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Friend's and Family's attitudes towards bunnies

I find peoples attitudes towards rabbits as rather offensive.

My OH has made some comments in the past and has made it clear he never wanted any of them.... he uses them in arguments to upset me (as I spend more time with them than doing washing, cleaning and tending to his ego!) He did so just last week... and he got told he didn't have to live with us... and he was free to leave whenever he wanted to! I would not give up my furry babies for anyone! He can't understand that they are part of my family!

My O/H mother (nearly MOL) has to say "oh I'm not an animal person" everytime I mention them.. well I am not a children person... yet I have to put up with a 7 year old and a 3 year old everytime we visit.. but that's "different".

At work - I nearly lost my cool... when I had to make the decision to have my Bubby Toshi pts, I was so heartbroken. I was sobbing. My boss slammed his office door shut. Then later said "everything ok now? as I went to reply he said "I'm not speaking to you about it!" I felt like replying with Oh :censored: off!

The self righteous "christian" woman - who is quite the b*tch and a very judgemental and disagreeable person, yet preaches to me about right and wrong... had the cheek to say "I don't think you have the right kind of mentality to look after animals, as them dying is part of having them". This is the woman who had her dog pts as his heart meds and symptoms of his illness interferred with her part time job! How compassionate!
Well she is lucky I didn't thump her for the comment she made... how could I not be upset! Toshi was my angel.

The thing that none of them realise is that I won't forget their attitudes towards my dearly loved animals and their complete ignorance of how much losing one of them hurts. I wouldn't dream of commenting about their nearest and dearest in the same way... but then they aren't animals.

My dad on the other hand lives in Germany - he calls every week and always how the animals are.. it's his house we live in, and he isn't an animal person! Bless him :D
 
I do feel that most of my family just humour me, even though we are all animal lovers in my family, my mum has dogs and my sister has had a dog and now has a cat, I still get the impression that the general consensous of opinion is that they're "just rabbits".

I have friends/neighbours who have a very old fashioned attitude to rabbits. One neighbour said she was just "waiting for hers to die" as she had had a new baby and didnt have the time for them any more (she didnt neglect them or anything but had just basically lost interest in them). Another neighbours rabbits died of myxi and when I said about the vaccs was told it was a waste of money.

I think most peoples attitudes are because of the old fashioned view that rabbits are useless, boring, replaceable and should just be left in a hutch with no love or companionship and also because people dont understand them, or take the time to understand them. Its very sad.

But I have a clear conscience that I take very good care of my buns and they are loved. If anyone has a problem with that then they can go jump off a cliff:lol:
 
linzi1loveanimals said:
I find peoples attitudes towards rabbits as rather offensive.

My OH has made some comments in the past and has made it clear he never wanted any of them.... he uses them in arguments to upset me (as I spend more time with them than doing washing, cleaning and tending to his ego!) He did so just last week... and he got told he didn't have to live with us... and he was free to leave whenever he wanted to! I would not give up my furry babies for anyone! He can't understand that they are part of my family!

My O/H mother (nearly MOL) has to say "oh I'm not an animal person" everytime I mention them.. well I am not a children person... yet I have to put up with a 7 year old and a 3 year old everytime we visit.. but that's "different".

At work - I nearly lost my cool... when I had to make the decision to have my Bubby Toshi pts, I was so heartbroken. I was sobbing. My boss slammed his office door shut. Then later said "everything ok now? as I went to reply he said "I'm not speaking to you about it!" I felt like replying with Oh :censored: off!

The self righteous "christian" woman - who is quite the b*tch and a very judgemental and disagreeable person, yet preaches to me about right and wrong... had the cheek to say "I don't think you have the right kind of mentality to look after animals, as them dying is part of having them". This is the woman who had her dog pts as his heart meds and symptoms of his illness interferred with her part time job! How compassionate!
Well she is lucky I didn't thump her for the comment she made... how could I not be upset! Toshi was my angel.

The thing that none of them realise is that I won't forget their attitudes towards my dearly loved animals and their complete ignorance of how much losing one of them hurts. I wouldn't dream of commenting about their nearest and dearest in the same way... but then they aren't animals.

