HRS's Easter Bunny Poem (So sad...)

[MyBoyHarper]

I'm sure many here have seen it, and quite a fewhaven't. I just found it today. I was searching the internet for aresearch paper I am doing in english. I have to pick a controversialtopic and the paper is 50% of my final grade. Well, while everyone elsewas picking things like theIraq war andstem cellresearch,I picked Animal Testing In the Cosmetic Industry,with a focus on Rabbits. I needed 4 cited sources, so my first stop wasthe House Rabbit Society. Anyways, while browsing, I found the poem. Itmade me stop, think, and then go run and hug Harper.

For those who have never read it... it'll make you appreciate your bunny more than ever.





Iremember Easter Sunday

It was colorful and fun

The new life that I'd begun

In my new cage.

I was just a little thing

When they brought me from the store

And they put me on the floor

In my cage.

They would take me out to play

Love and pet me all the time

Then at day's end I would climb

In my cage.

But as days and weeks went by

I saw less of them it seemed

Of their loving touch I dreamed

In my cage.

In the night outside their house

I felt sad and so neglected

Often scared and unprotected

In my cage.

In the dry or rainy weather

Sometimes hotter sometimes colder

I just sat there growing older

In my cage.

The cat and dog raced by me

Playing with each other only

While I sat there feeling lonely

In my cage.

Upon the fresh green grass

Children skipped and laughed all day

I could only watch them play

From my cage.

They used to take me out

And let me scamper in the sun

I no longer get to run

In my cage.

Once a cute and cuddly bunny

Like a little ball of cotton

Now I'm grown up and forgotten

In my cage.

I don't know what went wrong

At the home I did inhabit

I just grew to be a rabbit

In my cage.

But they've brought me to the pound

I was once loved and enjoyed

Now I wait to be destroyed

In my cage.


http://www.rabbit.org/journal/3-7/brandolino-poem.html

 

[Michaela]

That is so sad, I've never read it before, makesyou think of all the poor little bunnies in situations likethat...:cry2Makes me angry too, that people just send theirbunnies to be put down, just because they are bored of them!:growl:

Good luck with your paper! :goodluckI had to do something similar tothat for English, and I picked animal testing for cosmeticstoo.I've finished it now, final draft to be handed in in themorning!:nerves1 It's a part of my GCSE grade, I got an A in the firstdraft so hopefully it'll be ok!

Michaela and the girls:brownbunny:brownbunny:brownbunny

 

[cheryl]

:tears2:Aww that's reallysad,makes me feel sorry for all those little bunnies that have to live a life like that.



cheryl

 

[Spring]

I'm going to see if I can get that published inmy local paper next year around Easter. Ithink anyonethinking of buying a rabbit for themselves or another person on impulseneeds a jolt of reality.

 

[Butterfinger]

That's so sad.....I never knew anyone who boughta rabbit on Easter, but they are most definately NOT the little "livingstuffed animals" those commercials and stories portray them as...
I always think it's sad when people just leave bunnies in their cages their whole lives....:cry4:
How would they feel if they had to live in a big box every day? Not very entertaining at all, I'll bet.

 

[Blyre]

Rabbits, indeed any pet, are a hugeresponsibility and should never be taken on lightly. Imagine if peoplefelt that way about children?

That was a very sad poem but it does drive home the importance of understanding the committment that pet ownership entails.

On another note, my girls are holy terrors when play time comes. Ittakes me almost as long to put them to bed as it does to let them outof their cages...heh.

Blyre

 

[ec]

There's also this, titled A Rabbit's Christmas - Not Everything It Seems

Cinnamon sat in her cage and groomed her foot. She was trying tocontain her excitement, but it was so hard! She was to go to a new hometoday! Some funny, tall rabbits with little hair, just like her adoptedmommy, had come in and looked around. They had wanted a bunny for aChristmas present for their 7-year-old son. The looked at all thebunnies for sale, but they had finally decided on her. It was soexciting!

She hopped around her cage a bit, prancing and preening. All the otherrabbits were happy for her. She was going to go to a new home whereshe’d be loved and give love! What could be better?

Soon the funny rabbits came and to get her. A little sadly she saidgoodbye to her mother and siblings, but nothing could really dampen herexcitement! They put her in a shiny new cage. It had a brand new waterbottle and a sparkling feed dish, too! It even had some toys in it forher to play with! Cinnamon could control herself no more, and she leaptup in the cage, brushing against the top.

They pulled up to a nice house and brought her inside. The boy ran upand exclaimed in joy. He liked her! Oh, she was so happy! He took herout and played with her. They had such a grand time, that Cinnamondidn’t want to stop when it was time for the boy to go to bed. She knewit’d be okay though, because now she had someone to play with for therest of her life!

The first week was wonderful. The boy, Nathan, played with her oftenand always made sure she had food and water. Then Nathan had to go backto school. Cinnamon understood that he couldn’t play as much, butsometimes she really wished he could be on vacation again. He stillplayed with her pretty often, and he always took care of her, but eachday he seemed to get less and less interested in her.

She grew into a healthy adult bunny, though now Nathan really didn’thandle her much. One day he even forgot to feed her. She spent thenight curled up in her cage, hunger making her stomach hurt. She beganto think that Nathan didn’t love her anymore. He stopped playing withher altogether, and pretty soon it was his parents who came to feed andwater her. They never took her out, or even pet her. They just gave herfood and water.

The cage that she had thought so pretty became a prison. Her toys hadall been chewed up out of boredom. She started chewing on the cage,just for something to do. It became habitual; she chewed and chewed,though she knew she’d never chew her way out. Then, one day she pulleda tooth. Oh, it hurt! She had trouble eating, but Nathan’s parents paidher no heed. Her teeth grew back, but they were crooked and overlappedthe wrong way now. Eating became a difficult chore, and she only ateenough to stay alive.

Finally the tooth just got to be too much and she didn’t eat at all.She lost weight rapidly, going from thin to very bony in just a fewdays. If the funny rabbits had even noticed, they did nothing about it.Cinnamon grew weak and tired. She had given up on life, and she knewthat it’d be over for her soon. She thought of how excited she had beenthat day; how she thought she’d have fun with the for the rest of herlife. She had been so wrong. She wondered if her brothers and sistershad gotten good homes, or if they lay dying in a cage somewhere, aloneand cold. Her eyes grew blurry, but she did notice one last thing.Lights. Flashing lights adorned the house, just like they had when shehad come here. She closed her eyes and one last breath escaped hermouth.

----------------

Cinnamon was a fictitious rabbit, but her story, or one like it, can befound unfolding all across the world. People buy rabbits as gifts, oreven for themselves, then when the excitement of a new animal wearsoff, the rabbit gets forgotten. As breeders, we are responsible fortrying our hardest to assure each rabbit gets a good home. We need tospend time talking with prospective buyers, especially around holidayswhen buyers are apt to think how nice a pet would be for a Christmasgift without thinking about how much care a pet requires. As rabbitowners, we need to make sure that we care for and spend time with ourrabbits for their entire life. We need to make sure that if we, forsome reason, can’t keep them, we find them good homes where they willbe loved. Pets are for life. They don’t just need care and lovewhenever you have the time and desire to give it to them. They need itevery day, even if you’re busy!

I so wish more people thought kindly about all animals - all humans, too!

 

[cheryl]

That bought tears to my eyes :tears2:



cheryl

 

[ec]

I know exactly what you mean - the people whohave that posted get all kinds of respect from me. I wish there wassome mention of an author's name, though....

Edit: "A Rabbit's Christmas" was written by Sara Giers, who owns thissite - http://www.tsukiyo.org/