Sunday, December 12, 2010

Author's Note

Rabbits are the third most euthanized animals in the United States, behind cats and dogs.
"In reality, most rabbits facing euthanasia were once family companions or classroom pets who were bought at pet stores or breeders and surrendered to shelters when the novelty wore off or at the conclusion of a school year." ("About SaveABunny").
Aside from families and teachers who don't need the rabbit for the purposes of enjoyment for children anymore, some rabbits wind up in shelters after they've suffered abuse, abandonment, and other acts of animal cruelty.
Luckily, many organizations help rescue rabbits who have been placed in shelters where they're next in line to be euthanized. One organization, the House Rabbit Society, has saved over 25,000 rabbits since 1988 ("House Rabbit Society Background").
25,000 is a large number. 25,000 is a shocking number. Yet, 25,000 is just a fraction of the amount of rabbits that have been rescued through these kind of organizations, and just a fraction of those that have not.
When you hear statistics about the number of animals that get put in shelters each year (about 6 to 8 million cats and dogs alone, half of whom are killed) or the amount of animals that are abused each day, I don't think that it affects you as much as if you see it firsthand.
So, the first time I volunteered at Sean Casey Animal Rescue, I was shocked at the amount of animal 's that were there. It was cramped and noisy, with cages stacked on top of one another. Since SCAR is a on-profit no-kill shelter organization, they work as hard as they can to maintain decent conditions, but I was wondering if this place was better that the animal's original home. If people were aware of these conditions or aware of what rescue centers did, would they be more valued in society? Or would problems such as animal abuse still be happening as frequently as it is now?
What I want readers to take away from this book is that no type of animal abuse is good.

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