Need a Little Vent

[Tauntz]

Hope this is okay & if it is I have it in the right spot. Yesterday I had to go to a nearby pet store to pick up a few things. Anyway so I am running all around the store trying to get everything I need & they have bunnies. A salesperson asks if they can help me & so I ask about the bunnies. They couldn't tell me much but had a care sheet they could give me. All they knew were they were dwarf bunnies. Asked them their sex; they were too young to sex. Asked their age 6 weeks! Asked about the foods they were on; Timothy hay & a pellet with the veggies & colorful stuff, I forget what its called. Okay, I know I am still new to bunnies having had mine for less than a year & still learning about bunnies but I felt so sorry for those bunnies going home & at best having a generic information sheet for care. Also, I got the impression by more than one salesperson that they really didn't know anything other than its a bunny & this is what we have been told to feed them, & if you buy one you can go by the generic care sheet. So they asked if I wanted to hold one so I said yes. One was handed to me & he/she was so thin. When I got my bunnies they were fat compared, no they weren't overweight. While I was there I did mention some food suggestions I knew but I could tell that I was wasting my breath. Oh, they have a seven day health guarantee, I didn't go further with that at the time. It was quite busy there yesterday. I'm thinking about going back since I am a customer & asking if nothing else they could possibly give a recommendation of this forum or other as additional support for new bunny owners. I just felt so bad having to leave those 3 bunnies (one sold the day before). I just hope those little bunnies get good caring homes that will research them or hopefully already research bunnies before they bring their new bunny home. I'm so thankful I have found this forum & other good forums to help me give my pets the best care I can through their words of wisdom & experience.

 

[Imbrium]

you might look into your state's laws/regulations for selling bunnies - in a LOT of places, it's not even legal to sell them younger than eight months of age ><

I'm sorry the pet store sucks - I really wish more could be done about places like that

if you wanted to try to make a difference, perhaps you could write up a better care sheet with links to some helpful websites for bunny info and bring some photocopies of them to the pet store and see if you can charm the employees into giving them out when they sell bunnies (unfortunately if you want there to be any chance of them agreeing, you'd have to leave off some of the best info like C&C/NIC cages and buying hay from feed stores at a fraction of the price, since stores won't want to give out information that would cut into their sales ... you could probably get away with recommending an x-pen set up as long as the store sells playpens, though)

actually, if you were willing to make copies, take them to the store and charm the employees into handing them out, I'd be more than happy to write up the care sheet for you - I already have a notepad file with all my go-to bunny links and I've got all the good "so you just got a bunny" information memorized

 

[Tauntz]

Oh, wow! That would be great! I would be very willing to try to get them a better care sheet & would really like to be able to suggest joining a good forum (& if possible listing this one since I know it is great for helpful info). I know if I had purchased that bunny & then said I need help with it I would be lucky if anyone gave me any REAL helpful advice other than what's on their little care sheet. Oh, & it isn't much of a care sheet, I know more about proper bunny care than their sheet provides & that's before I came here & learn more! It really breaks my heart for the animals/birds/fish sold in pet stores. This particular store I have run into people with birds who didn't know anything & I was fortunate to be there & give them as much helpful advice as I could at the time.

 

[MILU]

Unfortunately, some people see animals as an opportunity to make money, not as lives... and that's why so many bunnies end up dying or abandoned especially at this time of the year, after Easter. They sell lives as if they were toys, don't even know what their needs are.. what contemptible behavior!

 

[Imbrium]

I'll put one together for you and PM it to you, then

(if it's not in your inbox within the next day or two, please send me a PM to nag me about it - I tend to be kinda scatter-brained, especially since I've got a ton of sugar-glider-related projects going on right now )

 

[Tauntz]

Yes, it upsets me terribly that people don't seem to understand that all life is precious! I value all living creatures. The only living creatures I don't have any problems with killing are those nasty little pesky bugs that invade my house! They deserve to die unless they are paying my rent & utility bills, then I might consider....No, sorry still want to kill them if they don't leave of their own accord! lol

People also kill me with "You can always get another one!" Sorry, I don't care how cheap they sell the animal/bird/fish for it is an individual living creature & while you can buy another of the same kind of animal, you can never buy that same one! Sorry this is one of my big pet peaves & I tend to get on my soapbox. :soapbox

 

[Tauntz]

Thanks, Imbrium! I understand about being scatterbrained with projects & things! Seems like everyday there is some "emergency" problem that has me to drop everything I already have to do so that I can take care of the "emergency!" Many days I don't know whether I am coming or going or trying to do both at the asme time! lol

 

[Imbrium]

People also kill me with "You can always get another one!"

you could also kill someone's kid and tell them "well you can always have another one" - the fact that they could make a "replacement" kid wouldn't stop you from being a HORRIBLE person and wouldn't keep you out of jail.

just because it's "only an animal" doesn't mean that it doesn't have some capacity for emotion, it doesn't mean that it can't experience suffering and it doesn't make it ok to treat it like crap or let it die because "who cares, you can just buy another one".

