How sad

[stargazerLily]

I work at an animal hospital that treats exotics, which is what rabbits fall in around here. When I got to work today, one of the girls asked if I had seen the rabbit yet. I told her no and she told me where to look and proceeded to tell me his sad story. Apparently the owner of the rabbit says that the neighbor kids got the rabbit out of it's cage (from the story I think the cage was in the back yard) and were playing with it. When he got the rabbit back, the rabbit couldn't use its back legs. We did x-rays and confirmed that his back was broken. There was also blood coming from the rabbits' nose, so I think something else happened as well. The poor bunny was only 6 months old. A beautiful orange rabbit marked like a dutch (they said it was an American). When I saw him I wanted to cry. He had such a sweet look on his face and enjoyed the affection I gave him in his last moments. Sadly the owner opted to euthanized, which was best in the end. This is why owners should become educated and why kids should not be allowed to play with rabbits unsupervised. RIP little Babbit.

 

[MsBinky]

That's so sad. It happens so quickly. If I had kids anywhere nearby I'd put a lock on the hutch, just in case one did try to go play with them without me being around to supervise. I'm sure the owner feels bad. That sucks.

 

[tundrakatiebean]

:bigtears:

 

[undergunfire]

That is horrible . Truely proves that rabbits should not be left in the care of young children :?.

 

[cheryl]

Poor little bunny,kids just don't realize how delicate bunnies are,so it is the parents responsibility to teach their children to be gentle and not be rough.

It's just sad

Cheryl

 

[~BunBuns~]

Poor bunny rest in peace little guy...

 

[Luvmyzoocrew]

:tears2::nono

 

[RunnyBabbitRabbitry]

:bigtears::sosad

That is so sad. It is awful that kids that are around rabbits and play with them are not more educated about them. I know at my house, we let kids from the neighborhood and their friends plus cousins and their friends come over. They hold, pet and play with the rabbits, but they would never get them out without one of us around. We always are gettting knocks at the door for us to come out so they can play with the rabbits.

I know many years ago some kids I know were playing with a rabbit and broke it's back. They didn't know about it and still does not know what happened, they had two rabbits so they said they went to live on a farm. They now show rabbits and handle them on a regular basis. I would never tell what happened years ago when they were toddlers.

Some kids do not know their own strength. I hate that this happened.

This is a great example of why we, as rabbit owners need to people on the correct way to pickup, hold and handle rabbits.

I myself go to BoyScouts, GirlSouts and schools to educate about rabbits.

 

[lemonaxis]

@#!!!$% parents!!!! I am SOOOO mad that children be allowed to handle bunnies without a decent education on how to do so!
Pet shops and any other place that sells rabbits should have a booklet to go woith every owner, a simple page turner on basic bunny 101.
I am getting enthused here to write this and see if I can get it into stores etc.

I am going to set it up chapter by chapter with incredibly simple instructions for even the dumbest of pet owners!!

Might be good for vets to have something similiar on basic bunny care for our non rabbit savvy vets who may be causing more deaths than healing!

man the world needs a good education on RABBITS!!!! When I got my first bun, I knew nothing but it wasn't long before I sought out every bit of available information I could and quickly mended my ways of caring for Lila. At least she never suffered unduly!

 

[TK Bunnies]

:bigtears: I thought I would cry when I read that. *sniff* That's very upsetting.

 

[TK Bunnies]

lemonaxis wrote:

Iam going to set it up chapter by chapter with incredibly simple instructions for even the dumbest of pet owners!!

Might be good for vets to have something similiar on basic bunny care for our non rabbit savvy vets who may be causing more deaths than healing!

You know that's a great idea!!! I think I might make one for our vet clinic!!

 

[gentle giants]

lemonaxis wrote:

@#!!!$% parents!!!! I am SOOOO mad that children be allowed to handle bunnies without a decent education on how to do so!

I agree with you totally. I think parents don't take nearly the responsibility they ought to for thier kid's behavior.

But here is something that is anotherreally sad thought for me. What are the odds the parents even knew how to properly handle the rabbit, to even be able to teach the kids?

 

[polly]

Thats awful i can totally agree, when i got my first bunny i was at work and my dad was looking after my brothers kids. When i got home from work i thought it was weird cause he let me get him straight out of his hutch without a struggle (i had only had him a week)

When i got him upstairs to let him have his exercise i noticed he wasn't using his front leg and it was obviously broken i was major upset, so i went down and asked my dad if the girls had been playing with him. He was like i think they were just petting him, so i got major angry cause they had obviously picked him up and hurt him he was fine in the morning. I had steam coming out my ears and the worst thing my parents told me i couldn't say anything cause they were only kids!!ullhair:and felt bad for them. So i went mental at my dad and told him he had no right it wasn't his to let them pet and not to let them even open the hutch again.

He had to get his leg set and splinted for 6 weeks and we had to be so careful cause he was only 9 weeks old when it happened. and after 3 weeks i had to keep sniffing his leg every day as he was groing in his splint in case he got sores.

I have to say they all came over for a barbecue and the girls asked if they could see him so i said No cause you broke his leg!! so now he can't play.

 

[~Bracon~]

:bigtears:

 

[Penna]

That's awful! Even though I'm pretty young myself, I don't think kids should be allowed to handle rabbits. My brother and I took the girlies up to the park (after checking a million times that there was no chemicals on the grass), and this girl, probably around five or so, kept trying to pick them I up. I asked her if she could do the monkey bars and she went over and did them. I felt kind of mean, but I wasn't going to risk the girl's saftey. Even with my siblings, I'm very cautious about people holding my girls.

 

[stargazerLily]

I'm sure there are some kids out there who know how to handle a rabbit properly (usually the kids raised around rabbits and in 4H), but the majority do not. I am very cautious with my 3 yr old around my rabbits. She knows she's not allowed to touch them without mommy being there, and when she holds them (Orion only,since Galaxy is still really freaky about being held) she has to be sitting on the floor, with the rabbit sitting in her lap, no exceptions. She can pet them all she wants when I'm holding them, but not hold them, unless the above criteria is met. Samegoes with all the animals in the house. My bun Orion came from a household where the children were allowed to play with him unsupervised (the oldest child was 3), and he ended up being thrown down the stairs a handful of times.

 

[Penna]

Thrown down the stairs!? :shock:

That's awful!!

 

[stargazerLily]

Yup, he had been thrown down the stairs. At least I can say the mom was responsible enough to find a new home for him before any real damage to the rabbithappened (like a broken back). But then two weeks after he came to live with me, the lady who used to own him walked in with a new kitten they had just bought (no doubt it will end up being thrown down the stairs as well).

 

[GoodBunny]

I feel a little sick. This sort of thing makes me so angry. I can't believe how irresponsible people can be. It's always the little guys who pay for human ignorance.