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Rescue Buns and Pet Shop Buns :(

sharkfur

Warren Scout
Ok guys... I am not sure what to accomplish with this thread...I just want to have a conversation with bun-buddies such us myself... Ok, my fiancee is just as much of a bun-bud, but you know... I need some brainstorming, thoughts, whatever...
So, since yesterday, my morale is a bit down since we went to Pets at Home, to buy food for our boy, Nyunyu. (Ok, I know these shops are all eeeviiillll in terms of living animals, but hey, food is food....and good quality food will remain good quality food wherever you buy them.)

So..of course we always check out the buns over there when we go there... I'm sure all you guys do...and I always leave with an awful feeling - you know, the way PaH operates with breeders and buns in general :(

The reason why I feel sad is: Ok, we all know we shouldn't buy buns but adopt foster ones... But I feel bad for those buns in PaH, for instance... I mean we adopt a bun to give him/her a loving home and a family...but...those PaH buns are buns too, it is not their fault they are there...they would need some sort of help and thes deserve a chance, as well... :( Do you see my point? :( i want to help buns in general...and that group involves pet store buns, too :( And i feel horrible for not being able to do something...

What do you think? Let me know what you guys have on your mind...:( Because it is really a horrible feeling :(

EDIT: Just to clarify this: I KNOW that if I adopt a bun from a shelter, it frees up space for another bun in need, and if i buy one, they just contact the breeder to 'order' some more.
I get the system, really. My problem is the fact that it is not 'RESONABLE' to help buns in shop yet they'd deserve a chance, too :( do you see my point?
 
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When you buy two buns from P@H., they put a new order in with a breeder, who breeds more to fill the space. You create a demand & a profit for P@H. While there's a profit - they ain't stopping selling buns. You might be helping one bun by buying it, but you are not helping rabbit welfare as a whole & adding to the strain put on Rescues.

When you adopt a bunny from a Rescue, you help two buns by freeing up the space for another unwanted bun to be helped.
 
When you buy two buns from P@H., they put a new order in with a breeder, who breeds more to fill the space. You create a demand & a profit for P@H. While there's a profit - they ain't stopping selling buns. You might be helping one bun by buying it, but you are not helping rabbit welfare as a whole & adding to the strain put on Rescues.

When you adopt a bunny from a Rescue, you help two buns by freeing up the space for another unwanted bun to be helped.


Exactly. I truly get this, every single detail.. The reason why I am sad is the fact that it is not "reasonable" to help those buns...Do you see what I mean? It makes me feel horrible that it is not "reasonable" to help them. Because it's not their fault :(
 
Obviously rescue buns are good because when you get one you free Up a space for another rescue bun.
But if you go in a petshop and you have to help a bun then its your own decision, all bunnies need homes.
I'm in a similar boat myself, I was in a petshop and seen a wee baby bun that wasn't moving as much as his buddies, and he also had a big bite mark on his ear, which was pretty red and Inflamed. I informed the shop floor worker and they sais they'd take him to the vets. I got to hold the wee guy and seen another scratch on his ear on the underside.
I went in about a week later to check up on him. He's being kept through the back, and won't be released till the scab has healed a bit. I didn't like the look of it tbh, looked sore and infected.
So I'll be getting this wee guy asap, as because hes been separated from the other buns for so long hell just be shoved into the adoption centre bit.
So at least when i get him it won't go through as a shop floor sale therefore creating demand for more baby bun stock. But I'll still get to help the poor wee guy.
 
I went in about a week later to check up on him. He's being kept through the back, and won't be released till the scab has healed a bit. I didn't like the look of it tbh, looked sore and infected.
So I'll be getting this wee guy asap, as because hes been separated from the other buns for so long hell just be shoved into the adoption centre bit.
So at least when i get him it won't go through as a shop floor sale therefore creating demand for more baby bun stock. But I'll still get to help the poor wee guy.

Oh my, I'd do the same...poor thing..I'm sure he/she will repay you with tons of love if you take him out of there :(
 
I know what you mean...you want to help them but knowing if you do you will make the situation worse for other buns :(

What annoys me is the adoption centres. I stopped by a P@H a few weeks ago and in the adoption centre there was a hamster and it just said 'i have been here a while now and need to find a home' It's just a way of them getting rid of 'old stock'.....oh well at least its better then smashing them against the wall like they used to!
 
Exactly. I truly get this, every single detail.. The reason why I am sad is the fact that it is not "reasonable" to help those buns...Do you see what I mean? It makes me feel horrible that it is not "reasonable" to help them. Because it's not their fault :(

You could flip reasonableness on its head though, and say that it is not reasonable on the rabbits being kept in a 'factory' for the sole purpose of producing more babies so you could buy one in a pet shop. It's not reasonable on the bunny bred to replace the one you bought. So on balance, it's unreasonable to buy a bunny from a pet shop because it creates unreasonable demands on those kept for breeding more, and the one you replace it with. So on the balance of reasonableness - pet shop bun: 1x reasonable (the one you buy) and at least 3x unreasonable (both parent rabbits kept purely for breeding, and the one(s) bred to replace the one you buy. Whereas with a rescue bun, it's 2x reasonable - one for the bun you help, and one for the bun that can take its place in the rescue.
 
