How do YOU handle this?

[fluffybuns]

I'm interested in some feedback from people with pet rabbits when dealing with people who very openly argue that rabbits are only good for being someone's dinner. I'm not sure if this topic is allowed, but as a rabbit lover it seems there's always that one jerk that someone brings to our house party who loudly "jokes" that our house rabbit should be the "Main Course" or "Hors d'Oeuvres". I'm pretty social and insist on being polite to our house guests and I always just shrug these comments off and change the subject after (which infuriates me as I'd love nothing more than to curse them out). Why do these people feel it's appropriate to go in to someone's house and make insensitive jokes about their beloved companion animals? I'm sure there are others who have to deal with remarks such as these. What's your approach to dealing with rabbit intolerance? I'd love any and all feedback.
Thanks.

 

[ShreddersMom]

It's unfortunate, but at times it's best to ignore it. Which I know it harder said than done. I hate it when family members tell me that rabbits are dirty and that "no way is he litter trained" and things like that. It's sad but these people just don't know and don't appreciate rabbits like rabbit owners do.

 

[Blue eyes]

Honestly, it doesn't bother me. Usually they just think they are being funny or cute (even if they aren't).

We used to have a h u g e Pacu fish in a big tank. He was the size of a large serving platter. We'd often get comments about how tasty our Pacu would be as well.

And we are occasionally, "humorously" warned that our pet rats will start the plague. Again, just ignorance.

But with our rabbits, if someone mentions something about hassenpfeffer, there is almost always another person to say, "... awww, but they are just sooo cute!"

I don't read too much into it, so it doesn't bother me.

 

[bunnyman666]

I tend to say how much I love broiled (place name of animal here that the offender owns) and tell them to leave my house or place of business IMMEDIATELY. That is just plain RUDE, especially in my house or place of business. When they try and back out of it, I tell them to leave or else. I have no room in my life for people like that. If that means I have lost a so-called friend or client, I do NOT need them in my life, anyway. I would be a social pariah if I were to talk about my love of roasted dog or cat (which I do not do), why is talk of murdering rabbits any less repugnant?

 

[Nancy McClelland]

There are several ways of handling this. I'm a sarcastic individual with a great command of the English language so I usually try to insult them to their face without them being cognizant of having been insulted. Did your parents have any children that lived? is one of my favorites. Best just to ignore them as they are ignorant (stupid!!) and not really worth engaging anyway, especially if they think it is humorous to talk of a pet that way to begin with, they just proved the point I was making. A friend once said, "some people are so narrow minded that their ears must rub", but George Carlin said it best--"God must really love stupid people because he made so damn many". It's really a shame that idiots are let out to wander without a wrangler--paraphrased from a line in the "Drew Carey Show".

 

[bunnyman666]

There are several ways of handling this. I'm a sarcastic individual with a great command of the English language so I usually try to insult them to their face without them being cognizant of having been insulted. Did your parents have any children that lived? is one of my favorites. Best just to ignore them as they are ignorant (stupid!!) and not really worth engaging anyway, especially if they think it is humorous to talk of a pet that way to begin with, they just proved the point I was making. A friend once said, "some people are so narrow minded that their ears must rub", but George Carlin said it best--"God must really love stupid people because he made so damn many". It's really a shame that idiots are let out to wander without a wrangler--paraphrased from a line in the "Drew Carey Show".

You handle this a LOT better than I. I tend to try and teach people how stupid they are. Most are unteachable.

I got kicked out of a hockey game for insulting a man's mother after he said he couldn't wait to stew my rabbit; of course I cross-checked him in the throat after he missed swinging at my head. Oops!!!!

