I'm going to say it - if you're getting an animal like that, you'd better research. I knew all the pet/zoning laws in my town by the time I was 12; how did that dad not know?? The law seems valid, as well - no "livestock" on properties under 2 acres.
Now to contrast - I think it's a freakin' rabbit, not chickens or a goat, and they ought to be given a permit to have it - but maybe he should have sought that permit or exception before they'd had the pet for 3 years.
That really is a reasonable way of looking at it. With any pet, you really have to know your local regs. Cats and dogs are usually straightforward and the ordinances well known, but beyond that, you just have to spend a few minutes and research it.
Unfortunately, I agree. I'm so sorry for the little girl, but it's your job, as a parent, to research a pet situation for your child, so things like this don't happen.
I'm not surprised at all that the father didn't know about the ordinance. Most people don't know about their local ordinances- thedorkygirl is the exception, not the rule (but we love people who do know them in the urban planning field). My guess is, this guy didn't even think that there might be such an ordinance to begin with (even though those kinds of ordinances that ban certain kinds of animals based on lot size are very common in the U.S).
I feel sorry for whoever has to enforce the law, though: they -must- enforce the law as city employees, but no one wants to break a seven-year-old's heart.
I think a lot of people are way undereducated on pet rabbits. They don't realize that rabbits will use litterboxes, don't realize that they aren't that different from a pet dog or cat, and don't understand the special health and care needs of rabbits. Do not even get me started on the way people treat adorable bunnies and chickies as Easter presents.
I agree, I think it's because they are vermin by classification. Bunnies are great animals, though, the Giant Flemishes have nice temperaments. They are no different than small dogs in my book.
Are rabbits hard to take care of or something? My cousins had rabbits growing up and had less than 2 acres (their rabbits were regular sized though) and they seemed pretty much more or less like a cat or dog...
I hope this little girl can either keep her rabbit or something can be arranged to where she can at least see it...it's not her fault. Wish her parents researched the laws before giving it to her.
Not at all. Mine had the run of the house and the garden because we litter trained him early on, and it was way smaller than two acres. He was just a normal-sized English rabbit but I doubt it would have made a difference if he were larger.
Wish the parents had looked into the laws, too. But I must admit the idea of rules as to whether you can have a rabbit is kind of astonishing to me, so I would never have thought to research it (and I didn't before I got my rabbit). But maybe that's a UK/US thing.
New Haven would like you to comply with their ordinance laws because innocence born of ignorance is neither excuse nor justification. Appeal or get a permit, but it's your own damn fault for not looking this up before.
I always thought bunnies were very boring.... until I adopted an abused female bun and loved the shit out of her for four blissful years until she passed away from uterine cancer. (We assumed she was already fixed when we got her, but apparently she was not. Big mistake since now I know that up to 85% of female rabbits develop uterine cancer by the age of four if they have not been spayed.)
So yeah, I probably shouldn't chime in on this thread without being upfront about my obvious pro-bunny bias.
Just a note, unless you're referring to a different study, it's usually said that 80% of female rabbits develop uterine cancer and the only basis for this claim seems to come from a study that concentrated on just one line of rabbits. (Those 80% that showed tumors after their death didn't necessarily die of cancer, either. The cause of death for all of them was noted as just "natural.")
Just so that bunny owners don't panic over the high number.
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Now to contrast - I think it's a freakin' rabbit, not chickens or a goat, and they ought to be given a permit to have it - but maybe he should have sought that permit or exception before they'd had the pet for 3 years.
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I hope he can appeal, or get a permit, though.
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I feel sorry for whoever has to enforce the law, though: they -must- enforce the law as city employees, but no one wants to break a seven-year-old's heart.
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I hope things work out for this little girl.
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I hope this little girl can either keep her rabbit or something can be arranged to where she can at least see it...it's not her fault. Wish her parents researched the laws before giving it to her.
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Wish the parents had looked into the laws, too. But I must admit the idea of rules as to whether you can have a rabbit is kind of astonishing to me, so I would never have thought to research it (and I didn't before I got my rabbit). But maybe that's a UK/US thing.
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I hope the girl gets to keep her bunny.
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So yeah, I probably shouldn't chime in on this thread without being upfront about my obvious pro-bunny bias.
I VOTE IN FAVOR OF BUNNIES.
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Just so that bunny owners don't panic over the high number.
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