Trouble is, they put animals that haven't sold into the adoption cantre after a while, taking them empties space in the adoption centre and allows them to order some more 'cute babies' for the shop floor.

It's better in that it doesn't profit P@H themselves, but in my local stores the majority of animals in the adoption centre are 'unsold stock'.

I've adopted animals from the adoption centre but I'm really trying to avoid taking any more P@H animals. In future I'll be going to independent rescues. Where a lot of the small animals quite possibly came from P@H originally anyway.
 
I see what you mean and think the same when I'm in there, they're bunnys too which actually have high chances of going to bad homes :(
 
If folk want to buy from a pet shop it's completely up to them. If folk are happy to condone the conditions rabbits and other animals are kept in to produce pet shop animals then fair enough because make no mistake if one buys from a petshop knowing all the facts then it must follow they have no problem with the way the pet shop operates.

There's only one pet shop near me that I'd buy an animal from and they don't stock rabbits.
 
I don't buy anything from P@H as I detest the shop, but that's my own personal view. I know that any buns bought from there are immediately replaced with more cute babies, so by buying a bunny from them you are supporting the breeding of rabbits for pet shops.

However, that said, I would imagine there is another side to this ....what happens to the cute babies once they are all grown up and their baby-cuteness has gone. I very rarely see mature buns in P@H and can't imagine that they always manage to sell all the babies before they are grown up. There must be a fair few of these unsold adults, can they all end up in the adoption section? I'd have my doubts on this as surely there would be too many. So maybe another way of looking at it is that if your heart is set on a bunny from P@H, then you are possibly saving it from a future unknown if it is not sold before it becomes an adult. Of course, by doing this you would still be lining the pockets of this dreadful store

I volunteer at a large rabbit rescue and we know for a fact that some bunnies that come in are from the local P@H. Some of these ex-P@H rabbits are handed in complete with the 'care pack' and original purchase documents and often they have only been in their new home for a matter of months (often once they are past the baby stage and the novelty has worn off). Based on this, my view is that P@H bunnies do have a very high risk of going to a bad home and many of them do end up in rescue after a short period of time

It's a difficult one because, as you say, the poor petshop bunnies didn't ask to be born into this and have as much right to happiness as any other living creature, but it is impossible to help them by giving them a home without also adding to the petshop's profits which in turn adds to the breeders' profits. :(

I'd always support going to a rescue for a bunny, but I can see where you are coming from. I think sometimes you have to go with your heart.
 
If folk want to buy from a pet shop it's completely up to them. If folk are happy to condone the conditions rabbits and other animals are kept in to produce pet shop animals then fair enough because make no mistake if one buys from a petshop knowing all the facts then it must follow they have no problem with the way the pet shop operates.

I agree with this

You are either part of the problem or part of the solution.
 
:shock::shock::shock::shock::shock::shock::shock::shock::shock:

WHAT!?

I'm not saying this definately happened but years ago I read about them doing this then they revamped themselves as pets at home to get rid of their bad image. I can't remember their original name..can anyone else?
 
I know what you mean, it's hard.
But the way I see it, buying that sad little rabbit from a pet shop will only be replaced by another, and another, and another. It makes the problem worse, it means more females are kept in awful conditions and forced to pop out as many as she can.
If you buy that sad little rabbit from a rescue you're supporting a good cause and helping to end animals being sold in pet shops.

And as for "that rabbit didn't choose its life" you could say the same for anything. There's a lot of cruelty in the world and sadly sometimes saving one life makes the situation worse.
 
I'm not saying this definately happened but years ago I read about them doing this then they revamped themselves as pets at home to get rid of their bad image. I can't remember their original name..can anyone else?

I think it was Petsmart, I remember watching an undercover documentary about them, with the hamsters :cry:
 
I guess if you want a PAH bunny just go to a rescue as sadly thats where a lot of rescue buns come from in the first place
 
You could flip reasonableness on its head though, and say that it is not reasonable on the rabbits being kept in a 'factory' for the sole purpose of producing more babies so you could buy one in a pet shop. It's not reasonable on the bunny bred to replace the one you bought. So on balance, it's unreasonable to buy a bunny from a pet shop because it creates unreasonable demands on those kept for breeding more, and the one you replace it with. So on the balance of reasonableness - pet shop bun: 1x reasonable (the one you buy) and at least 3x unreasonable (both parent rabbits kept purely for breeding, and the one(s) bred to replace the one you buy. Whereas with a rescue bun, it's 2x reasonable - one for the bun you help, and one for the bun that can take its place in the rescue.

Yes, I completely agree with you. But no matter how I juggle the chances, I still find it morally depressing from those buns' point of view...
 
I'm not saying this definately happened but years ago I read about them doing this then they revamped themselves as pets at home to get rid of their bad image. I can't remember their original name..can anyone else?

I think it was Petsmart, I remember watching an undercover documentary about them, with the hamsters :cry:


That is just truly awful :( how can a "pet" store do that to its animals?? :shock::cry::cry:
 
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