My dad on the other hand lives in Germany - he calls every week and always how the animals are.. it's his house we live in, and he isn't an animal person! Bless him :D
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Oh bless you hun. I know exactly how you feel. I remember a 'so called' friend laughing because I was in tears at having had my hamster pts. I didn't speak to her again.

Some people just don't want to understand and take pleasure in belittling anything they can't comprehend. But at the end of the day, I believe they're the ones who are missing out on such joy in their life because they don't welcome animals into it. Yes, it's devastating to lose your beloved pet but you have to weigh that up against the years of happy times. They're missing out on all that joy but the miserable gits are welcome to stew in their own juice!!!!!!
 
My family call me sad whenever I bring home new things for the bunnies and how strict I am about feeding and stuff, but when Nunzeo was sick I had everyone calling and texting to make sure he was ok, even when he was better they made sure for about a week after.

It make the time when they roll their eyes at me, ok. Nice to know they care when it matters.
 
This is SOO sad but YES, we get exactly the same! My parents say I spoil Kirk & Daisy cos I buy them herbs which they love :love: - my dad just says "waste of money - get out and pick dandilions".. :roll:

Well I do - but they love their basil too so I will spoil them if I want to.

I tell the girls in the office about them often and they do ask after them too - but they are big animal lovers.

How sad that people have to make these very cruel and hurtful comments - I've had them in the past. It is so rude of them and if anyone says such things to me now I soon put them right. The bloody cheek of it. They're our family after all and we LOVE them. Why is that so hard for some people to understand? Idiots.
 
Mackers said:
Fortunately for me, my blood family feel the same as me although the outlaws think I'm a mad animal woman. Quite frankly, I don't care any more. As long as my animals come first, the outlaws can do and think exactly as they like. I won't compromise my position to accommodate their views and they know that.

As for work colleagues - most are understanding but I still get the odd 'rabbit stew' comment etc. If someone says it to me now, I just give them a very hard stare and say "I don't find that amusing - in fact, it's very disrespectful". They're usually embarrassed enough to shut up :lol:

You have to accept that not everyone has the same views as us animal lovers but in my mind, if they don't appreciate animals, they're just not worth knowing.
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Ooh don't get me started - outlaws are usually the worst aren't they?!

My ex husbands parents - god..... :shock: they were a MARE!

My ex and his dad would usually go out and kill rabbits - in the most humane way possible but I just despised them for it - the rows, honestly.

But his dad would always bring up the topic of animals and hunting etc and he KNEW how I felt about it but just kept banging on and on about it all the time until I just flipped and told him he was a cruel old **** and to just SHUT UP about it whilst I was around!

Stupid :censored:

Err that censored word sounds like art and has an f at the beginning - that's all that was! :D
 
Ooo glad I am not the only one

One more thing my dad rescued a wild baby bunny when I was 7 and he adored Thumper, and made him a super hutch and run and was a complete softy with him. Thumper lived for nearly 12 years.

But now my dad lives in the country and thinks nothing of taking pot shots at rabbits with his gun. His dog (terrier) is a rabbit killer and he has to tell me everytime I visit how many she has killed, even though I say that I really don't want to know :(

I just can't understand how a man can love and care for a wild rabbit for over a decade see how intelligent and affectionate they can be then kill a few just because he can :censored: BTW not a rabbit problem where he lives.

Although this is the same person who introduces me to my next xmas dinner, as I am patting it on the head (cow).
 
im very lucky my family love the rabbits and helped me out with a csotly vet bill in the past too. with freinds they understand my lvoe for rabbits tho can sometimes be less caring as dont "get it" ..again at work collegues vary u have to ignore the bad bits or try and educate them... a bloke at work last week... how are ur bunys(he always asks tho im not sure why?) they are good thankyou..... him: do u ever get bored of them? me: no they are too interesting... him:but what do they do al lday? me: they mow my lawn...chuckle... seriously they hop around periscope binky..toss flowerpots play with keys and balls snuggle up together and lick each other jump into pots and over walls cluimb ramps run in the house and climb stairs.. jjump on sofas, eat lots use their litter tray you know normal bunny stuff
him: rabbits do al lthat? i have only ever seen rabbits sit in hutches and do nothing i didnt know they were so capable or intelligent...... so i showed him a video of my buns playing with toys.. he was most impressed....lol i think people jsut dont realise about bunnys till they have them and give them toys adn space. x
 
This thread makes me realise how lucky I am having friends and family who are animal lovers and understand my bunny obsession.
 
