I got some sad news for our family today. Our rabbit had been under the care of friends of ours for a while now until we could pay the pet deposit for our apartment. We were assured that if there were any changes, we would be sure to be notified. I felt bad leaving our dear, sweet, beloved pet in the care of another person, but it was what we had to do. We wanted to be able to do what was best for our pets, so we did what we had to. We had already considered releasing him back to the wild. He'd gotten pretty big and he'd do well on his own. However, he was happy with us, so we weren't quite ready to do that. We were taking our time to make our decision.
The first friend we left him in the care of was allergic to rabbits. She wanted to give it a try for us, see if she could keep him, but her allergies got too bad. I completely understand that! We found another home for him as quickly as possible. I'm incredibly grateful that our friend was able to take him for so long! It allowed us a chance to find another friend who was happy to take him for as long as we needed. I was thrilled about that! The kids loved it too because he'd be close by. It wouldn't be long before we moved him back. It was all going to work out before terribly long. Our tax return would be in. The pet deposit would be paid. We'd move everyone in before long.
Unfortunately, that's not how things turned out. The friend we'd given care of our rabbit too went away for training. We weren't able to really visit or anything. He'd given the care of all of his animals and our rabbit to his roommate. Unknown to any of us, his roommate decided to release the rabbit to the wild again. None of us had so much as a chance to say goodbye. I was given the hard situation of having to explain to the kids that their friend was gone.
Of course, they were upset. It wasn't fair that their rabbit was just taken from them like that. It was coming down to that anyway. We had found a home for him. He could be released to the wild where there were plenty of other rabbits of his kind around. It would be a happy place for him, a place where he could feel like he was home. Given that we'd heard there were tons of other bunnies, I'd like to think he'd be safe there. It would be a great space for him. My daughter and I had talked about this the same day we found out and she decided she'd be okay with that, as long as she could be there to see him off and he chose to go on his own. It was pretty well decided, but now she's angry and blames me. She thinks I knew all along, which was why I had asked her if we could release him to the wild again.
This isn't the first time she's had to deal with animals she didn't get a chance to say goodbye to, but this was perhaps one of the worst. Her dog ran away from home and disappeared. My dog was let out by the neighbors and was never tracked down. He was a beautiful dog, so it wouldn't be surprising if someone decided to keep him if he'd managed to slip his collar again. We had one cat mysteriously get out and disappeared, though I think my ex had something to do with that one and my daughter's dog as well. Our snake was stolen by a friend we'd given care to at the end of my last pregnancy, the same friend we'd given two of our cats to only to find out she got rid of them a week later. She wanted those cats so badly and I thought they'd be happier; otherwise I'd never have given them to her. However, none were as crushing as my daughter's cat, Pookah. She loved that cat more than anything else. Her father decided the cat was too crazy for his liking, though I don't see what was so extreme about her behavior. One morning, without any of us knowing, he took the cat and let her go in the wild, far away from the house. He and I had talked about getting rid of her, but putting her out where the coyotes would get her and she wouldn't likely find food was a bit extreme. My daughter was heartbroken. It was hard to have to give her this news again.
I have to say, I'm really frustrated with all of this. At the very least it would have been nice if we would have known what happened before it did. It would have been nice for the kids to get a chance to say goodbye. It would have been nice to have had the chance to take the bunny and release him ourselves. Unfortunately, we didn't get the chance. I'm going to have to make it up to the kids somehow. I'm just not sure how I feel about getting them another pet.
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