Disgusted

Today I went to visit my fiance at work while he was on his lunch break. He works in a factory which is oddly located in the middle of the country side. Where we live has a large Amish community, and I pass many Amish farms on my trip today (and every day when I was in high school). Although I respect the Amish way of living simply, many farms are notorious for breeding animals for the pet trade. I was disgusted to see a "rabbits for sale" sign outside one of these farms today. I have often seen advertisements at similar farms for small dog breeds, and having worked with a local bovine vet when I was in middle school I have witnessed first hand the poor conditions and disregard (or ignorance) of genetics when it comes to breeding healthy animals. I obviously can't say that all Amish are guilty of running irresponsible breeding operations, however I am still disappointed to see animals, though especially rabbits which are so misunderstood as companion animals, being handed out without regard for their welfare in exchange for cash.

Bottom line: forcing animals to reproduce for the purpose of monetary income is inhumane. There are more productive occupations than sentencing animals to lives of misery due to poor breeding and delivering them to anyone with a few bucks and most likely no education on proper animal husbandry.

Whenever I come across situations like this I nearly want to shell out all my cash to save these poor creatures, but I would only be fulfilling the goals of the breeder. People need to be educated for this problem to be resolved, but even then people need to have the compassion for all life in there heart for them to put this education to use.