I know what many people will say when Henry finally passes on, I've heard it before ...

"It was only a rabbit. It's not like it was a dog. You can soon get another."

It's hard to ignore those people, to remind oneself that they are not only grossly insensitive but that they are also completely ignorant and know nothing about rabbits. Here, in England, rabbits are the third most popular pet, and probably the most misunderstood of all pets; they are certainly the most cruelly treated. The majority are bought as children's pets and consigned to a small hutch at the bottom of the garden. The child soon loses interest in the rabbit (it is estimated 99% of rabbits bought for a child are no longer wanted after ten days!) and then it is left alone and unloved, being fed twice a day (if it's lucky), its hutch cleaned out once a week (if its lucky). Thousands are turned over to rescues.... thousands more are either advertised on-line or dumped in the countryside where they are easy prey for foxes, weasels and stoats. But better the latter fate than that of many that are advertised on-line.... fed alive to snakes, used to train fighting/baiting dogs, or simply put in a pie. Rabbits should never be looked upon as children's pets; they are not cheap to look after properly, they are more expensive at the vet than a dog! Vets class rabbits as exotic pets and finding a good rabbit savvy vet can be extremely difficult. Rabbits require understanding.

So it is easy to see, amidst such ignorance, how grieving for a rabbit is looked upon as strange. Many of those people who say, 'it's just a rabbit.' would soon change their mind if they took a rabbit into their home and lived alongside it day after day. They would see that far from being boring and stupid rabbits are fun, intelligent and very loving. Any creature, a human included, would be boring if shut away in tiny compartment with no space to exercise and nothing  to stimulate their mind. Take the rabbit out of its hutch, give it space, provide a good diet and toys and.... most important, give it companionship, and you will very soon discover what wonderful friends they can be. They are, like dogs, cats (and humans), all individuals. Some are brighter than others, some are very clever and some adorably dumb, some are extremely loving and others more aloof. They can be cheeky and mischievous and there isn't an animal on the planet who can sulk like a rabbit!

Keeping a rabbit is a challenge that soon becomes an all consuming passion as fascination turns to love.

Henry is my seventh rabbit, my fourth house-rabbit. He is a real character, gentle, loving, cheeky, crafty and mischievous. He has the run of the house and has never made a mess; unlike a puppy he was house trained in ten minutes and even when dopey from an anesthetic he still staggered to his litter tray.

He is quick to learn and until his condition began to take its toll we were building up a nice repertoire of tricks. He is still very entertaining. But it is his capacity for love that is so special about him. I say love and I mean love. There is no other way to describe his relationship with me, he loves me as I love him. He sits beside me of an evening, his head on my foot. He lies in my arms, his cheek upon mine and he nuzzles his face into my neck. But there is more than that, there is the quiet understanding we share, the empathy. If I am down he knows it and he is there for me, and vice versa. If one is stressed, the other is stressed. Since he first became ill last November I have made my bed each night on the hearth rug in the sitting room; a pillow and a blanket, and Henry sleeps in my arms, his head beside mine on the pillow.  His face is the last thing I see before going to sleep, the first thing I see in the morning.

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I am ending my history of Henry at this point, before the final chapter of his life is played out. That last chapter, those final days ... hours ... will be Private. Only for Henry and myself (and probably his vet), they are not for strangers, and certainly not for any who would say, 'He was only a rabbit!'. He deserves better than that ... my wonderful, clever, big hearted boy.

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IN MEMORY 

HENRY O'SHAUGHNESSY WHO PASSED AWAY AT 2-40 PM ON FRIDAY, 7TH OCTOBER 2016

"HE WAS PART OF MY DREAM, OF COURSE --BUT THEN I WAS PART OF HIS DREAM, TOO."

Lewis Carroll 

https://youtu.be/2-P3HQHwKZw

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