Letters to the Editor

April 25, 2008

One rabbit’s story teaches need for humane care of all animals

After a snowstorm earlier this year, my husband was driving to an area deli when he saw a rabbit in an old rusted wire cage dumped along the roadside like discarded garbage.

The rabbit was obviously the victim of ignorance and long-term neglect.

He was a black-and-white lop-eared rabbit that we called Cujo, as his fearfulness caused him to act “un-bunny like.”

I took him to a veterinarian and – after shaving some of the rabbit’s fur that was matted with feces, clipping his overgrown nails, cleaning out his badly infected ear that had caused blindness in one eye and atrophied facial muscles – he was able to make a diagnosis. The rabbit had a number of health conditions, some extremely painful, most completely preventable if it had been given proper housing, nutrition and routine vet care.

My husband eventually made it to the deli and started to tell Cujo’s story. The owner said he knew all about it; people had been coming in all that day to say they had seen the rabbit. They marveled at the heartless cruelty of leaving a defenseless animal on the side of the road in the snow and frigid weather. It never occurred to them that it was cruel to drive by and do nothing.

To the person(s) who dumped this suffering and helpless creature, you can be assured I took care of your problem and now you can sleep at night knowing the bunny got the care he was deprived of most of his life. To the people who passed him by, shame on you. A simple phone call would have made a difference.

Cruelty takes various forms and exists on a number of different levels. Some forms are pure evil. Others are profit-driven and motivated by greed. Much is the result of ignorance.

Education is the key to making this a better world. This is why I am volunteering for a newly incorporated humane group – the Endless Mountain Animal League – which was formed to teach children and adults about animal care and responsibility and to encourage compassion and respect for all living things.

Despite our best efforts and the concern of his vet, Cujo died recently while stretched out on a thick, soft bed of timothy hay.

While help came too late for Cujo, maybe his story will help raise awareness for the need to take seriously the commitment we make to the companion animals we bring into our lives. It’s not a responsibility that should be taken lightly and, once assumed, it should never be forgotten that they are totally dependent on us to do the right thing.

Alice O’Neil Humane education chairwoman Endless Mountain Animal League Tunkhannock

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