Imprisoned pets

guitarzero

From a moral point of view, is there any ethical justification for locking up an animal 24/7 just for your whimsical pleasure? A friend of mine owns 2 rabbits. He lives in town so theres no garden for the pet to roam around. Its spends most the time in a box bar maybe an hour. WTF.

belongtojazz

The people who had my springer before me kept him locked up 24/7 for 6 years with the result now that I have a wonderful dog with a lot of issues.
They kept him as they loved the fact that they owned a "pedigree" dog :rolleyes:
Some animals are happy being confined, but most need some interaction with the outside world.
Do these rabbits ever get out of their hutch? How do they get exercise?

TooManyDogs

Animals locked in small spaces permanently normally go nuts and exhibit stress behaviours. Some develop agraphobia.

Any way of persuading your friend to give them more space?

Discodog

I think that rabbits & guinea pigs get a dreadful deal - I would ban their sale or at least restrict it to suitable people.

The vast majority end up stuck in a hutch 24/7 with minimal contact. They are left out in freezing weather & I rarely see one with a clean hutch. Because they are not handled they become difficult to handle so it becomes a self perpetuating cycle.

They can live for 10+ years so will outgrow the interest time of a typical child. They also tend to suffer badly with overgrown teeth & claws because they are not taken to the Vet.

But worse of all this gives children the wrong impression of responsible pet ownership which defeats the idea of getting the rabbit in the first place.

piperh

Discodog wrote: »

I think that rabbits & guinea pigs get a dreadful deal - I would ban their sale or at least restrict it to suitable people.

The vast majority end up stuck in a hutch 24/7 with minimal contact. They are left out in freezing weather & I rarely see one with a clean hutch. Because they are not handled they become difficult to handle so it becomes a self perpetuating cycle.

I agree completly i have 2 rabbits that were rescues, owner moved out and left rabbits behind and it was nearly 2 wks before anyone realised they were still there:mad::mad:. They are slowly becoming more trusting and will come up to us and allow us to pet them as we put food into them and no longer run and hide if we go into the garden.

As to the clean hutches they are cleaned 3x a week so are used to us going in and out and they really do have a great big hutch and run.

Also have 2 guineas that we took in because apparantly they're too noisy:rolleyes:, again handled everyday and cleaned 4x a wk.

djflawless

IMO the only animal that should be in its enclosure all day is a fish...unless you fancy taking it for a swim in the local pool

Silverfish

djflawless wrote: »

IMO the only animal that should be in its enclosure all day is a fish...unless you fancy taking it for a swim in the local pool

And even at that, most goldfish are kept in bowls that are too small, stunt the fish, and shorten it's lifespan to 2 years or so - goldfish grow to 10 - 12 inches, and can live 20+ years with proper space and care!

Even my mice get out for a gallop around, a bunny having no space to move around is a disgrace.

Animals need space. If you don't have the space, don't get the animal, simple as.

djflawless

Silverfish wrote: »

And even at that, most goldfish are kept in bowls that are too small, stunt the fish, and shorten it's lifespan to 2 years or so - goldfish grow to 10 - 12 inches, and can live 20+ years with proper space and care!

Even my mice get out for a gallop around, a bunny having no space to move around is a disgrace.

Animals need space. If you don't have the space, don't get the animal, simple as.

couldnt of said it better

paddyandy

Disgusting.

paddyandy

guitarzero wrote: »

From a moral point of view, is there any ethical justification for locking up an animal 24/7 just for your whimsical pleasure? A friend of mine owns 2 rabbits. He lives in town so theres no garden for the pet to roam around. Its spends most the time in a box bar maybe an hour. WTF.

One of my many resentments towards the catholic church is that it never made any attempt to prevent cruelty of ANY kind.Nothing in the catechism to teach humane treatment to either human or beast but there's a terrific amount in judaism that would make a christian blush.The treatment of animals in ireland is still awful and people turn their pets into "nutcases"I have cats and goldfishes and they live like royalty.People are thoughtless rather than bad.If i have to reincarnate i'd be a dog in england but nothing in ireland.

transit260

YAWNNNNNN!

JustAThought

What a lode of rubbish.

mosi

I really don't like it at all, I don't see the point in having a pet if it's going to be locked up in an tiny enclosure for its whole life.

I had a hamster once. I never would have thought to go out and buy one, for the reasons just outlined, but a friend was emigrating and asked me would I take it.
When I got the little fella, he was in a dreadful cage so the first thing I did was buy a large cage with levels and hidey holes. I got him a wheel as well, and one of those balls that you can put them inside to let them roll around the house in. I felt really bad for the poor little guy, nonetheless. I did the best I could to make life better for him but I just don't think its fair to keep animals like that.

Cherry Blossom

The next person to make a 'non-contribution' gets a free 3-day holiday.

Bizzum

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

The next person to make a 'non-contribution' gets a free 3-day holiday.

Me Me Me Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease!
Any spending money?

Cherry Blossom

No I'm afraid you have to supply your own spending money

paddyandy

There are Animal Welfare Charities around the Country that will accept standing orders from bank accounts.They often need money.

Sigma Force

piperh wrote: »

I agree completly i have 2 rabbits that were rescues, owner moved out and left rabbits behind and it was nearly 2 wks before anyone realised they were still there:mad::mad:. They are slowly becoming more trusting and will come up to us and allow us to pet them as we put food into them and no longer run and hide if we go into the garden.

As to the clean hutches they are cleaned 3x a week so are used to us going in and out and they really do have a great big hutch and run.

Also have 2 guineas that we took in because apparantly they're too noisy:rolleyes:, again handled everyday and cleaned 4x a wk.

Yeh they do get a hard time of it and poor rabbits won't cry out like cat or dog would so they are left in silent lonliness.
Crips, sounds like your guineas had a lucky escape, too noisy..god aside from their wheeking for food they're one of the quietest animals I've ever had. They just rustle about and stuff their faces with the occasional wheek wheek now and then, makes you wonder how quiet the household was ..weird.

On the up side there are some cat/dog pens now being sold aimed at rabbit owners as well which is a plus. I've used dog runs before as rabbit pens, they're way bigger and I just shortened the run legs by sawing them off and put wire over the top (we had cheeky hawks flying over head). They had a 6 by 8 ft shed with a 5 by 5 ft run at the time. They loved it.

Dog/cat runs are so handy because they are already built to keep dogs/cats in so they will keep dogs/cat and foxes etc. out if set up correctly.