I own a rabbit that I rescued from a bad home. He was going to be left outside to die. I don’t have an enclosure ready, so I use his very, VERY undersized one until I can buy him a better one.
Rabbits can’t live in tiny store-bought cages. Companies want money; they don’t care about healthy animals. So, those little plastic cages are simply much too small. His cage is thirteen inches by twenty-nine inches, and they need so much more than that.
I go into a pet store to buy his new cage — a large dog playpen, which is great for rabbits — as well as some toys, hay, etc. I buy a huge bag of hay, the playpen, and some paper litter for his litter box. I make it up to the counter, and the cashier is ringing me out.
Cashier: *Holding the playpen* “New puppy?”
Me: “Oh, it’s for my new rabbit. He’s a rescue.”
Her expression turns sour.
Cashier: “I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
Me: “Excuse me?”
Cashier: “I’m not going to let you abuse an animal. Get out.”
I’m stunned. The cage is plenty big enough.
Me: “Call your manager.”
Cashier: “Fantastic idea.”
She calls the manager, who hurries over like there’s an emergency.
Manager: “Ma’am, I can’t allow you to hurt animals in the store. Please leave.”
Me: “Excuse me? I don’t even have an animal with m—”
Cashier: “She wants to buy this for a rabbit. And look, she’s buying hay! Everyone knows that’s terrible for them.”
Me: “Hay is essential as the main part of their diet. I think it’s around eighty percent. Don’t speak to me that way, please.”
Manager: “I’m so sorry.” *Gritting teeth* “[Cashier], what’s the problem, then?”
Cashier: “This cage is much too large for a rabbit. It’s meant for dogs! They need the small cages meant for rabbits that [Bad Brand with too-small cages] sells! Like I use for my rabbit! Big ones stress them out. And everyone knows they don’t need hay. They need carrots! Haven’t you ever watched TV?”
Me: “Firstly, almost all of those cages are extremely small and shouldn’t be used for anything other than a litter pan. Secondly, carrots are full of sugar and one or two baby carrots a week is more than enough. Anything more is bad for them. I pity your poor rabbit.”
Manager: “Wait… [My Name]?”
Me: “Yes, that’s me.”
Cashier: “You’re abusing that poor rabbit! Mine gets the best life! That cage is terrible!”
Manager: “[Cashier]! [My Name] runs a local rabbit rescue! I was a volunteer there! She knows much more about them than you. Go to the back. We’ll talk about this later.”
The cashier storms off as the manager turns back to me.
Manager: “I am so sorry. My daughter’s girls are so much happier after what you taught me. They have two dog pens put together and lots of outside time. You really care about animals. I’m so sorry about her. Oh, my goodness.”
She assures me that the cashier will be fired that day. I thank her and tell her she is a great pet owner and person.
We’re actually good friends now. My rescue loves his new pen and I have decided to keep him. He has a friend and is doing wonderfully. Two months after this happens, I get an email.
Email: “Hello. You don’t know who I am… I am the cashier that worked for [Manager]. I want to say that while I think you were being overbearing and rude, I decided to do some research and now my precious baby lives in a dog pen. I still think you need to do a lot more research about animals, but that was the one thing you were right about. Can’t expect [black racial slurs] to know everything about animals, since it requires some common sense. Don’t contact me.”
At least the racist a** got him a proper cage?
