It’s been eight years since your child’s Easter gift was rescued from her backyard prison. Her fur was matted and her paws were filthy.
No one had to say a word about her harsh beginnings. Her body language said it all.
I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt and say that you were just ignorant – that you did not know you were mistreating her. But that is not true, is it? You did know.
You knew your family no longer wanted her before you bought that back yard cage. She would have begged you, if she could, not to do it. But you never learned her language. You never learned about her species. You decided she was “just a rabbit” and that it did not matter how she was treated. As a result, she headed into a year of immense suffering at your hands.
You saw the moss growing inside her water bottle as you tossed rotting grass and cheap pellets into her space. You used a garden hose to clean her wire-bottom cage with her still in it. She cowered in the corner soaking wet with bits of her own urine-soaked feces flying at her.
No socialization, no bonded partner, no toys, no veterinary care, no healthy diet or clean water. NO FRESH HAY. Just another unwanted pet forced to live in a hell that you created.
The temperatures plummeted below freezing, exposing her to bitter cold with no options for warmth. When the season changed, you stayed comfortable in your air-conditioned house. Outdoors, her fur coat insulated her. No way to escape it. No way to cool down. Misery was her companion.
Remember that day the neighbors approached you asking if they could help? You should have surrendered her then. Instead, you told them to mind their own business. Before they ever reported you for animal neglect…you knew.
What happened after her rescue?
You referred to her as “just a rabbit”. I renamed her “Joy”.
Joy received life-saving veterinary care. She was spayed and given medication for pain and for seizures. Due to health issues that you created, I did not rehome her. She became a cherished part of my family and was bonded with her life-long partner. They became the best of friends and lived their lives together doing happy-rabbit things.
This morning, just hours after her partner died, Joy took her last breath. Though Joy’s beginnings were difficult, the years that followed were full of love. She became one of my biggest gifts.
Your desire to see your small child excited opening a “gift” does not justify what you did after that holiday ended. It’s no secret that small children are also happy to get stuffed animals. Buy those instead.
There are no “just rabbits”. Rabbits are living, breathing and feeling animals with unique personalities. They have no voice and no choice in what happens to them after the money changes hands. I hope you have learned to be kind in the years that have passed since Joy was placed in my care.
Kindness matters.
Sincerely, the Caretaker of Your Child’s Easter Gift
This is an excerpt from an upcoming book, “Letters I Will Never Send” by Jana Brock. Copyright 2024. All Rights Reserved.
