Animal rights activists--I need your help, please...

[bliss_eternal]

I apologize for posting this here, but didn't know where else to go with this. Animal rights are part of politics right?

Anyway, I saw something today that really pissed me off and I need your help. Is there a way to contact PETA or any other animal rights organization personally--like by phone? I've tried e-mailing in the past, and get a form e-mail in response and I feel this is too important for an e-mail.

Today, I wanted to show my husband how stupid the show Housewives of Orange Couty is. I managed to get through all of a minute of it a few weeks ago before they made me nauseous.

We turn it on and I'll be damned if they weren't hunting bunny rabbits in someone's back yard! :grr::mad::wtf: Oh, because the poor little rabbits happened to eat some of the green in a yard. Hello?! You people built a home in their natural habitat--why not make peace with that, instead of getting pissed off that there's some bunny feces in your yard?!

I can't even put into words how disturbed I am by this--and the fact Bravo would air such an episode as if to say it's no big deal that they would attempt to shoot at innocent creatures living in their natural surroundings...

Please, if anyone knows a way or a group I can get in touch with...post here...

:(
bliss_e.

[flamingyouth]

1. You might want to post in this group:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=231

That does sound really awful. :(

[bliss_eternal]

2. Thank you, flamingyouth--

I appreciate it! :hi: Hopefully this can stay here so if any others have information to share on it they can. Also so that DU'ers can see a good reason to boycott this show...

[Lefty48197]

3. Did they eat the rabbits?

Or just leave them on the ground dead?

[bliss_eternal]

4. While I was watching

they just tried to shoot at them--the rabbit got away. The kid with the gun didn't seem like he'd ever used it before. :scared: I don't know about the rest of the episode, because I turned it off.

I don't think they intended to eat them, but I don't say that with confidence. :(

[ismnotwasm]

5. The "hunting" part gets me

Up here where I live, there is a park where the rabbit population got way out of control. I'm not sure what steps they took to control the population (The rabbits are very popular with kids and adults both)But "hunting" them certaintly wasn't an option. How do you hunt a damn near domesticated animal? (I know they're not, but close.) It's disgusting.

I have a friend who just moved into a beautiful home just out of suburbia. She's still close to suburbs, but her yard is a designated wildbird santurary, and she delights in the wildlife that is close to her yard. If a more dangerous animal should turn up, as happens once in a while around here,(that always makes me sad, the predators need a lot of room and they're running out..fast)She knows what steps to take. She's educated herself because she choose the enviroment she lives in.

[bliss_eternal]

6. Good point--

I see reports here frequently on the news about larger, more dangerous animals (i.e. big cats, bears) coming from the mountains and getting in someone's yard. One bear was hot, and got in a family's pool. lol. Most of the time, the people stay inside and call animal control to handle it.

But from time to time, I'm heartbroken because some asshole with a gun thinks it's his job to bag one. At least animal control just puts them to sleep so they can transport them someplace where they can roam freely or cared for appropriately. The people that think it's cool to shoot and kill them, just to be able to say they did make me sick.

We(humans) have moved to THEIR land, not the other way around. So how dare they? If they can't live with them harmoniously, they have no business living there as far as I'm concerned.

And yes, they were hunting as far as I'm concerned. They had rifles and chased the bunnies. :cry:

[Berserker]

10. One way to control rabbits is

Encouraging natural predators such as hawks and owls they may reduce rabbit populations in some areas.

[bliss_eternal]

7. Anyone with any resources?

I realize this is Saturday and I would have a difficult time getting in touch with anyone, but I would still like to know.

[xchrom]

8. i saw that as well -- and had to turn it off.

those were air rifles -- and apparently often as not the pair didn't lill the rabbits - so then they broke their necks.

grotesque.

i would contact orange county's spca.

and be outraged.

[bliss_eternal]

9. They actually broke their necks?

Oh.my.gawd.

I'm stunned.

I'll see if I can google a number for orange county's spca.... be right back.

[xchrom]

12. yes -- they talked about it right there on the tube.

i was stunned.

[bliss_eternal]

14. I don't know how I missed that--

their discussion of breaking necks. :scared: I guess I was so taken aback by the guns...my mind kind of just froze on that issue.

I just found a link to a site with several Orange County animal resources. I called their humane society, that takes in many animals. I asked them about the situation. The person that answered the phone was probably a volunteer (she had a youthful voice). She wasn't sure what to do or who to contact--other than the authorities to find out what the law is regarding killing wild animals, including rabbits...

:shrug:

[xchrom]

15. all i know is that no way can they legally kill, maim and

torture animals -- now animal control or somebody has some kind of juristiction.

just have to find them.

[bliss_eternal]

16. Someone in Orange County

had to see that episode, I would think.

What the hell is Bravo thinking airing shit like that? By showing them saying such things, it as if they are codoning the behaviour...

I never watch that show. I don't even know the names of the people that said that. I wonder if they'll need that to do something? I don't want to watch those vapid, shallow people again even just to find out who said that.

[radwriter0555]

11. The problem you're referring to has been a growing problem for a

number of years now. Some people are reporting upwards of 20 rabbits in their yards EVERY NIGHT, destroying vegetation, fencing, even foundations.

The problem began with domesticated rabbits that got loose and have over-bred because they have no natural predators.

There are in the very least a couple thousand rabbits in a small neighborhood, breeding like.... bunnies and causing damage.

The Orange County SPCA is very well aware of the problem. Perhaps you have some effective solutions that the AC people haven't come up with. It's a tough problem to figure out a reasonable and effective solution for.

[bliss_eternal]

13. I don't have a solution--

I'm sorry to hear of all the "problems" the rabbits seem to be causing. But does breaking their necks sound like a viable solution? Or killing them?

There's lots of money in Orange County as they remind us of frequently with shows like this. Surely there must be another solution to protect their homes (if they need protecting) from the bunnies--short of breaking innocent animals necks...

I apologize if I sound harsh or callous. This is not my intent. But it bothers me that someone would be more concerned about vegetation and landscaping, than about the life of an innocent animal.

[radwriter0555]

17. It's all about the solution. Poison? Trap and relocate? It all costs money

or has unpleasant consequences one way or another.

Of course breaking their little necks is horrible. Can't shoot a gun in city limits.

This is the problem. There are no solutions that please everyone.

It's a shame the USA doesn't eat more lapin, it's quite tasty...

[BreweryYardRat]

18. Some "people" aren't worthy of the term.

There's a reason weapons were created, y'know. ;)

[garybeck]

19. call the Humane Society, not PETA

the Humane Society is set up for this. If there is animal abuse going on they will know what to do.

[bliss_eternal]

20. Thanks for the tip, gary--

I'll call the Orange County Humane Society on monday and see if they are aware of this. Maybe I'm over reacting, I don't know. I just feel this is cause for concern.

The fact that they were so open about breaking a helpless creature's neck, on national television says a lot to me. I don't like what that says. Imagine what they are doing when the cameras aren't on them.

[Beelzebud]

21. I saw it. And on the bright side. The yuppies were too bad to hit one.