Category: Bunnies

They’re furry, they’re furious, and thy’re very, very cute. Be Afraid.

Furry People

BBC News has published an article that discusses the Question “Are chimps people?”. At Chez Lara and Mark (AKA “Club Denistone”), I’ve been referring to the non-human members of the household as “furry people” for quite some time, and it is natural for me to think of them as differently abled, and differently motivated people. They are definitely part of our little family, their comfort is as important to me as my own – more so, because they rely on me utterly for everything they have. In a way, their reliance on me makes the obligation more important than other concerns, and I try to make sure they have everyhting they need for happy, furry little lives.

But are they PEOPLE? Hmmmm…..

They are individuals. They learn. They communicate. They have emotions. None of this I doubt – but what is it that defines personhood? I think it is a mistake to consider personhood in terms of worth, or value (as in “it’s not worth the money for life saving surgery, it’s only a rabbit”), but this is often thrown at me when strangers find out how much I care for my creatures. I have been told more than once that I am a bad person because I have spent money on vet care instead of … (whatever it is they think is more worthy).

So lacking a concrete definition of what a person is, I am inclined to err on the side of caution, and treat them with respect. Ultimately, I don’t need a definition. Your mileage may vary. 😉

Thanks to Kris for this link. Imitation is sincere flattery;)

Dad is fine

I’m home from visiting him at the hospital, he was in good spirits and a bit of pain. He says that the Hills Private Hospital is not a patch on the one in Thailand, and the food is nowhere near as good. The great news is that he is allowed to go home tomorrow (initially they said he had to stay in for 2 nights), but I still haven’t heard from the doctor how the operation went.

I heard last thursday that he’d have to be cut open again, they only fixed 2 of the 3 compound fractures, and apparently one wasn’t fixed right. So now he has even more metal in his leg, and even more scars. And the countdown of the three months before he can walk begins afresh today. I guess we get to keep his car for a while longer. 😉

Friday night we celebrated the arrival of a new book keeper at work, Mita took today off to graduate form her Masters in Accounting – and yet she is happy to accept a job as a book keeper for a computer shop. What is the world coming to? Perhaps I shouldn’t whinge about my job so much!

After work we had dinner with Simone for her birthday – I gave her a pair of crocs (Holey Soles actually), and I think she is a convert. Lovely to catch up with her, and some old friends I hadn’t seen for a while.

Saturday morning the cleaners arrived bright and early, I raced off to work for a busy day selling macs, and then straight after work to a friends place to work on a top secret project. Details will be revealed in the fullness of time.

Then it was off to the Brandenbug Orchestra at Angel Place, thanks to the lovely Andrew, who bought the tickets at a charity auction. The music was divine, the company was better, but the free champagne was better still. With our heads ful of beautiful music we caught a cab back to The Warren View for Adam’s (brother in law) birthday party. A very big day.

Sunday I finished up the install of dad’s new computer (a wee bit more tinkering to do), and then dragged myself off to knitting. Good thing I did, as the amazing Emma had been shopping at Ecoyarns, and saw fit to include some unspun soysilk with her order for me to play with. I am sure I will cock up the spinning badly, but it’s for me, and nobody died to make it, so I will spin, and ply, and then dye (I already have the pink and orange food colouring) to my heart’s content. Thanks Emma, you are a world class shopper. You could shop for Australia. 😉

After knitting, Mark and I went to a Nettle family dinner, and collapsed into bed after a very full weekend.

And bless my mother. She took Custard out to Penrith on saturday morning to visit Matthew the wonder vet. No, I live nowhere near Penrith, and I must drive past a dozen vets to get to Matthew, but he is a great vet, and a superb human. I was Matthew that had to tell me that Fuzz Bucket had cancer, that Custard had a terminal abscess (so far he’s been wrong abut that one), and do the autopsy on Rhubarb. Matthew has never once made me feel stupid, ignorant or crazy, and all through every up and down, he has been compassionate, gentle, knowledgeable, respectful, and also open to new ideas and opinions. When I found a new treatment for abscesses in rabbits, Matthew was willing to let me try it, and I am sure his support and generosity with his time and expertise saved Custards life.

So we drive to Penrith. He’s cheap too.

Custard had some blood taken, and it appears that he is a little aneamic and has lost some weight. I’m going to give him another course of worm treatment, and weigh him every few days for the next month, and if nothing much changes we’ll revisit things in a months time. There doesn’t seem to be anything dramatic wrong, but he has lost weight (Custard has always been a fine figure of a bunny, so a little weight loss is out of character for him), and he seems to be a little more quiet and reserved than usual, not racing to attack the treat jar with his usual gusto. I didn’t worry much at first, as his chance in behaviour seemed to coincide with Rhuabrb’s death, but now it’s a few months on and he hasn’t bounced back as I would like.

Please keep your paws crossed for both Dad and Custard. I appreciate it.

Brendan McMahon on Bail Pending Appeal

SMH Article

“There is a debate in this case as to whether that condition was self-induced”

The judge that allowed the bail clearly thinks that there is grounds for an appeal. In court on the day of sentencing, both lawyers argued for different interpretations of the law. The law says that mental illness makes a person not responsible for their actions, but it also says that if a person takes drugs or alcohol and is responsible for their own impairment, then they must take responsiblity for their actions.

The judge ruled on the day that he was responsible, and that he must face the consequences. The expert witness (Dr Allnut) testified that there was a “history of mental illness” in the McMahon family, but during cross examination, it was revealed that in one of their first interviews (while McMahon was alledgely still in a psychotic state), McMahon had told him that his brother suffered from bipolar disorder. No-one ever checked out this story (to my knowledge), and even if it is true, does one brother with a mental illness (wether mild or severe) constitute a “family history”?

And if there is a family history, surely knowledge of this would act as a deterrent from indulging in mind altering substances.

Whatever the appeals court decides, I really don’t know if I have the strength to attend the court again. I felt a little safer knowing that McMahon was behind bars, but I feel no malice towards him. Revulsion, yes, but malice is not helpful. His acts were worse than awful, but I do believe he wasn’t well when he did them. He might be well now, but there is a very thin line between in and out of control once you have a drug addiction. McMahon claims to love all animals, but that love wasn’t enough to prevent him from becoming a monster.

The most important thing for me has always to do what I could to make sure that this never happened again. I don’t feel that I acheived very much, but it was all I could do, and now I am not sure that I can do any more. Maybe I’ll hate myself if I don’t go to court, but maybe it’s time to just let the courts decide, and let this case fade from my horizon, but I’ve never been good at hiding from an ugly truth. I have already been pilloried by the press, and marginalised so that my input into the case would probably do more harm than good at this point.

I don’t belive that the criminal justice system should be solely concerned with punishing the perpetrators of crime, nor should it be only concerned with protecting the innocent. If there is to be social justice in our criminal system, it must be concerned with rehabilitation, and prevention as protection from evil, rather than punative action after the fact.

The victims in this case have no voice, and my voice is not loud enough.