throwing it out there what kind of response it gets.
Dear Amy:
I live in the South. I save rabbits so they aren't homeless or sick.
People do not understand that rabbits are like dogs or cats -- they
need homes, too.
I have made this my mission in life to rescue and save rabbits.
Unfortunately it is starting to wear on my family. I have more than
75 rescued rabbits in our home, and I am trying to start a nonprofit
foundation to save the rabbits.
My marriage has started to suffer. My husband feels like I care more
about the rabbits than our marriage or children. My 10-year-old son
hates the bunnies and my 17-year-old daughter has moved out to live
with her boyfriend. My husband is threatening to leave and hand the
rabbits and me over to the authorities.
I read your column all the time and would appreciate any advice you
can give me.
Rabbit Lover
If you "rescue" a sick or injured rabbit and that rabbit goes on to
give birth to more rabbits, then dies of illness or injury, the
rabbit leaves a family of baby rabbits that wouldn't otherwise have
been born and are now orphaned. If the ill rabbit you rescue has an
illness that it passes on to other rabbits, it could lead to the
death of more animals.
Seventy-five rabbits in a home is 74 rabbits too many.
I read your letter to Randy Frost, a professor at Smith College in
Northampton, Mass., and an expert in animal hoarding. Frost outlined
the signs of an animal hoarder, and you seem to qualify. "Animal
hoarders begin with a mission, but then the rescue takes over and
causes a decline in the home and relationships. The hoarder loses
sight of just how bad the conditions are. The tipping point is
impairment in other aspects of life -- or in the health of the
animals," he says.
I think you're at your tipping point. You have sacrificed your own
family for these rabbits.
Please turn your interest (and your animals) over to a responsible
rescue organization and perhaps volunteer with the organization.
Some states have laws dictating the number of animals that can be
kept in a home. If authorities come into your home and seize your
rabbits, I venture that the outcome for them does not look as good as
if you place them with an organization.
You should receive a mental health screening. Hoarding can become
progressively worse without treatment.
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