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.

Quinn (the Mighty)...

is a major cutie. His fur coat is grey with some brownish highlights and sort of fluffy so that he looks a little scruffy even when he isn't. Quinn's name was inspired by the Manfred Mann song "Quinn the Eskimo" which was written by the genius Bob Dylan.

Quinn came to Heartland Rabbit Rescue back in August as a result of a call from a local municipal shelter. It seems that Quinn's time had run out and he was at risk of execution because no human family wanted him. The Heartland Director squeezed and squoshed and managed to find a place for Quinn even though Heartland is way over capacity.

Quinn (the Mighty Quinn)

 He was picked up running the streets and we don't know how or why...no one claimed him at the municipal facility and a kind, caring worker there gave Heartland a call and made a plea for him. His is just a baby, maybe a couple of months old.

At first he didn't much want anything to do with humans, but has now figured out that human animals can act pretty decently and he is becoming one of those rare bunnies that endures being carried around, even seeming to actually enjoy it. His personality is maybe 5 or 6 times larger than his physical being (he's a fairly small guy, only a couple of pounds right now) with energy to burn.

At the time of this writing he is having to stay inside his enclosure for a few days because his recent surgery (neutering). Once recovery is far enough along, he'll be going everywhere again with all the life and joy anyone could wish for. Quinn is a real treat to be around, one of those folks that makes you smile when you see him. It is astonishing how much niftiness mother nature can pack into a small package.

I'm writing about Quinn because he is a pleasure worth sharing and because Quinn represents all the many millions of "domesticated" Earthlings that are without a human family to call their own. Quinn could be a poster child for adopting, never ever ever purchasing from a "breeder". Too too many of our brother and sister Earthlings don't have homes.

I helped out with an adoption event recently for a local cat rescue group, Hands Helping Paws, and 28 lucky kittens and cats found homes. Hooray!

Bunnies are a little bit different. They are a little more vulnerable, a little more requiring of some education for proper care and a little more needful of a particular mindset if a good fit is going to be made between a family or human and a bunny. Maybe part of the problem is that the stereotypes of popular culture (for instance, the Easter Bunny) and the reality of rabbit behavior don't match up too well. Suffice it to say that most of us (me included) have to put in some time, effort, attention and learning in order to be in a position to be able to offer adequate care to a rabbit.

This means an adoption event like the one for the kittens would probably not work for the bunnies...oh you might get a number of bunnies into homes, the cute factor for a bunny is off the charts...but the likelihood is high that bunnies would be placed at risk for inadequate care and humans placed at risk for disappointment and upset and failure. These factors mean that bunnies finding a home that works is a fairly intricate and involved operation. Compared to a cat or a dog, a bunny is more 'high maintenance'...not too difficult once you get used to it and care becomes routinized...but definitely different than most humans are familiar with or used to. Which means that learning and change has to happen and that is sometimes tough for humans to accomplish.

Quinn is now safe, Quinn is now loved and Quinn will grow and develop. That's pretty good.

You can do your part in helping make all animals safer and more likely to grow and develop if you live as an ethical vegan. And, for goodness sake, adopt one of the Earthlings without a human family from a shelter...if you can....if you can't then volunteer or donate and help out a shelter or a rescue operation...remember...they are trying to repair or stop the damage we have done to the animals. They are trying to clean up and rectify part of the mess the rest of us have made for living beings on our planet...that's a pretty good thing to do.

Publicizing companion animal adoption...part 2

I ran across this video because of a post over at the Mehitable Days blog (lots of great pictures and writing and recipes there) and, with the exception of the use of the word "pet", thought it was a well done spot promoting companion animal adoption. Pretty clever really...take a look:


Now that you have maybe had a laugh, you can "cool down" with a smile from watching this next video from Tanja Askani...many folks have never had the pleasure of knowing a pig personally...they can be just as interesting and as fun as the movie Babe suggested they might be.


You can help all living beings by going vegan.

Publicizing companion animal adoption...

