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Times 2 Modern Morals - about bunnies today

Has anyone read the Modern Morals in Times 2 today?

I'll type out the question for you but the answer is too long!

"I bought pet rabbits for my daughters: two, for company, and brothers, so they would not fight. But they did, so I took them to be neutered:£50 each. Next came teeth problems:£76 and £95 to sort out. These are only rabbits!They cost me £20 to buy! Special hay costs me £8 per kilo! A family in Africa could live for weeks on this kind of money. Deep down I think it is not right"

I have emailed a response actually as i think this just about sums up some impulse purchasers' attitudes to "only rabbits"!
 
If people cared about rabbits and other small living creatures they would not tolerate the sort of world where people in Africa are living in such abject poverty.
If you take care of the small the rest follows is my view. And the measure of a society is the way it treats its weakest members, whether animal or human.
 
its true - i dont think this article indicates that the person actually is a caring person at all - i think we should look after what we are capable of looking after - be it all your pets or going further and donatint to charity etc

at the end of the day a lot of things people spend their money on could feed a family in africa for some period of time - most people spend more on xmas presents than some people would earn in africa in a year

presumably he/she has no problem spending large amounts of cash on toys etc for the kids. i think he's upset about the cost as its "only a rabbit" - my guess is he/she would think differently if it was a cat or a dog or a broken playstation 2!

i think his moral stance is probably somewhat flawed.
 
Excellent point guys, and if the buns hadnt cost that money, would he have donated it to 'africa' anyway? hmmm. I dont think so. Perhaps someone could suggest something like payroll giving to a chosen african charity as this can make a real difference.
Giving involves sacrifice but he is suggesting his buns sacrifice health and happyness instead of sacrificing a couple of his own material possesions.

Maybe hes trying to raise the whole moral issue of the cost of keeping pets in general? I dont know. But what I do know is that I go without a few luxury items so my pets can have medical treatment I dont mind at all because my pets are what bring me happiness much more that a playstation would.
 
:x Fool! The things he has mentioned are essential- if they were silly or flivorous (sp?) things like buying a Gucci coat for your dog then I could see a point somewhere- but these are just the minimum you can do for your pets.

I suspect he probably wouldnt hesitate to spend large amounts of money on himself! (non essentials included!)
 
well it annoyed me so much i sent off this email (although i didnt even get into the moral arguments of it!)

"You bought the rabbits and thus made a commitment to them – something tells me that if it was a dog or a cat you would not be having these doubts.

I feel that you are one of those impulse purchasers who buy rabbits as they are cute and fluffy as babies and didn’t actually look into the pros and cons of owning them. Of course 2 un-neutered males will fight – did you actually do any research before buying them? All credit to you though for actually getting them neutered and sorting out the teeth problems – a lot of bunnies just end up in rescue instead.

Your rabbits, if looked after as they should be, could be very contented family pets with a lot to offer. Try browsing the internet – your timothy hay at £8 per kilo would only be £3 per kilo if bought in bulk. Insure them to cover the next lot of unexpected bills (I warn you, one of mine ran up a £900 bill last Christmas!). Change their diet to a more natural one and provide lots of willow toys – the teeth may rectify themselves. Your rabbits might very well live to be 11 or 12 – if you alter the way you think about them now then it will be better for you and your bunnies.

Incidentally, as you may have guessed, I am a “bunny-lover”. I have 4 rabbits of my own and there is a massive rabbit owners’ community out there who see their rabbits as “proper” pets. They are not disposable pets, to be forgotten about once owners realise they do actually cost money! There are over 30000 rabbits in rescue out there because people buy them without actually thinking about the rabbit’s needs which are a lot different from a bit of carrot now and again and being stuck in a hutch at the bottom of the garden.

If your correspondent needs any more help tell them to look at www.rabbitrehome.org.uk. That should sort out any more problems they have!"

That should tell him/her!
 
Well done Sarah.

What was the general gist of the rTimes reply to the question? Or is it just readers replies they print?
 
they just said that vets do charge a lot and its not cost effective to be an animal owner

next time move closer to a zoo!

nothing particularly anti or pro what the correspondent was saying im afraid!
 
sarahbarnsley said:
"I bought pet rabbits for my daughters: two, for company, and brothers, so they would not fight. But they did, so I took them to be neutered:£50 each. Next came teeth problems:£76 and £95 to sort out. These are only rabbits!They cost me £20 to buy! Special hay costs me £8 per kilo! A family in Africa could live for weeks on this kind of money. Deep down I think it is not right"

I wonder if it was a really clever bunny lover - what a good way of getting the "rabbits are expenisve don't impulse buy" message across without seeming like your lecturing or writing in a way that will make people just groan at the crazy pet owners ;)
 
OMG but I had to laugh my head off at part of the reply, how true is this? :lol:


You drop off a poorly rabbit for a minor surgical procedure and pick it up the next day to find that it has run up an overnight bill that suggests it emptied the mini-bar of champagne and macadamia nuts before staying up all night watching the pay-per-view porn channel

:lol: :lol:
 
perhaps so :D i'm just in one of those crazy pet owners moods today!

i've had to report my idiot neighbour to environmental health yet again due to his penchant for early morning (5am) parties and loud really bad dance music - plus I've also lost my temporary filling this morning so I'm severely annoyed now!!!!

o well i enjoyed ranting even if he was really trying to educate us, its made me feel a little less hormonal :lol:

ooo i almost forgot about the prat who reversed into our car last night when we were on the way to visit my dad in hospital! still i got his reg and reported him as he was drunk and drove the wrong way down a 1 way street too!
 
