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By Edison T. Rabbit
November 1999
So you want to invite a rabbit into
your home to love as a companion? That's fantastic! We rabbits make
great friends and will give a lot of love back in return for the
love that is shown to us!
Keep in mind when you bring one of us home to share your life with,
that you are making a long term commitment. If given the proper care
and attention, we bunnies who live inside a home and not outdoors in
a hutch can live as long as 10 years, perhaps longer! My
pet human has read in a few books about some house bunnies living as
long as 16 years.
Unlike a dog say, we are silent animals. We hardly make any noise at
all (we do lightly grunt when threatened, and thump our back paws on
the floor when scared) which means we may be the perfect pet for you
folks who are apartment dwellers!
My pet humans were in a pet store doing some food shopping for me one evening.
One of them heard an older shop attendant in there say to a patron
when talking about us bunnies: "No, you can just let them sit in the
cage and not pay attention to them all that much, they don't mind".
Nothing can be more wrong! We are very social animals and enjoy the
company of our own kind and of a friendly human. We enjoy getting
petted gently and personally, I love getting the top of my head
scratched! And just sit in a cage? Get real! We bunnies just love to
run and hop in a fairly wide open room! There is a whole world out
there for us to explore and we rabbits are very curious about our
surroundings.
I will say up front that we are NOT a "low maintenance" pet! We
require as much attention say as a cat or to be honest, any pet
does. So before you bring one of us rabbits or any pet home really,
just make sure you are doing it out of genuine love for the animal and not because of some holiday, or because its trendy. Even to
teach a child an exercise in responsibility is not enough reason.
Say the the young boy or girl fails to look after us? That means
someone has to pick up the slack and care for our needs.
Easter is a such a bad time time to be a rabbit! Some humans bring one
or two of us into your home as darling presents for your children.
However by mid summer, the majority of us "Easter bunnies" sit
forlorn in a cage, ignored and uncared for. Only to die before our
time of neglect. Worse yet, some of us are tossed out of the house
where we were once loved and let out in the
"urban or suburban jungle". We domesticated bunnies don't know what to do out there!
We've become so dependant on someone for care and love we can't fend
for ourselves. Most of us die from starvation, exposure, or worse
yet become food for some other stray or wild animal..... I shudder at the thought!!!!
So if you are ready to take on the responsibility and reap the
rewards that come with opening your home and heart to one or two of
us, please do! We really are fun companions to have around. If you
are not, allow us to wait for the right person! If you cannot make
the commitment to give us the attention, care and love we
need, think twice about bringing one of us home. We'll be both glad that you did!
Warm Regards,
Edison T. Rabbit
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