To find this Facebook group really distressing

[IIama]

I joined a Facebook group for disabled rabbits after one of my house rabbits had a limb amputation. The group has been really helpful offering tips and advice.

However, I find the group incredibly distressing. There are lots of people on there that seem determined to keeps their pets alive, no matter what.

For example, there is a rabbit with a fractured spine. It drags its legs about and as a result of this has awful urine scald and painfully raw skin.

There are other people who own rabbits with splayed legs that have similar issues. Or paralysed and drag their legs behind them.

Another common post will be about rabbits with broken legs. Often people don’t have insurance so cannot afford the amputation or corrective surgery. They just let their bunnies suffer in pain whilst they wait for weeks to raise the money or let the leg set in an awkward position and then ask for advice in the group.

These poor creatures obviously need to be put to sleep so their pain and misery can end. But in the comments you get loads of people encouraging it saying “how strong” the rabbit is, or it’s “obviously a fighter”.

I said something once in a kindly manner and got absolutely piled on.

Sorry. Just a bit of a rant but it does honestly make me so sad. How can people not see how cruel they are being and put the welfare of the animal before their own emotions?

I would leave this group. There is nothing you can do to help the rabbits.

oh that’s awful. I’d be full of rage looking at that group. I’m pretty hard faced when it comes to animals (and I absolutely love them) and PTS probably before other owners might. Not because I want them dead! But because I can’t stand the thought of them suffering plus they can’t tell us how sore/ unwell they are

I agree with you (I say that as a bunny slave) sometimes the kindest thing is to PTS but some people seem intent on keeping their pets alive even if they have little/no quality of life.

Better to PTS a day too early than a day too late*

I'd be leaving that group 🙁

*not my quote

Fb animal groups are batshit op. It is literally you can either do no right which is more common (similar to mn animal threads), or in this case you can do no wrong. I got kicked off a horse group because of similar rules. It was meant to be a group of funny videos of horses playing up and misbehaving at shows. Someone put up pics and videos of her pony broncing at a show. She’d captioned it ‘can’t believe she wasn’t worse tbh, we forgot the saddle so had to throw someone else’s on her back that didn’t fit’ with loads of laughing emojis. In one of the photos of the pony after the show you could it was red raw around the pony’s withers, the saddle had rubbed sores into its back. I can’t remember what I said but I was swiftly jumped on and then removed from the group

It’s awful. My old neighbour (not to quite the same extent as this) had a little dog that she kept alive way too long. It could barely walk in the end and died at home in the night after having a fit or something. I felt bad for her in a way because obviously she loved that little dog but if she loved it truly she could have the strength and unselfishness to end its horrible pain. It was so old and had no quality of life whatsoever.

However, you can’t make these people see sense. It’s different if it’s a friend you know so you could have a bit of a conversation about it but they’re strangers on social media - nothing you can do. If I was you I’d leave the group personally, because like you it would upset me too much.

So distressing, I'd leave the group. I've had (and lost) several bunnies over the years and I think that making the decision to PTS is our last kindness to them when they get very unwell. Back legs not working is one of the times to make that decision imho.

Fb animal groups are batshit op.

Yes, this! Not just pet groups but wildlife groups too. I used to be in a group for wildlife-friendly gardening and there were plenty of nice people in it but also people who were so incredibly single-minded and uncompromising that I used to constantly wonder what the hell they were like as a next-door neighbour, or to sit opposite at work. There was a woman who used to get very cross with anyone who didn't just let their garden turn into a jungle of weeds and brambles because that's 'natural'. There was also a man who was obsessed with wanting some animals/birds to be culled because they were 'bad for wildlife' even though the things he wanted to cull were, clearly, also wildlife.

I love animals, I love wildlife, I love pets, but in all seriousness, full-on Facebook animal fandoms are fully insane.

I agree 100 percent. And I say this as someone who was one day away from putting sleep a wonderful dog who’s vets we’re not as on the ball as they could have been (she has two conditions, and they weren’t giving enough weight to one of them) and who I have had to firmly advocate and fundraise for. If I had felt she was suffering like that, I’d have done the kindest thing in the short term, even though I would never have forgiven myself.

Their peace before my pain. Every time.