On Tuesday, February 21, 2012, WDIV Channel 4 News in Detroit Michigan, had as their Pet of the Week segment a Rabbit from the Michigan Humane Society. The representative of the Humane Society spoke on the fact that rabbits are wonderful pets for families, especially children. That rabbits are low maintenance and easy to take care of. The fact that both WDIV and the Michigan Humane Society chose to air this segment right before Easter when people are getting rabbits as gifts that end up in shelters, pounds and rescues six months later is irresponsible. As anyone who runs a rescue or is a responsible rabbit parent knows, rabbits are very high maintenance pets who require special food, litter, and hay. They can become injured easily because they have very small bones and a child roughly playing with one can easily lead to an injury that will lead to veterinary bills in the hundreds if not thousands of dollars. By the way, rabbits also need to be seen by an rabbit savvy veterinarian, should ALWAYS be spay or neutered, do not require vaccinations (at least in Michigan as the MHS representative implied), and can have chronic teeth, stomach and other issues that require medical care. Via this petition, we wish to see a retraction and apology by both WDIV and the Michigan Humane Society for this segment and its inaccurate and untimely airing of this segment. We refer them to
http://www.rabbit.org/, the House Rabbit Society and the Make Mine Chocolate Campaign for responsible, accurate information.
http://makeminechocolate.org/This letter is in regard to WDIV's Pet of the Week segment on the noon news on Tuesday 2/21/2012. A representative of the Michigan Humane Society showcased a rabbit as a great pet for families, especially those with children. As a 15 year rescuer of rabbits that have been tossed away after the kids got tired of it six months after they got the rabbit as an Easter present, let me explain that 90% of what the gentlemen said was inaccurate, and nearly dangerous. It scares me to think of the people that will give rabbits (and ducks and chickens) as Easter presents and then will be neglected and given to already overburdened rescues and shelters once they find out the amount of care, time, and specialty needs of a rabbit and other small animals. A rabbit should NEVER be given to a small child. A rabbit has very small bones that can be broken easily, ears that should never be pulled , and since they are a prey animal they can easily be frightened (by a child's loud scream or any loud noise or motion) to the point of death. We would appreciate a public apology from WDIV and the Michigan Humane Society regarding the untimely and inappropriate televising of this segment. Thank you for your time. Barbara and Gerald Douyard, owners of Treasured Pets - MI and Wonderland Rabbit Rescue.
