Saying Good-Bye...

Today we said good bye to our pet house Rabbit - "Kipper"I've learned that goodbyes will always hurt, pictures never replace having been there, memories, good or bad, will bring tears and words can never replace feelings. Thankfully photo's and memories help us cope as time goes on.

Even though I am a man I tend to be an emotional person and I have found that I have a very soft spot in my heart for my pets. There is truly a difference in animals that we raise for food and those that we raise as pets - I know this as truth as I have never shed a tear over an animal that was destined for my plate but as I sit here typing this I am fighting back those tears as I recall the years of enjoyment Kipper provided me, my family, and all the people who visited our home - both young and old.
Kipper was a great little bunny and like most of our family experiences there is a story behind how we got him.

While we were in the process of building the house we decided that we would eventually like to get a bunny and decided to go and price out everything we would need and check out the bunnies available at the local pet stores. During one of our trips the moment we entered the pet shop a large white cockatoo flew across the store and landed on Ariel's shirt. It turns out the bird was quite mean and as it was clinging to Ariel's shirt it reached up and latched its beak onto Ariel's nose and began biting and clawing its way up her chest. I was able to get the bird off of her and then one of the kids working at the shop put it in its cage. Ariel was bleeding from her nose (as it had been pierced - something she might want to do when she is a teenager but not as a toddler) and when I went to talk to the young man working at the store he got me so upset I actually when to the police department and filed a complaint. The next day the owner of the store called me after finding out what happened to apologize. He asked if we were looking for anything in particular while we were there so I informed him of my plans of getting a bunny when we moved into the new house. A few weeks after moving in I received a call from the pet shop owner telling me he got a bunny from a local 4H member and he wanted me to come pick it up for Ariel.

Kipper was a great bunny and enjoyed spending time running around the kitchen, hiding behind the couch, and relaxing on the deck during the nicer weather. He loved when people would spoil him by feeding him goodies out of the treat jar and would run to the opening of his kennel when he heard the sound of the jar opening! All of us will miss Kipper as much as we miss Goliath and Britney as they were all great pets.