I have to agree that vets bills can be outrageous!! I know you have to expect some vets bills when you have animals but sometimes they're taking the mickey.

I've been quoted £67 to neuter my guinea pig :shock:

If vets were true animal lovers surely they'd reduce fees. Look at the differences in cost for the myxi vacc, I've seen on here ranging from £8 to £45 for the same jab :roll:

The tone of the article that it's 'only a rabbit' stinks :evil: No, it's a living breathing creature and deserves care as much as your dog or cat. Rabbits are not cheap and easy pets just because you can pick them up cheap grrrrrr !!
 
this is the whole article:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7-2437031,00.html


Modern morals
Joe Joseph



I bought pet rabbits for my daughters: two, for company, and brothers, so they would not fight. But they did, so I took them to be neutered: £50 each. Next came teeth problems: £76 and £95 to sort out. These are only rabbits! They cost £20 to buy! Special hay costs me £8 a kilo! A family in Africa could live for weeks on this kind of money. Deep down I think it is not right.



It’s true that vet fees can be as alarming as finding out that the woman you’ve been chatting up at the bar is Mike Tyson’s new girlfriend. You drop off a poorly rabbit for a minor surgical procedure and pick it up the next day to find that it has run up an overnight bill that suggests it emptied the mini-bar of champagne and macadamia nuts before staying up all night watching the pay-per-view porn channel (and being unimpressed by the prolific bedroom work rate of the lead actors because, well, because it’s a rabbit). Either that or it ran up a string of losses by placing telephone bets with a bookie on races at the dog track, as a result of believing that being a rabbit gives it a special insight into greyhound behaviour.

Getting a sick pet treated by a vet makes, in financial terms, about as much sense as getting a pencil repaired: it’s cheaper to get a new one. You know when you buy a £1.99 torch and the salesman tries to sell you a three-year warranty for £17.50, and you snort at his loopy arithmetic? Well, that’s pretty much how pet medical insurance works. Pets are a sort of loss-leader for vets. It’s like razor manufacturers selling you a razor for pennies to lock you in to having to buy its expensive blades for the rest of your shaving life.

But who looks at pets in purely financial terms? Ever thought of moving near a zoo? That might be cheaper.
 
Vets do have a right to charge a fair bit of money though, its a career needing 5years or more training. Think how much doctors earn...
Most vets do reduced procedures for recues/charitys so theyre still doing their bit for needy animals as well as earning a salary like they deserve.
 
kiri said:
Vets do have a right to charge a fair bit of money though, its a career needing 5years or more training. Think how much doctors earn...
Most vets do reduced procedures for recues/charitys so theyre still doing their bit for needy animals as well as earning a salary like they deserve.

I agree they have a right to a good salary, but I read the other day that there's no regulations so they can charge what they want, hence the huge differences in eg myxi vacs or spaying. How can anyone justify £50 for a jab that takes 5 mins of their time when other vets charge £10?? My OH is an accountant who studied for more than 5 years for his degree and accountancy exams and earns a reasonably good salary, but he certainly doesn't earn £50 for five minutes work (I wish he did :lol: )
 
Getting a sick pet treated by a vet makes, in financial terms, about as much sense as getting a pencil repaired: it’s cheaper to get a new one.

Lovely :? . I agree with the mini bar bit - that's great! I took Michelle in as an emergency to the vets and they hooked her up with IV Baytril and fluids and kept her in 2 nights. That would have cost me £230 if she wasn't insured! She's worth it though!!

Whether the cost of vet treatment is a rip off really depends on how much people value their pets. How can you put a value on gorgeous bunbuns when they look up at you with those lovely eyes and do all the wonderful things they do?

I would sell my OH if necessary to get my bunnies treated!!!! :lol: :lol:
 
I don't have a problem with this article. He did , after all, take the animals to the vets and get them treated. He isn't advocating (IMO) not bothering - more like highliting the unexpected costs. And he ends by saying "but who looks at a pet in purely financial terms". A cautionary tale I would say.
 
I think the newspaper's answer misses the point that it is immoral for somebody (a shopkeeper) to allow somebody else take on a responsibility (a pet) without knowing the full extent of their commitment. I agree that this man seems to have done the best he can for the rabbits (at some point he must have done some research and found that neutering them could calm them down, and he noticed their teeth problems), but he started from a point of ignorance - he thought he was getting a cheap, easy pet.

And I think that vet's bills should just make us thank the welfare state for the NHS. I think vets generally are expensive to people used to free medical treatment, but I know several cases where poor people have been charged just the bare costs by their vet; and I also know that vets take in and treat (or at least put out of their suffering) sick/injured wildlife free of charge.
 
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