PM

I gave my rabbit a kid once. The rabbit ate him. Looking back I guess I never should have given a rabbit a kid that looked so much like lettuce. Sorry kid, my bad.

Seriously though, I think if you give a kid a rabbit for easter you're fucking retarded, aka fucktarded.

3/5/2006 8:28:25 PM

If anyone is interested in helping with the "Make Mine Chocolate" campaign, you can visit this link below. I put 200 fliers in the lobby of the Wake County Library in Cameron Village and they were gone in 3 days. Any help would be appreciated.

http://www.makeminechocolate.org/marketing.htm

The SPCA of Wake County could always use more "Bunny Buddies" so visit here if you want to volunteer and get to know their rabbits: http://www.spcawake.org

3/5/2006 10:50:56 PM

Yeah I've also heard of a lot of people buying baby chicks and giving those to their kids.

3/6/2006 10:02:52 AM

Quote :

"Rabbit is actually very good . . . tastes like chicken. Yeah, if you get tired of taking care of it, have somebody cook it up for you in a stew or casserole."

Haha mental picture of the scene from Fatal Attraction when Michael Douglas comes home, sees the pot on the stove and the little girl starts screaming.

3/6/2006 10:06:59 AM

When I first started reading this, I thought it was a humorous column about why people should adopt chocolate bunnies from the animal shelter ... don't ask.

3/8/2006 9:04:46 AM

^^^Why would anyone in their right mind want to give a kid a chick??? A bunny I can fathom because they are still "pet-like" into adulthood, but a chick? THEY GROW INTO CHICKENS PEOPLE!!! I understand the whole seasonal pet phenomenon, but do they think the chick will stay cute, small, and yellow forever? Soon enough they'll be ugly, large disease bags.

Damn, humans are stupid.

[Edited on March 8, 2006 at 2:03 PM. Reason : ]

3/8/2006 2:02:18 PM

One of my friends is getting chicks soon. She and her housemates are going to raise them for eggs.

I think my rabbits lived fairly comfortable lives and they lived to be 5.

3/9/2006 11:27:00 AM

^does your friend who is raising chickens also eat chicken?

3/9/2006 11:40:00 AM

mmmm, chicken

3/9/2006 12:24:52 PM

my grandfather has a rabbit that is litter box trained....it runs around the house freely like a cat or dog....

3/9/2006 12:42:42 PM

what are the mental capacities of a chicken or rabbit as compared to a cat or dog?

3/9/2006 2:52:06 PM

^^

Ours is the same way. She knows her bedtime and feeding times, does little tricks, and is very personable.

3/9/2006 4:20:39 PM

Quote :

"what are the mental capacities of a chicken or rabbit as compared to a cat or dog?"

I don't know about a chicken but for rabbits, they share many qualities with cats and dogs. Like cats, they sometimes like to do their own thing, but they can play with you like a dog. Mine play under blankets (supervised) and climb in cardboard castles. I have a blog with lots of pictures and that should give you a better idea of their personalities. http://www.ncbunny.blogspot.com

You can also check out http://www.rabbit.org for more rabbit info - includes info on behaviors and litter box training.

3/9/2006 7:34:04 PM

And if you cook a rabbit for easter like I plan to, make sure to add a bit of Ms. Dash©, make it taste great with Ms. Dash©!

3/13/2006 8:24:49 PM