The Winnipeg Humane Society has a video posted on YouTube publicizing adoption for cats that is both amusing and somewhat disturbing:



The amusing part is self-evident, the unsettling part is that the video reinforces the societal attitude toward companion animals as being property, just the same as furniture (the human speaker in the video is a furniture store owner) or any other object.

The common acceptance of the commodification of sentient beings is contributory to and supportive of the current ongoing worldwide disaster regarding non-human animals.

While the purpose and intent of the video (adoption of homeless companion animals) is welcomed and desired...the framing of the message is supportive of the very mindset that created the problem in the first place. Viz.: Non-human animals are property and as such are objects that humans can do with what they want.

Frustrating and disheartening...and...admittedly...the damn video is interesting eye and ear candy and rather amusing. When I first saw it I was amused (but bothered), it took me a bit of thinking to fully grasp the messages that were being conveyed.

Propaganda does not have to be overt, and often the most effective propaganda is subtle and not clearly discernable. This video is an excellent example of a background message (non-human animals are property/objects and can be dealt with as such) permeating a foreground message...adopt a homeless cat.

These sorts of cognitive two-step dances are difficult to identify in our environment and if they aren't identified, then they aren't challenged or debated or examined or changed...they simply are accepted as "the way the world is".

Adopting homeless cats (or other companion animals) is a positive and desirable thing...good for the Winnipeg Humane Society for trying to find homes for these cats.

Believing that non-human animals are "property" is a disrespectful, undesirable attitude that supports enslavement, exploitation, abuse and unnecessary death...shame on the Winnipeg Humane Society for reinforcing this destructive notion.

Homeless Animals.....

I am generally not a big fan of "days".  There (to me) tends to be way too much of this "day" stuff.  Today, however, is a "day" designated as International Homeless Animals Day and while I would much prefer that everyday be devoted to this situation.....it is a positive thing to pay attention to this sad phenomenon.  (Today is also: Poets day, Senior Citizens day and World Daffodil day....see what I mean).

Living in our household is a former homeless animal person (cat) named Bobby Ray.  His history is a little uncertain but I do know that early in 2005 I met Bobby Ray for the first time and that meeting...and especially the cool move he put on my wife...resulted in him becoming a former homeless animal.  Bobby Ray was one of the lucky homeless animals in that he ended up in a shelter where executions are not carried out simply because an animal person is homeless and somebody decides more space is needed (Second Chance of Norman). 

Bobby Ray...formerly homeless...2005

As you can see, he is a very attractive fellow with some striking eyes.  When we went to the shelter, my wife's emphatic position going in was that she did not any old "boy" cat.  She had never had the opportunity to get to know a "boy" cat person and had some stereotypical ideas about the gender (likely driven somewhat by her experience of me).

After spending some time with the many cat people there that needed a "forever home" we had sort of decided on a lovely little female cat person and told the shelter folks we thought this would be our choice.  One of the shelter founders agreed and then asked us to wait a moment and meet one of the cat people that was not out in the general play area for the cats.....he would have to go to the back to get him.  When my wife heard "him" she voiced that she did not want a "tom" cat.

The shelter directer wisely agreed but said that it wouldn't hurt to meet him anyway, would it?    He returned from the back with what appeared (because he was so large) to be 2 cats.  A big (18 lbs) relaxed tabby who was just sort of hanging there while being carried.  He promptly placed this bohemoth in my wife's arms and Bobby Ray (no fool he) reached up with his right paw and for all the world looked like he was wrapping it around my wife's neck and lay his head on her shoulder.  Bang, that was it....instant connection, new forever home for the cat person and new experience for a woman who had never known a "nasty old boy cat".

The shelter fellow told us that Bobby Ray had been in the shelter longer than any other cat, several years, (he was around 5 years old when he came home with us).  How he ended up in the shelter in the first place is unclear. Bobby Ray (his shelter name was Buckley) had been adopted out 2 times and was brought back both times.