I should try your approach once

 

[Devi]

I personally don't see what the big deal is. There is rabbits that are bred to be meat just as their is rabbits that are pets that's just how it is, just as there is people who eat dogs, cats and horses in other countries. People joking about these things doesn't bother me at all,.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

I'm interested in some feedback from people with pet rabbits when dealing with people who very openly argue that rabbits are only good for being someone's dinner. I'm not sure if this topic is allowed, but as a rabbit lover it seems there's always that one jerk that someone brings to our house party who loudly "jokes" that our house rabbit should be the "Main Course" or "Hors d'Oeuvres". I'm pretty social and insist on being polite to our house guests and I always just shrug these comments off and change the subject after (which infuriates me as I'd love nothing more than to curse them out). Why do these people feel it's appropriate to go in to someone's house and make insensitive jokes about their beloved companion animals? I'm sure there are others who have to deal with remarks such as these. What's your approach to dealing with rabbit intolerance? I'd love any and all feedback.
Thanks.

Even if you raise rabbits FOR meat, people make these jokes. I hear them all the time among all kinds of rabbit fanciers...and it's always just as stupid.

Usually people are just looking for a reaction. Rather than entertain them by getting upset or switching topics, I just say something to the effect of, "Actually, rabbits are great multi-purpose animals. They are a healthy meat and can be substituted into recipes that call for chicken."

Something like that. I don't raise rabbits for meat, mine are ALL pet and show rabbits. But I respect those who raise them for other purposes and still try to educate and advocate for rabbits in all aspects, not just the areas in which I enjoy them. Usually that catches people off-guard because they assume I'd be staunchly against it. When they learn that I'm on the side of "to each their own," it usually stops the ignorant remarks and instead opens the door for reasonable conversation and education. Once we break that barrier, people like learning more about rabbits and what I do with them.

 

[fluffybuns]

Interesting points. From my experience, the kind of people who go into someone's house as a guest and immediately insults their choice of pet are also the kind of people who do not care for intelligent conversations and do not want to become educated about these animals. I find that they are usually trying to sound "funny" or "cool" by discrediting an animal that they feel is inferior. Alas, I've completely given up on attempting to reason with individuals such as these. I'm simply appalled at people's lack of manners and social skills around here. It's one thing to talk with your mouth full at the dinner table, it another to be a disrespectful little sh** toward your dinner hosts.

 

[fluffybuns]

You handle this a LOT better than I. I tend to try and teach people how stupid they are. Most are unteachable.

I got kicked out of a hockey game for insulting a man's mother after he said he couldn't wait to stew my rabbit; of course I cross-checked him in the throat after he missed swinging at my head. Oops!!!!

I should try your approach once

Lol. That's one way to handle it. Ha, I bet he's going to think twice before threatening to stew someone's bunny in the future!!

 

[bunnyman666]

Lol. That's one way to handle it. Ha, I bet he's going to think twice before threatening to stew someone's bunny in the future!!

Well, I did say something very unsavoury about his mother (in response to his threat to Trix) and he took a swing!!! This man has been a jerk to me since the first time I saw him, so this was to erupt, but it took a year.

I think he thought he was going to get me to swing first, and I just went for the jugular (figuratively). Whilst me getting kicked out for a few weeks, he got kicked out for a LOT longer, as he swung first, besides being a LOT bigger than I.

 

[TacoBunny]

I find it helps to quip back with humour. When I first got my bun my work colleagues immediately brought out the cooking jokes but I just said "hmm no ...he wouldn't taste very good. I haven't fattened him up enough yet" we had a laugh and now they haven't said any more cooking jokes because they've realised there's now no fun to be had.
Instead now I bombard them with adorable pictures. Hehe.

 

[Azerane]

This is one of those things that bothers me, but also doesn't bother me. It's hard to explain. Most people I know simply mean it to be funny, the same with how lots of people like to make jokes if you're a cat owner saying "the only good cat is a dead cat". I tend to joke along with people, ignore it, or playfully defend their statement. Is it rude? Of course it is, especially in your own home. However, if someone were to say it and I knew they weren't just joking, like they said it as more of a threat, then I would probably be upset and take a more serious defensive stand. Otherwise, it's not worth me getting worked up over, I know that a lot of people do it for a reaction anyway.

