Resident hopes tale of abandoned bunny raises awareness of program
Driving back to their home in Fort Erie’s north end, where Thompson Road goes underneath the train tracks, Randy Paura and his wife have grown accustomed to seeing the remnants of garbage dumped by scofflaws.
But on Monday morning, they spotted something even more irksome.
“As we drove past, my wife suddenly said to go back because she thought she saw an animal cage dumped there,” said Paura.
After circling back and pulling over, they found out it was indeed an animal cage, complete with a very frightened, very cold, white bunny.
The bunny was seemingly in a state of shock, simply sitting patiently inside its busted cage. It didn’t startle or try to flee when Paura picked it up and took it back to his car to bring home.
Based on the state of the cage and its relative placement at the side of the road, Paura suspected it was hastily tossed from a vehicle and left to the elements.
“This is clearly a domesticated animal; it’s not like some animal instinct was going to suddenly kick in and this thing was going to survive in the wild,” said Paura, who noted coyotes frequent the area, and the gentle indoor bunny was unlikely to survive its first night amid the cold and the predators.
Since it wasn’t there when he left, but was there on his way back, Paura said he can narrow the window of when it was dumped to between 10:30 a.m. and 2:45 p.m.
If anything good can come from the troubling situation, Paura said it would be getting the word out about a Lincoln County Humane Society program.
“You don’t need to do this, that’s the worst part of this all. There’s no need for this because the Urgent Surrender program exists for this exact type of situation,” said Paura, who urged pet owners who can no longer care for their animal to contact the humane society and register for an Urgent Surrender appointment.
The bunny is now being looked after by Paura’s daughter, a veterinarian technician, who found it to be in good health, aside from needing its nails trimmed.
Finding the bunny has been a disheartening experience for Paura, but he hopes it serves a lesson for people to surrender their pets through the proper channels, and to also, simply, do better.
“I love my community and the town I live in,” said Paura. “Responsible residents don’t exhibit such behaviour. We’re on this planet together and have a general duty of care toward all.”
Anyone needing to surrender a pet can call LCHS at 905-682-0767 or email frontdesk@lchs.ca to arrange an Urgent Surrender appointment.