The first failed adoption was with a young couple and when he was brought back the adopting couple said that the cat was "crazy" and had at one point attacked them if they tried to enter their home....effectively barricading himself in the house and keeping the human owners of the house outside.  He then was adopted by a single older woman who brought him back after a brief period saying that it was too expensive to feed him because he ate so much.

The shelter founder also told us that whenever a kitten came in that had no family they would always put the kitten with Bobby Ray because he was so nurturing and gentle with the lonely babies.  All this time as we were being told about his history, he is hugging my wife and looking like he belonged exactly where he was.  We were told that this special cat person was the favorite of all the folks at the shelter and the shelter founder said if we took him his children were going to be upset because when they visited the shelter they always made a bee line for Bobby Ray to spent time with him.

I admit that the story about him taking over the house and terrifying his first adoptive parents provoked a little concern on my part.  I tried to visualize it and kept coming up with a picture of Bobby Ray looking out a window (wearing a helmet and holding an AK 47 and grinning dementedly) and two distraught young people wringing their hands on the sidewalk in front of their home.  As far as his being "too expensive" to feed, that one is beyond me.

Here is a recent picture of him, engaging in one of his favorite activities....sleeping. 

Bobby Ray....2010

He has slimmed down to around 15 pounds, and has had some serious health problems because of food allergies.  He once had to be hospitalized for several days and has required surgery on his right eyelid.

Through it all, he has retained and expanded a personality that is amazing.  He is the most companionable being I have ever known.

Animal people in shelters, much like their human animal counterparts who find themselves in an institutional type situation adopt some defense mechanisms that help them endure their situation.  Orphans, prisoners, and refugees all ofttimes subdue many aspects of their self in order to survive.  Then, once they are in a supportive and safe environment, facets of their genuine self surface and are exhibited.  Over time Bobby Ray stopped being so "mellow" in that he became more startle prone and fearful behaving......a broom or yardstick was a source of fear for him.....where he once never met a stranger he now hides immediately if anyone comes to the house.  He initially showed a strong preference for me over my wife but this subsided over time and now he is quite egalitarian in hanging out with the two of us.  His startle threshold has dropped now, but he still does not like the sight of a broom or stick.

We speculate that he was abused by brooms and/or sticks and most likely by some female human person....but we will never know.  What I do know is that one of the best days of my life was the day I met him and every day since, he has never failed to bring moments of pleasure and yes, even joy.  I am somewhat in awe of him.  I had to spend several days in a hospital about 6 months ago and I missed his company severely.

When he had to be hospitalized he apparently reverted to the charm he manifested in the shelter and by the time he was ready to return home the veterinarian and the veterinarian's staff were all in love with him and took the time to mail him a get well card with personal messages to him from all of the folks that were at the vets office.  We posted his card on the refrigerator.

Unless he is sleeping (and oblivious) he wants to be with one of us, preferably in our lap but he will settle for being beside you or even laying at your feet.  He is profoundly appreciative of being caressed or stroked and would prefer that you touch, pet or rub him in some way or another 24/7.

He is superlative.......and I can only wish for you that you have some similar experience with an animal person.  There are innumerable animal people out there in the shelters needing and deserving of a safe nurturing environment in which to spend their lives.  Each one of those beings is a hidden gem, just waiting for that special place that allows them to blossom into their real selves.

Please adopt from a shelter, if you can't adopt...then foster, if you are unable to do either...then volunteer.....if none of those are options for you.....donate to your local shelters and rescue organizations.  If possible, do all of these things.

Heartland Rabbit Rescue, Hands Helping Paws, Second Chance, Norman Animal Shelter, Blue Hawk and Wildcare are all local organizations doing what they can for non-human animals.....help them out, you may find it changes your life in ways you never imagined.  If you are able to foster (provide a temporary home) you free up a space in the shelter for some other homeless animal.  Fostering is a great way to help out without having to committ to a permanent relationship.  Take a look:



Try to make this Homeless Animal Day one that is a good one for you and for a homeless animal person.