I'm sure the owner didn't realize though. I mean I doubt they're some horrible abusive person like people are making out...
The collar is bad (I'm a fan of harnesses though) but with the shirt, how do you know that it doesn't mind clothes? How do you know the owner didn't put the shirt on it just for 2 mins to take a picture? I've put clothes on rabbits before and they didn't freak out. Some rabbits are calm and friendly and don't mind much. Obviously unless for medical reasons you shouldn't keep clothes on rabbits and I wouldn't actually advise it since many rabbits are stressy but it doesnt automatically make the owner an ignorant cruel person.
No, it wasn't a good idea for the owner to post those pictures because maybe anyone looking to adopt the rabbit and even other people that see it might think it's ok to use collars and dress rabbits up without considering whether the rabbit may get stressed out (although I bet they thought it would indicate how friendly the rabbit is, what a good pet it'd make, that it's well loved etc). If it weren't for that part I'd say people are way overreacting.
It's obvious from the Rabbit's body language that 1- he hates being on lino/vinyl flooring and 2- he is anxious, his ear position 'says' that.
yeah but that's part of my point, they most likely didn't realize that. The fact they posted them shows they just thought it was cute and showed what a good rabbit he is to potential adopters. I mean I'm not saying their ignorance makes it ok but I don't think it's fair for people to act like they're horrible.
I think people can be too careful about rabbits too...I mean people put clothes on their dog or cat when they know their dog/cat doesn't like it and they'll admit that and post the pics and say 'isn't this cute, lol, as you can see he wasn't very impressed but I gave him a treat afterwards to make up for it!' and no one bats an eye, but it's like a crime if someone does that with bunnies.
I just don't think it's all that bad really. I wouldn't make a habit of it (and I haven't even put a shirt on a rabbit in several years) but for the odd quick picture I don't think it's going to do any harm to many rabbits. I guess maybe it's because prretty much all of my buns have been calm and friendly. I've never went a day without buns since I was about 2 years old so I do know a lot about them and can tell if they get stressed and they never have been stressed when I've done unconventional things with them, so I guess I kinda lean towards being sympathetic towards the owners when these topics come up. It just doesn't seem very fair to bash them and say they deserve to be slapped and have a collar put around their neck when they probably have no idea. I remember recently reading a thread on RU where a newbie had put collars with bells on their buns, they just didn't know it was wrong.
yeah but that's part of my point, they most likely didn't realize that. The fact they posted them shows they just thought it was cute and showed what a good rabbit he is to potential adopters. I mean I'm not saying their ignorance makes it ok but I don't think it's fair for people to act like they're horrible.
I think people can be too careful about rabbits too...I mean people put clothes on their dog or cat when they know their dog/cat doesn't like it and they'll admit that and post the pics and say 'isn't this cute, lol, as you can see he wasn't very impressed but I gave him a treat afterwards to make up for it!' and no one bats an eye, but it's like a crime if someone does that with bunnies.
I just don't think it's all that bad really. I wouldn't make a habit of it (and I haven't even put a shirt on a rabbit in several years) but for the odd quick picture I don't think it's going to do any harm to many rabbits. I guess maybe it's because prretty much all of my buns have been calm and friendly. I've never went a day without buns since I was about 2 years old so I do know a lot about them and can tell if they get stressed and they never have been stressed when I've done unconventional things with them, so I guess I kinda lean towards being sympathetic towards the owners when these topics come up. It just doesn't seem very fair to bash them and say they deserve to be slapped and have a collar put around their neck when they probably have no idea. I remember recently reading a thread on RU where a newbie had put collars with bells on their buns, they just didn't know it was wrong.
It baffles me how anyone can defend doing this to an animal.
I think its a lack of basic common sense, which annoy me because I would hope anyone would have a certain amount of common sense...I made mistakes when I first got my boys, but I certainly would not have dressed them up in pretty clothes....not even for a second. Or put a collar on them, they are rabbits, not dogs...
Also we do not know what was written in the ad....wouldn't surprise me if it was the same sad ''kids aren't interested'' or ''we are moving'' ****....