No, not the newest alternative sport...just me blowing off a little steam about weird pet people.

It's no secret I'm an animal person.  I've kept one or more cats in my home ever since I was three (for a total of 14 cats in my life), and those first cats when I was three were my idea.  I'm not personally fond of dogs but I understand why someone else would be.  And last year, I adopted a bunny who is my little ray of sunshine - I'm as sold on bunnies now as I am on cats!

Anyway, to the subject of my post.  I am a member of a message-board forum thingy for rabbit lovers.  I first joined to get information about caring for my bunny, and now I've picked up enough info that I hang out there reassuring other new owners on the basics.  And I'm noticing something that's really starting to bug me.  It boils down to this: combine the "Animal Planet mentality" of idealism towards our pets - basically the idea that we should be prepared to invest as much time, effort, and money in our pets as we might in a small child or else not become pet owners at all - with all the pitfalls of the internet and particularly of online forums (information overload, forum bullies, groupthink) and you get FrankenPETA.

I spend a lot of my time on the forum reassuring those that can't afford the more expensive brands of food, or who don't have the time to let their rabbit out to play four hours every day, or who didn't know that rabbits could get pregnant through cage bars (or the hole in the fence, or whatever) that no matter the horrified expressions of some of my fellow forum members, they are probably not going to pet-owner hell for this.  That it's okay, in other words, to do the best that you can given your particular circumstances, and that all that really matters in the end is that the animal is fundamentally healthy and happy.  I also spend a lot of time on the forum reminding some of the FrankenPETAs that we can pamper and love and anthropomorphosize them all we want but when all is said and done they are still animals.

I'll give you the most recent example, that happened today.  There is one particular person (I'll call this person FP for reference) who is, in my opinion, one of the worst.  I realize that I'm being a bit judgmental here myself so I will admit that I know nothing about this person as a person, only what's presented on the forum.  She might be one of the nicest people you've ever met, I really couldn't say.  On the forum, however, I am not the only one who has pointed out that this person is extremist and also a bit harsh in dealing with others.  I am trying really hard not to become antagonistic with this person but it's tempting!

Anyhow!  The thread in question was posted by an older, retired man who keeps a small herd of bunnies in his backyard, free-roaming but separated by sex to avoid unwanted litters (it's totally possible to get rabbits fixed but he had chosen not to do so in case their personalities might change for the worse - that's very rare to have happen but it's his decision and he's being responsible by keeping them separate).  He happened to mention at one point that one of his females had had a litter in the past.

FP responded something along the lines of: "What?! She had babies outside, in the filthy ground??  What happened to all the babies?"

Now, I try not to respond to this person too much, because I can be way too vicious myself and I need to learn to bite my tongue sometimes, plus I don't want to start a flame war and derail the forums.  But I couldn't resist this time.  I answered back along the lines of: "Granted domestic animals are not the same as their wild counterparts, but where do you think they've been having their babies all this time - hospitals?"  I also said that there are good reasons both ways, and that just because someone doesn't have the standard of care that she would impose doesn't mean their animals are mistreated.  And I went on to point out that she had actually jumped to the conclusion that they had been born outside, because although this is probably true, the OP never actually said so.

I'm pretty proud of my snarky reply, although there haven't been any comments to the thread since, so I don't know how anyone else has reacted yet.

As I said, I consider this person one of the worst.  But there are a lot of people who, while they don't go so far as to impose their standards on others, do impose incredible standards on themselves. They love and care for their pets so much that it's stressing them out on a daily basis.  Every hiccup, every twitch, drives them wild with worry until they can find reassurance, either online or at the vet's.  They feel tremendous guilt at putting their rabbit through surgery, become enraged at the same old stories of neglect...everything is to the extreme!

I'm not callous.  I know what it is to love an animal so deeply that they never quite leave you (I'm still grieving for one of my cats that died unexpectedly more than 4 years ago).  I know that they can become our friends, almost our children.  And there is never an excuse for deliberately mistreating or neglecting an animal.  But on some level, I feel, they are still animals.  They evolved in the wild, at least until we took over creating breeds.  They are able to survive and even thrive on very little.  Give them the best care that you are able and willing to give, of course, but they don't need "enrichment" or "fulfillment."

I'm not saying that they don't have psychological needs.  I've worked with a handful of animals that were traumatized and neurotic, helping them to heal, trust, and feel safe again.  And to be totally honest, I'm kinda good at it.  Just like people, I think, when survival is more or less assured, the life of the mind begins to emerge over the needs of the body.  Cave men weren't telling anyone about their mothers, but modern man is free to think about those things now that he isn't out hunting down his dinner.

But this kind of extreme bunny hugging is becoming so popular it should be an olympic sport, and it bothers me.  I don't think it's actually better for the animals - ignoring, at some level, their fundamental nature as animals is not the way to help them be happy.  And it's not good for us either.  Owning a pet is supposed to be something to make your life overall more pleasant, not fill it with constant stress, work, and worry.  People get animals in part because they're not ready for the work of a baby!  :p

It's not like this is going to become some soapbox crusade of mine.  I just wish I had enough influence to inject a little perspective into the world at large.  People, relax.  Nature has existed for eons without our help, and will in all likelihood continue to do so after we're gone (not saying that global warming doesn't exist! but the earth has gone through ice ages and thawings before us, as well as the extinction of species, and life as a whole goes on.  Like it says in Jurassic Park - the book anyway - we are the ones in the greatest danger from global warning, not the planet itself.)  Some animals are prey, some are predators.  Everybody's gotta eat.  They won't live forever no matter what you do.  Not living up to all the "shoulds" doesn't make you a bad person!  You're not a bad person for adopting from a pet store instead of a shelter.  Sure, you can talk the high talk about fighting immoral breeding and overpopulation, and those are good and valid points, but I figure the animals in pet stores are not figurative - they are there now and they need a home just as much.

You do the best you can with what you have - as long as the animal is healthy, happy and loved, that's all anyone could or should ask of you - and for goodness' sake try to spend more time and energy appreciating and enjoying your animals than you do caring for them and worrying about them.  Because otherwise, what's the point?