 

[pani]

I normally just raise my eyebrows and make a really sarcastic face.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

One of our favorite shirts has a large yellow banner "Stop Animal Testing" and then below it has a picture of a bunny with glasses on sitting at a school desk with a paper sitting there with a big letter F in red. It deals with a subject I abhor, but with humor. In general, if you don't laugh at the idiots and ignore them they'll try to drive you nuts. If they don't get attention and a reaction, they become unfocused and lost. If not, hit 'em harder next time!

 

[bunnyman666]

One of our favorite shirts has a large yellow banner "Stop Animal Testing" and then below it has a picture of a bunny with glasses on sitting at a school desk with a paper sitting there with a big letter F in red. It deals with a subject I abhor, but with humor. In general, if you don't laugh at the idiots and ignore them they'll try to drive you nuts. If they don't get attention and a reaction, they become unfocused and lost. If not, hit 'em harder next time!

That shirt sounds hilarious!!!!

I gotta get a bit smarter and reply a teeny bit more sarcastically rather than trying to go for the figurative jugular. I swear that me cross-checking a guy in the throat after I insulted his mother in response to threatening my girl was the first time I have EVER responded in violence, though I was provoked by a swing of his stick at my head.

I guess you could call me a henchman for rabbits

 

[Nancy McClelland]

You could always load up on hot and spicy food before the game-the ones that suffer are those in closest proximity and the atmosphere in general. My always wanted me to roll down the window, like that was gonna really happen. Very useful for revenge in elevators too!

 

[AdventureIQ]

Even if you raise rabbits FOR meat, people make these jokes. I hear them all the time among all kinds of rabbit fanciers...and it's always just as stupid.

Usually people are just looking for a reaction. Rather than entertain them by getting upset or switching topics, I just say something to the effect of, "Actually, rabbits are great multi-purpose animals. They are a healthy meat and can be substituted into recipes that call for chicken."

Something like that. I don't raise rabbits for meat, mine are ALL pet and show rabbits. But I respect those who raise them for other purposes and still try to educate and advocate for rabbits in all aspects, not just the areas in which I enjoy them. Usually that catches people off-guard because they assume I'd be staunchly against it. When they learn that I'm on the side of "to each their own," it usually stops the ignorant remarks and instead opens the door for reasonable conversation and education. Once we break that barrier, people like learning more about rabbits and what I do with them.

I am brand new here and may be way out of line and in fact may be on the wrong forum all together. I emailed the admin and asked if I came to the wrong place with the majority of postings of pet and show rabbits and I am truly sorry for any disruption I might have made by just being here.

I admit that I have begun (today) to raise rabbits for other than show or pets and the primary reason for this is because even though I do plan to consume, I want to know they are well kept and cared for. I am a survival instructor and I teach my students that the harvest is a very serious matter and not to be taken lightly. I do not allow joking, even at as a nervous defence mechanism. I find this allows me the opportunity for decent dialog. One example is two brothers I had in a class this summer who were into shooting jack rabbits in the desert. After attending our intro workshop they both walked away with a greater respect (tears even). In a journal entry one wrote, "I will never whack, or even use that word again…."

This site has a huge amount of information on it for the ethical treatment of rabbits no matter the cause and my hope is to be a contributor and not a distractor.

(side note- I was raised around rabbits until I was about 14-- most of it I don't remember as a result of brain trauma when in the military. So some of it is new because I am on my own with this- and some because I can't recall it.)

 

[LuckyAmi]

I'm a HUGE animal lover. I hate any kind of animal cruelty, even when it's fiction in a book or tv show, where I know a real animal was not harmed, I still can't stand it. Especially when it is a pet, or an animal I have personally had as a pet in the past.

I just rescued a bun in July. Lucky. He is the very first bunny I have ever had, but it was pretty much love at first sight between Lucky, my dog Ginger and I. I found this little baby bun in my garden. He just walked up to my dog and I, and it has been the 3 of us ever since. My dog and I adore him and it is pretty clear to everyone who knows me how much Ginger and Lucky mean to me.

