Eye candy...

Few beings are more appealing when they are babies than are bunnies. For proof...take a look:

"China" and sibling.

These babies were born in a local animal shelter and came to Heartland when only 2 days old. The photo was taken when they were about 4 weeks old. Their appeal is a double-edged thing because while baby bunnies look so warm and huggy and beautiful...they grow up. And for many bunnies the growing up results in behaviors that cause them to be avoided and neglected and abandoned and sometimes abused. But...they are, like all babies, beautiful indeed.

Here's a photo of Merlin.

"Merlin"

Merlin is not a baby. He came to us as a grown-up and has been at Heartland for a while. He's not real impressed with us humans. He flinches and cringes when approached and while this is not common in the rabbits that are rescued...neither is it unknown. The likelihood is high that Merlin has been abused...probably he has been hit or struck or hurt or repeatedly terrified in some way by human animals. I'm pleased to report that he is slowly beginning to accept touches and petting and handling without cringing or flinching...but it will be a long time before he is able to trust that an approaching human means him no harm. He has a fairly exuberant personality when not suppressed by humans being near him and it is fun to watch him being his true bunny self when he is allowed to free range in the fenced area near the warrens.

Rescue means not only providing a home for a living being...it also means coping with and attempting to remedy (insofar as possible) the effects of neglect and abuse. It means trying to make up for harms done by others. It means trying to provide opportunities for those rescued to taste some of the good things of life....those good things that are the birthright of every being living on our planet.

"China" and sibling again.

  If you are going to live with a member of another species...it is totally your responsibility to care for them, to meet their needs and to love them and to never never neglect or harm them. That's a big big responsibility and a demanding and daily and sometimes difficult and sometimes expensive undertaking.

Those baby bunnies in the photos will grow and grow and change and change and no one can predict what their adult personality will be like. They will go through adolescence, they will sometimes be grumpy, they may not want to be touched or bothered. They may chew on something they shouldn't...they may fight with another bunny...and on and on.

In other words a bunny is not a toy, nor is any living being. Bunnies aren't stuffed animals, many many bunnies don't care for being picked up once they aren't babies (even many babies protest being lifted off of the ground). The money hungry businesses and individuals that have the blind harmful audacity to "sell" animals care about profit and about the animal only insofar as profit is enhanced by animal. They don't tell the "customer" about bunny behavior....they rely on the "eye candy" appeal of a baby bunny or baby cat or baby dog or baby ferret or baby rat. Living beings are not objects to be bought and sold. Period.

Here's a good measure of the depth of comprehension and understanding an individual or a business has. If they sell or profit from selling animals or any "product" from animals then you are dealing with someone or something who has some serious comprehension, compassion and moral shortcomings. You are dealing with a harmer....with a destroyer...with a contributor to the misery and suffering that exists on planet Earth. Don't support them...we've way too much unnecessary suffering and harm already.

If you want to live with and befriend a member of another species...adopt a homeless Earthling. There are plenty of them. But...educate yourself thoroughly first. Responsible rescuers will be glad and eager to help you learn about the bunny or cat or dog you want to adopt. Responsible rescuers will support you and assist you for as long as you need it. Heartland Rabbit Rescue insists on bringing your new family member to your home...because we want to know where our residents are living....we want to know who they are living with...we want to know they will be well cared for...we want to know they (and you) will be happy with one another. That is the way of not increasing misery, that is the way of doing no harm, that is the way of contributing to joyous life...not sadness.

Sometimes people who want to adopt get put off by our insistence in knowing about them, about their home. It is likely they are thinking "it's just an animal, why is this information your business?". Well, we're all "just an animal" and we're all equally important and worthy of care and respect. That bunny they may want to adopt has been failed by humans before...or they wouldn't be with us...so we're going to do everything we can to avoid another failure. Merlin and China and all the other bunnies deserve that. And that's what Heartland does. We're there for the bunnies...not the humans. Once a bunny comes to Heartland...they are forever a Heartland bunny...if circumstances cause a bunny to have to leave their adopted home...we take the bunny back. We are their "forever" home. Because each of us deserves a forever home...

Any rescue organization that behaves in these ways is an organization that is doing their part to repair the world. We human animals are responsible for a horrid amount of "breaking of the world"...much repair needs doing. Responsible and caring rescue organizations and facilities are doing their part to repair that which has been broken.

And...obviously....living as an ethical vegan is absolutely necessary to contribute to that repairing of the world.