Cute Picture .. Ugly Problem
You’ve read about the Wannabee breeder?
Let’s talk about the truest depiction of the Backyard Breeder.
Yet ANOTHER “breeder” family brought us their refuse. They had simply let bunnies run loose in their back yard and kept the 4-H and FFA well stocked with rabbits - cute little mini lops.
They brought nine of them to us because their market ran dry along with the fact that they didn’t want to spay or neuter to control their population.
Only nine? No big deal, right? … oh, it only gets better ..
First Autumn gave birth. She was too young and couldn’t make milk - her litter died. We set up Jillian with a nesting box, since she was the same age. She was “sparked” by Autumn and had time to make a little milk before she gave birth to her five.
Then poor little Ivory — a three month old baby at conception “blessed” us with five more. Amazingly, they have lived.
At least the calendar is on our side now - this batch is past the gestation period. Though not a part of this sordid story, Bit-O-Honey also gave us five more babies.
These people, obviously, just let their bunnies run loose, breed and kindle with no supervision at all. If you really think about that, one has to wonder how many litters they didn’t know about that simply died out in the tall grass for lack of care from “baby” mothers that weren’t old enough.
If you think about this in the truest context, your stomach should turn a bit. These folks, in essence, were saying, “If they live we’ll sell them and if they don’t, the rats and cats will clean it up for us”.
What can be done?
At this point of the story, most people would say, “That’s terrible, but there’s nothing we can do about it.”
They would be wrong. DO NOT purchase animals from the classifieds. DO NOT purchase animals from the Feed Stores. DO NOT purchase animals from the County Fair. DO NOT purchase animals from the pet stores.
Notice that word purchase? That’s the point. If these people can’t sell animals, they’ll stop buying them to sell. If the backyard breeders and the puppy mills can’t sell them to the pet stores or the public anymore, they will stop breeding.
County Fair? … 4-H and FFA animal husbandry education has outlived its usefulness. Stop supporting these programs.
Sounds simple doesn’t it? It starts with you. “But I want a purebred with papers”, you say. We ask, “Why???”. Prestige is a pitiful reason to purchase a living thing. “But I might want to breed”, you say. If you’re reading this, you’re obviously only making a lame excuse.
“Mutts”, according to those that have had both, are smarter (all round), more loyal and absolutely - no one can dispute - less inbred than any purebred animal of any species.
If you think you are “rescuing” an animal or two by buying them out of the conditions they are in, you are sadly mistaken. All you are doing is making room for more animals. If animals are truly in bad conditions, call the Sheriff.
Opt to adopt. Save a life. Shelter pets need homes.