Even after all of that..... my mother-in-law and my dad both will constantly make comments like this to me " Is that rabbit big enough to eat yet?" "When are we having rabbit stew?" " When do we get to eat him?" etc.

I am not vegan or anything, I do eat burgers and chicken.... but I will not eat rabbit, deer and buffalo. My dad is a big time hunter, and all my life he has killed deer and rabbits to eat, and he even tried to get me to go hunting with him when I was little. I would cry and cry when he would come home and lay out the dead animal on the table like a trophy. When I was little, we had rabbit and deer for dinners. I hated it. I hate hunting as a sport or "fun". I hate eating animals that were hunted down.

So yeah, " When are we fixing rabbit stew?" comments really piss me off and upset me.

When my dad says it, I just kind of grit my teeth and try to ignore it, or politely laugh it off. He has been a hunter for 50 years and he and I have never agreed on a certain level of compassion for all animals. He has always seen them as food first, second and third. His whole family is like that. They are from the bayous in Louisiana and that is just the way of life there. You don't have pets, you have dinner. So... with him, I know that no matter how much I try to explain my feelings to him, or how many tears I cry, it's not going to really effect him at all. He will just roll his eyes and tell me to stop being a baby. *shrug* So, I expect comments like that from him.

But when my mother-in-law says that to me. I get very, very angry. She knows better then that and she is just saying it specifically because she knows it upsets me. She knows how much I care for animals, how much I care for Lucky, and she still says it to my face. I will try to just ignore it for as long as I can. Just not even take the bait. But when she brings it up repeatedly in one day I will say something back. Usually I will sharply say something like " Could you PLEASE STFU about eating Lucky? *glare* " It used to happen a lot more, but after about 5 months of that, her husband finally stepped in and told her she needed to stop. Now it doesn't happen very much, and when it does, the husband says "You need to stop. Now." before she even gets rolling.

I think it is so insensitive for someone to say that about your pet. If they like to eat rabbit, good for them, but when you are with someone who feels that animal is a part of their family, you need to STFU and keep your rabbit dinner comments to yourself.

And I understand that people raise rabbits for food. I get that, and I can accept that more then what my dad did.... But that is not something I could be a part of. I know it has a purpose in the world and it is better then over hunting /fishing in the wild. I just get too attached to any and all animals I come in contact with. I feel bad for them and feel guilty knowing they are just being bred to be killed. I think alot of that, for me personally, is tied to how bad I felt when my dad would kill animals out hunting.

I think even if I was lost in the wild and I was starving, I wouldn't be able to kill an animal. In fact, I have gone out of my way to learn about what kind of plants are edible so I could try to survive without having to kill an animal.

 

[stevesmum]

Here in Canada there are strict laws to prevent over hunting and over fishing. Except of course they do not apply to aboriginals but that's a whole other topic! There are dipsh*ts lurking everywhere, people who create a bad image for others. My husband hunts, his whole family hunts. This is the cleanest and most responsibly sourced meat you can get. No part of the animal goes to waste. The animal is respected and its gift of life and nourishment appreciated. We live in a society that is so removed from where food actually comes from. Just drive to the store and get a slab of meat. People don't like to think of the appalling conditions those animals live in prior to ending up in your local store. They are treated horribly and certainly don't die with any dignity. They are pumped full of hormones and antibiotics.
I don't want to create a debate and I'm pretty sure the moderators don't like this topic discussed too much but I do feel a strong need to jump in and defend hunters and the consumption of that kind of meat.
That being said we don't and won't eat rabbit meat. Couldn't bring ourselves to do it being that we have two spoiled brats at home. When others joke about it I just laugh and roll my eyes. Sometimes if Cali is bad I tell her we'll have barbecue rabbit for dinner tonight. It's all in fun. I'm pretty sure most of the pet rabbits on here live cushier lives than kids in developing countries so we can take a joke or two!