Easter Bunny

It's that time when bunny themed items hit the store shelves and almost time for youngsters to search for all those brightly colored eggs. Unfortunately it's also a bad time for bunnies, chicks and ducks. So many of these animals are bought as Easter presents and the majority of the time they are bought for children. This usually doesn't end well for those animals. So many bunnies are bought as presents and once the child or the family loses interest, the bunny is set "free" in the world.

"Mommy, the bunny doesn't do anything. She just sits in her cage. She's boring!" This is something that is said after a bunny is bought for a child. Of course an animal will be boring if they are kept confined all the time! Bunnies need room to run, play and binky! Leaving a bunny in a cage isn't good for the bunny.

"Pee-ewww, that bunny stinks!" Bunnies are super clean animals! They don't like to sit in their filth and it is most certainly not healthy for them! Bunnies are so easy to litter train once they've been spayed or neutered.

"Since you've lost interest in this bunny, we're going to set him free. It's much kinder to let him roam in the wild than being kept in this cage all the time." While it's not good for buns to be kept in cages all the time, it REALLY is NOT a good idea at all to set them "free". Just because there are actual wild bunnies in nature doesn't mean that a domestic bunny has those same instincts. While our pet bunnies do share some of the instincts of their wild cousins, they are NOT equipped to fend for themselves in the wild. And it's not a good idea to post "Free to a good home" online or advertise that in any matter. That is an open invitation to people with very bad intentions. A lot of people will use them as snake food, dog bait and other horrible, horrible things when you advertise a small pet, like a bunny, for free. Ask for a small re-homing fee or take them to a local rabbit rescue or your local Humane Society where they will be put up for adoption and have a good chance at finding a loving home.

Bunnies are very delicate animals and are so easily hurt. A child will generally be rough with a bunny and that's just going to cause health issues for the bun bun. Starter pets is not a phrase to describe bunnies at all. They require a lot of care and they are one of the most expensive pets to have.

I would also like to add that sometimes someone likes to get a pet for their significant other. This, too, is not a good idea, even if the bunny is adopted. Even if someone has experience with bunnies and even currently has a bunny it's still a bad idea and here's why. A person needs to meet the pet. They need to see what the chemistry is between the two of them. They need to know if the bunny is a good fit for them. And if that person already has a bun bun, then that means they would probably at some point want to introduce the new bun to their current bun. It is best that the current bunny picks out his/her new companion to see if they are compatible. I do understand that certain bunnies don't do well in situations outside their home. I couldn't take Gizmo to pick out his new friend when I adopted Ebony because I was afraid he would go into Stasis.

I will leave you with the #notjust4easter photos of my Gizmo and Ebony and this one last thing: 95% of bunnies bought for Easter don't live to see their first birthdays.