My work mates (who all have dogs) don't even feel the same way as i do about my dog..let alone the rabbits! one said to me last week i can't believe you have bought two rabbits and are keeping them in the house, you always seemed so house proud and now you have a big (nic cubes) thing stuck in your small already living room! i said i am still house proud, i clean up now more than ever!!!!!
 
I'm feeling lucky reading this thread too, because while my family doesn't exactly love animals, they humor me. My mom always asks about how the bunnies are doing, and listens patiently if I tell her 8 million stories. My grandparents clearly laugh whenever I talk about my bunnies as "serious pets", but they're good natured and listen just as well.

Although at Christmas, my brother kept going on and on about his dog. Everyone was laughing at all the stories, and when I told a few bunny ones, they quickly changed the subject back to the dog, because they found it far more interesting. :?

Also at work, I am a receptionist and the patients will coo at the pictures of my rabbits, and when I tell them they are house rabbits, they're just shocked. "Don't they poo and pee everywhere?" "I thought they just like to sit in cages all day!" "What do you feed them? Bunny food?"

But I never lose hope. The more these people hear about house bunnies from different sources, the more normal the idea becomes, and the more the mentality changes in mainstream society. So I will ramble on and on about my bunnies, so the next time someone mentions a rabbit, they might say, "I met this girl once who lets her rabbits run about the house! Do you let your rabbits do that?" And either they do, and the idea is reinforced, or they don't, and the owner starts looking up more stuff about rabbit care and gets more educated.

But that's my ideal world. DON'T ROB ME OF MY DREAMS!! :oops:
 
I'm really glad you posted about this...I used to get the same thing all the time! Sadly speckle was PTS last week but ironically, after my parents moaning about the vet bills and the years of "rabbit stew" jokes, they were devestated when we lost him! None of my family, except one of my uncles, have animals so they're obviously not big animal lovers. I think most people just don't realise that rabbits can be really great company! Needless to say I'd love another one now my little speckle's gone but it's convincing the parents that's the problem :lol:
 
I think I'm quite lucky!
My mam loves the rabbits, adores how cute they are and when I found this site and went on about vaccs and neutering, she was fine with it and said no problem, and paid. She always pops in my room to see all the animals and can never help awwing at my bonded pair :love:
My boyfriend totally loves them (I swear he loves them more than he loves me:lol: )
The few friends I actually see love them, think they're adorable and love how mental they are when they binky around the room.

I've had a few people say "Rabbit stew" ect at me, but I tell them to **** off :)
 
Same :(

Its fine for everyone at school to talk about their dogs and cats, but a bunny seems to be like... "Rabbit? Youve got a Rabbit?:lol::lol:"

Eurgh :evil:
 
My mum and dad were down at the weekend and my dad took great delight in telling me that when the war was on he would hunt and skin rabbits as meat was a luxury... he doesnt like my rabbits cos he does my garden for me and says I spoil it because it looks like a zoo :shock::lol:

Then my mum and dad went on to discuss which one of my four rabbits would be best to make a pie with.. and chose Pootle because she was the plumpest... :cry:
 
I get the its a lot of money line" from my Dad but to be honest he said that when I loaned a horse and about his fish so I think its directed at any pet.

My grandparents and father in law love the rabbit stew jokes!

When I did my GCSE English oral I bought my Bunny Flopsy into school as my presentation. I gave my class a lecture on how she was kept, how important it was to give her space and told stories etc. I even let her explore the classroom on her lead! Theres a class out there who know all about a rabbit called Flopsy who was the ruler of a 100ft garden lol
 
fluffiebunnie said:
Then my mum and dad went on to discuss which one of my four rabbits would be best to make a pie with.. and chose Pootle because she was the plumpest... :cry:
Click to expand...

The answer to that is: "I'll remember these comments when it comes to choosing a home to put you into ......"
 
Yep I get the same my brother will do anything to get rid of my babies :cry: and everyone seems to think its so :censored: amusing and unbelievable when I talk about vet bills like I'm lying or something:evil:
 
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