03/24/2019
DAMAGE CONTROL!
Easter animals and what everyone should consider before buying into this "animal trap".
Somehow baby animals became wrapped up in a holiday and untold little lives will struggle and suffer in the next few months because of it. Every year following Easter, we receive dozens of calls from people wanting to "donate" their children's Easter gifts of rabbits, ducklings, goslings and chicks to us, and it just breaks our hearts for the animals. Bringing in domestic animals from unknown origins can endanger the health of the wildlife and we have to turn these calls away, though over the years I have taken in hundreds.
Young poultry require special care to survive. Appropriate heat sources, special food and always calcium. Metabolic bone disease (MBD) is a horrible and painful condition caused by a lack of calcium or the inability to absorb calcium due to an insufficient heat source. It is a pitiful condition and not easily reversed. The bird's bones become soft and pliable, breaking easily and losing mobility, eventually leading to organ failure and death.
Domestic rabbits are absolutely adorable as babies, but all babies grow. Most of the "Easter Rabbits" that are rejected are due to damage from urine and chewing within a home, or the rabbit simply becomes aggressive from being mishandled or over handled and begins to scratch and even bite the children. Moving them to an outside hutch is an option, but we have taken in rabbits who have become victim to flies or infection from insufficient hutch hygiene and there is nothing more heartbreaking.
A great majority of the public lake and pond poultry arrived via "unwanted Easter gifts". There is little difference between dumping a flightless duck or goose on a public pond than dumping a dog or cat on a remote road. These animals are not wild and do not migrate with the wildlife. They are stuck year round and are subject to weather, predators and lack of medical care. They require calcium daily to avoid weak bones and joints and many public places are still feeding bread to birds (which leads to MBD). The wildlife will find what they need, but the domestic birds will eat what they get, and year round we receive the calls as their bones weaken and the birds lose their ability to walk.
The message here is: If you aren't experienced in raising these animals or willing to do whatever is needed to provide a lifetime of proper care, stick to chocolate bunnies and marshmallow chicks.
"We all suffer the same"
WILD THANKS!
Annette
