This may be a bit rambly, but I'm a little emotional about this particular situation and just want the input of rabbit lovers who are perhaps not as caught up in the situation as I am. Obviously because I'm an employee I can't be too obvious with the companies involved, but I'm sure everyone knows anyway. If people could avoid using the store names though it would be appreciated, at least until I manage to find alternative employment...
I work for a veterinary practice that has been set up within a pet chain store. I'm already uncomfortable enough in this particular situation as I feel it clashes with my ethics, but I love the job and I enjoy being in the heart of something where I can at least let people know that what the staff are advising them as being appropriate care is not necessarily the best long term plan. This was all well and good, I frequently went downstairs to query the advice staff had been giving members of the public who came to the vets full of "knowledge", and while still uncomfortable I still loved working in the vets.
Then an elderly woman came in with her two rabbits. To cut a long story short the store manager convinced her, against my advice, to sign the rabbits over to their adoption charity. These are a bonded 7 year old pair who have been used to being the apple of their elderly ladies eye until she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and for the last 6 months she'd been battling with her illness and trying to care for these rabbits. He promised her they'd be given adequate accommodation, found a loving home, and looked after by caring staff.
The staff hate the rabbits, and I feel they hate them purely because their training in rabbit welfare/behaviour is woefully inadequate and they don't understand that if you shove two large rabbits in a small, exposed space on a level where children, dogs and childish adults can torment them is going to result in two unhappy rabbits who are likely to show you an "aggressive" side of them. I've been informed that the pair have lunged and grunted at all the staff members (I, personally, did not witness that when they attempted to prove how "nasty" the rabbits where, but this is likely due to the fact I let them come to me rather than stick my hands in what little space they've been given) and now they essentially throw their food at them while referring to them as vicious. They're not vicious. These two rabbits have been used to being house rabbits, house rabbits who had the run of an entire bunny proofed house where their only stress occurred when their lady owner had chemotherapy. They're stressed out, they're reacting due to that stress, and I feel personally responsible for this happening.
I'm going to spare you all the coulda, woulda, shouldas, the simple fact is that I didn't do enough and now two rabbits are in what the chain store pitifully calls an 'adoption corner' among "stock" that has grown too large to be considered cute. When I'm manning reception during the day I can see these rabbits from where the surgery has been placed, I can see them being stressed out, and on more than one occasion I've perhaps been a little too bolshy and told customers to take their dogs away from that corner and snapped at staff about making sure they keep an eye on the welfare of the small furries. They've been there two weeks, and I feel like there's something gnawing in the pit of my stomach. They're stressed, the shop staff are going to shrug their shoulders and the store manager couldn't care less as the adoption corner does not contribute to the store sales, and I can see them being stuck in that small compartment in that situation until they can pass them off to anyone who'll have them.
But this is where I'm struggling.
I've compromised my ethics quite a bit by working within the store itself, even if we're not technically part of the store people still think we're just a fake vets within a pet shop. I already spend quite a bit of my time advising people against the stock sold downstairs and how it would be beneficial for them to explore rescues and rabbit welfare sites before buying little Timmy a fluffy, stressed out rabbit for Christmas. Part of me feels that if I actively adopt these rabbits, if I take them home, that's another step towards saying "this is not that bad really, it's not inappropriate at all, look at me, I happily adopted from their adoption corner". Obviously there's part of me who just wants to grab the keys, get bitten and scratched while I place them inside a carrier, and then run off into the distance with them. Part of me knows that, for these particular rabbits, it would be far better for them if I can get them out rather than hoping they'll be adopted by someone who appreciates them for the rabbits they are. But I don't know what to do. I know that whatever I do will ultimately be my decision, but I'd like a bit of input from other rabbit lovers.
Should I adopt them, or should I stick to coming down to remind staff of their duty of care towards these animals, regardless of how "nasty" they think they are? And on a purely selfish note: am I not just creating a rod for my own back in terms of staff pressure to take on "undesirable" animals so they can free up space for easier to shift "adoption" cases?
I work for a veterinary practice that has been set up within a pet chain store. I'm already uncomfortable enough in this particular situation as I feel it clashes with my ethics, but I love the job and I enjoy being in the heart of something where I can at least let people know that what the staff are advising them as being appropriate care is not necessarily the best long term plan. This was all well and good, I frequently went downstairs to query the advice staff had been giving members of the public who came to the vets full of "knowledge", and while still uncomfortable I still loved working in the vets.
Then an elderly woman came in with her two rabbits. To cut a long story short the store manager convinced her, against my advice, to sign the rabbits over to their adoption charity. These are a bonded 7 year old pair who have been used to being the apple of their elderly ladies eye until she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, and for the last 6 months she'd been battling with her illness and trying to care for these rabbits. He promised her they'd be given adequate accommodation, found a loving home, and looked after by caring staff.
The staff hate the rabbits, and I feel they hate them purely because their training in rabbit welfare/behaviour is woefully inadequate and they don't understand that if you shove two large rabbits in a small, exposed space on a level where children, dogs and childish adults can torment them is going to result in two unhappy rabbits who are likely to show you an "aggressive" side of them. I've been informed that the pair have lunged and grunted at all the staff members (I, personally, did not witness that when they attempted to prove how "nasty" the rabbits where, but this is likely due to the fact I let them come to me rather than stick my hands in what little space they've been given) and now they essentially throw their food at them while referring to them as vicious. They're not vicious. These two rabbits have been used to being house rabbits, house rabbits who had the run of an entire bunny proofed house where their only stress occurred when their lady owner had chemotherapy. They're stressed out, they're reacting due to that stress, and I feel personally responsible for this happening.
I'm going to spare you all the coulda, woulda, shouldas, the simple fact is that I didn't do enough and now two rabbits are in what the chain store pitifully calls an 'adoption corner' among "stock" that has grown too large to be considered cute. When I'm manning reception during the day I can see these rabbits from where the surgery has been placed, I can see them being stressed out, and on more than one occasion I've perhaps been a little too bolshy and told customers to take their dogs away from that corner and snapped at staff about making sure they keep an eye on the welfare of the small furries. They've been there two weeks, and I feel like there's something gnawing in the pit of my stomach. They're stressed, the shop staff are going to shrug their shoulders and the store manager couldn't care less as the adoption corner does not contribute to the store sales, and I can see them being stuck in that small compartment in that situation until they can pass them off to anyone who'll have them.
But this is where I'm struggling.
I've compromised my ethics quite a bit by working within the store itself, even if we're not technically part of the store people still think we're just a fake vets within a pet shop. I already spend quite a bit of my time advising people against the stock sold downstairs and how it would be beneficial for them to explore rescues and rabbit welfare sites before buying little Timmy a fluffy, stressed out rabbit for Christmas. Part of me feels that if I actively adopt these rabbits, if I take them home, that's another step towards saying "this is not that bad really, it's not inappropriate at all, look at me, I happily adopted from their adoption corner". Obviously there's part of me who just wants to grab the keys, get bitten and scratched while I place them inside a carrier, and then run off into the distance with them. Part of me knows that, for these particular rabbits, it would be far better for them if I can get them out rather than hoping they'll be adopted by someone who appreciates them for the rabbits they are. But I don't know what to do. I know that whatever I do will ultimately be my decision, but I'd like a bit of input from other rabbit lovers.
Should I adopt them, or should I stick to coming down to remind staff of their duty of care towards these animals, regardless of how "nasty" they think they are? And on a purely selfish note: am I not just creating a rod for my own back in terms of staff pressure to take on "undesirable" animals so they can free up space for easier to shift "adoption" cases?