I dare anyone to peek in on the tiny little sugar glider snoozing in my bra and making adorable bubble-popping noises (akin to a cat purring in their sleep) as we speak and tell her she wouldn't know the difference between good care and sh*tty care, because she sure as hell knows her mommy gives a **** about her. she knows that if her tummy starts growling, mommy will always have food for her to eat, she knows that if she's feeling thirsty, she always has water available and she knows that if she gets bored, it's only a matter of time before mommy takes her out of the cage to play with her.

 

[Tauntz]

So true, Imbrium! Well said! Oh my, I would love to be there to hear & see that cute little sugar glider! Glad you aren't nearby because I would want to hold it & then I would definitely want to take one home! They sound so wonderful and I want one but before I ever even think about getting one want to be sure I am right for a glider & ready to give it the home it needs & deserves! You sound like such a wonderful glider mom & bunny mom! Thanks for taking the time to be so helpful to people who have questions or need help with their buns & gliders! Wish more people who sold them & businesses would be so helpful so that the animal's new owners at least had no excuse for not giving good care as well informed new owners!

 

[Imbrium]

lol, it's Hurricane that's in my bra right now - she's my perfect little girl who is SUPER stranger-friendly. she's the only one I trust unconditionally to not bite a stranger or try to take off (except maybe to come back to me) if I take her out in the middle of a retail store and hand her to a total stranger to hold. I'd totally let you hold her if you were here!

if you're interested in gliders, I recommend looking into these pages on my website:
http://www.hurricanesleucisticfriends.com/new-to-gliders.html (a fairly comprehensive list of all the downsides of sugar gliders - this page is a good place to start, that way if they aren't right for you, you can rule out the idea of getting them before you get too sucked in by their cuteness, hehe. gliders are adorable and can be truly wonderful pets... but they're even more high maintenance than bunnies and definitely aren't right for everyone!)
http://www.hurricanesleucisticfriends.com/in-person-info.html (intended for people I give business cards to because they're interested in learning more about gliders, but there's some good general info on how to get started learning about gliders, plus tips on how to find a good breeder to get your gliders from)
http://www.hurricanesleucisticfriends.com/links.html (helpful glider-related links)
(plus if you have any questions/wanna chat about glider stuff, you can always bug me )

 

[Tauntz]

Thanks, Imbrium! I may be begging you soon! lol Speaking of bugging! lol I'm probably going to have to bug everyone here with a post asking for help with a bunny harness. Do you know where I can find a good harness? I have two Jersey wooly does & I have looked locally in a couple of pet stores nearby & my Walmart to no avail! My Walmart didn't even have cat harnesses only the cat collars. Bought the only H-style harness at one of our two local pet stores & it was too small around the girth for either of my girls. I really don't have the money to keep buying harnesses that don't fit either from online or a store. I really want to be able to take them outside with a harness to give them a bit more protection & me a little more peace of mind. I'm a worrywart when it comes to my feathered, furry & even fishy family members! lol

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Can't add much to this. It is nice when they do listen to you and make corrections.

 

[Imbrium]

either your walmart sucks or you weren't quite looking in the right place .

the ones I bought for my bunnies came from walmart... I don't remember if they were for cats or dogs, but they were the XS size of whatever they are and they were in the same area as leashes so I kinda want to say they're with the dog stuff if they have them. had to look around a little, they weren't staring me right in the face or anything, but they were there. the internet tells me that a jersey wooly is about the same size as my bunnies, so if you can find the XS H-style harness at walmart, that should do the trick.

if you need me to, I could dig one up and take a picture of it.

 

[Tauntz]

Thanks, Nancy! I hope I can talk to someone who can make changes there on a day when they aren't too busy. Maybe they will be more receptive.

 

[Tauntz]

Thanks again, Imbrium! I looked in the cat section & didn't check the dog section. So maybe the dog section is where I need to look. No harnesses at all in the cat area only collars. I do have the bungee leash. Will keep looking.