Keep your Easter basket bunny-free
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - PETA
April 09, 2009
Easter is right around the corner: If you haven´t put together your kids´ Easter baskets, parents, it´s time to hop to it. But while you´re loading up on plastic grass, plush toys and candy, skip the trip down the pet aisle.
Real bunnies have no place in children´s Easter baskets.
If your kids are begging for an "Easter bunny" this year, ask yourself this: Are you looking forward to bunny-proofing and litterbox training? Are you ready to shell out money to get bunny spayed or neutered? Unaltered rabbits chew, spray and dig. Is your child planning on taking Flopsy to college? Rabbits can live to be 10 years old. Do you like playing beauty shop? Bunnies shed like crazy and must be brushed regularly. And clipping toenails is no treat, especially when Thumper starts thumping you in the stomach with his strong back legs.
I became acquainted with bunnies during my senior year of high school, when a Holland Lop named Velveteen became part of our family. Velveteen was a "classroom pet" who came home with my mom, a teacher, on weekends. Eventually, he stayed home for good.
Velveteen taught us that rabbits are smart, social animals who love to run and leap, explore and interact with others—needs that can´t be met by a wire cage (as he aptly illustrated when he figured out how to let himself out). So, one baby gate, flannel sheet and old bathrobe later, our kitchen was converted into Velveteen´s living area.
Rabbits chew whatever they can get their teeth on, so bunny-proofing is a must. They´ll chew wires, couches, carpets and your new oak table. Velv chewed holes through the vinyl flooring in my mom´s house, and he loves to gnaw on molding. Mom had to replace a lot of molding when she put her house on the market.
We also learned about bunny nutrition. They need more than the typical rabbit food pellets. They must have fresh vegetables every day, such as kale and broccoli, and they love a little apple or banana. Velv starts each morning by running to the refrigerator and standing on his hind legs to ask for a treat. If mom is running late, she can expect to be greeted with an irritated tilt of the head, a displeased sniff or—in the case of egregious tardiness—a well-aimed nip to her socks or pants.
Proper handling is extremely important. Rabbits must be held just so (and some bunnies refuse to be held at all), otherwise they´ll kick and can injure themselves if they do it hard enough. For this reason, they don´t make good companions for small children, who tend to carry animals around however their little hands can manage. Because rabbits have such strong gnawing jaws, they can and do bite—hard—when they feel threatened.
You also need to pay special attention to rabbits´ health because they don´t vocalize like dogs and cats do when in pain. When rabbits are hurting or weak, it´s their instinct to draw as little attention to themselves as possible in order to avoid attracting predators. Many cat and dog vets aren´t familiar with how to treat rabbits, so you´ll have to find a specialist.
Giving animals as gifts is never a good idea. Unlike chocolate bunnies, real rabbits require a lifetime of care and attention. Unfortunately, many people realize this too late and end up banishing unwanted "Easter bunnies" to outdoor hutches, dumping them at animal shelters or simply setting them loose outdoors, where they have little chance of surviving. My advice: On Easter morning, give your children all the chocolate bunnies they can eat, but leave real rabbits out of the equation. It might not make your dentist happy, but the bunnies—and your kids—will thank you.
Heidi Parker is a writer for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510; www.HelpingAnimals.com.
Real bunnies have no place in children´s Easter baskets.
If your kids are begging for an "Easter bunny" this year, ask yourself this: Are you looking forward to bunny-proofing and litterbox training? Are you ready to shell out money to get bunny spayed or neutered? Unaltered rabbits chew, spray and dig. Is your child planning on taking Flopsy to college? Rabbits can live to be 10 years old. Do you like playing beauty shop? Bunnies shed like crazy and must be brushed regularly. And clipping toenails is no treat, especially when Thumper starts thumping you in the stomach with his strong back legs.
I became acquainted with bunnies during my senior year of high school, when a Holland Lop named Velveteen became part of our family. Velveteen was a "classroom pet" who came home with my mom, a teacher, on weekends. Eventually, he stayed home for good.
Velveteen taught us that rabbits are smart, social animals who love to run and leap, explore and interact with others—needs that can´t be met by a wire cage (as he aptly illustrated when he figured out how to let himself out). So, one baby gate, flannel sheet and old bathrobe later, our kitchen was converted into Velveteen´s living area.
Rabbits chew whatever they can get their teeth on, so bunny-proofing is a must. They´ll chew wires, couches, carpets and your new oak table. Velv chewed holes through the vinyl flooring in my mom´s house, and he loves to gnaw on molding. Mom had to replace a lot of molding when she put her house on the market.
We also learned about bunny nutrition. They need more than the typical rabbit food pellets. They must have fresh vegetables every day, such as kale and broccoli, and they love a little apple or banana. Velv starts each morning by running to the refrigerator and standing on his hind legs to ask for a treat. If mom is running late, she can expect to be greeted with an irritated tilt of the head, a displeased sniff or—in the case of egregious tardiness—a well-aimed nip to her socks or pants.
Proper handling is extremely important. Rabbits must be held just so (and some bunnies refuse to be held at all), otherwise they´ll kick and can injure themselves if they do it hard enough. For this reason, they don´t make good companions for small children, who tend to carry animals around however their little hands can manage. Because rabbits have such strong gnawing jaws, they can and do bite—hard—when they feel threatened.
You also need to pay special attention to rabbits´ health because they don´t vocalize like dogs and cats do when in pain. When rabbits are hurting or weak, it´s their instinct to draw as little attention to themselves as possible in order to avoid attracting predators. Many cat and dog vets aren´t familiar with how to treat rabbits, so you´ll have to find a specialist.
Giving animals as gifts is never a good idea. Unlike chocolate bunnies, real rabbits require a lifetime of care and attention. Unfortunately, many people realize this too late and end up banishing unwanted "Easter bunnies" to outdoor hutches, dumping them at animal shelters or simply setting them loose outdoors, where they have little chance of surviving. My advice: On Easter morning, give your children all the chocolate bunnies they can eat, but leave real rabbits out of the equation. It might not make your dentist happy, but the bunnies—and your kids—will thank you.
Heidi Parker is a writer for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), 501 Front St., Norfolk, VA 23510; www.HelpingAnimals.com.
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