Posted: Wednesday 11 January 2012
by Pippa Greenwood
Gardeners have a difficult relationship with rabbits, and I myself sometimes swear inwardly, when a rabbit finds its way into my veg plot, and munches through my veg.
I’ve just found the body of yet another rabbit, which has suffered a long, drawn out, and unpleasant death, as a result of myxomatosis. Gardeners have a difficult relationship with rabbits, and I myself sometimes swear inwardly, when a rabbit finds its way into my veg plot, and munches through my veg. But I never want to kill one.
You might think I’m a softie, and perhaps I am. I do know that rabbits can be serious pests, and although I wouldn’t do it myself, some people resort to shooting them. At least this method dispatches them relatively quickly.
In my vegetarian, animal-loving way, I’m almost frightened by what I feel about the person who deliberately introduced the virus to rabbit populations. He knew what it would do to the animals and how they would die. If I wrote down my real thoughts about that man, this blog would not be published!
Myxomatosis takes about two weeks to kill a rabbit, which is an extremely drawn out death, especially when you consider how short a time most rabbits live for. In human time it would be the equivalent of many months, or perhaps even years, of gradual deterioration with bleeding, swelling, respiratory failure and virtual blindness.
It makes me very sad, and almost embarrassed and ashamed to be part of the human race. Perhaps at the start of another year, we should all think a lot harder about everything and everyone we share this planet with.
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