Is This Dad a Jerk?

Captain

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***Back by popular demand...don't accept the imitators.***


So, everyone is sitting around the house when the dog starts going nuts in the back yard. Everyone goes and looks and sees that the dog has some animal. Dad and the kids go out and see its a baby rabbit that the dog is tossing around.

Dad shoos the dog a way and grabs the baby bunny. The kids want to see so Dad takes the rabbit inside. The rabbit is placed on the table and the kids ohhh and ahhh.

But Dad sees a problem. The baby rabitts front leg is broken. The kids want to take the rabbit to the vet but Dad sees this as a life lesson. Besides, no way is Dad paying a hundred dollars to hear a vet tell him theres nothing that can be done. He takes the rabbit outside without the kids and chops the rabbits head off with a shovel and tosses the carcus over the fence.

Dad explains to the kids how this was the humane thing to do and the kids are saddend by the events.

So, is this Dad a jerk?
 
Captain said:
***Back by popular demand...don't accept the imitators.***


So, everyone is sitting around the house when the dog starts going nuts in the back yard. Everyone goes and looks and sees that the dog has some animal. Dad and the kids go out and see its a baby rabbit that the dog is tossing around.

Dad shoos the dog a way and grabs the baby bunny. The kids want to see so Dad takes the rabbit inside. The rabbit is placed on the table and the kids ohhh and ahhh.

But Dad sees a problem. The baby rabitts front leg is broken. The kids want to take the rabbit to the vet but Dad sees this as a life lesson. Besides, no way is Dad paying a hundred dollars to hear a vet tell him theres nothing that can be done. He takes the rabbit outside without the kids and chops the rabbits head off with a shovel and tosses the carcus over the fence.

Dad explains to the kids how this was the humane thing to do and the kids are saddend by the events.

So, is this Dad a jerk?
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You tossed the carcass over the fence instead of giving it a decent burial in front of the kids?

Uberjerk.

I suggest you rent Old Yeller and show that to the kids.
 
Wild rabbit? Not a jerk. It surely made a fine meal for a fox, raccoon, or coyote later that day, thus having its place in the food chain.
 
geesh 0 you have a freshly killed rabbit - 4 legs and no stew or rabbits feet? Why not just give it to the dog - he caught - let him disembowel it . . .
 
How old are the kids?
Urban, Suburban, Country, Farm?
Does dad hunt for sport? If so, have kids joined in the hunt?

My thought, assuming young children - he should not have brought the rabbit in for the kids to play with. He should have shooed the kids away, broken the rabbits neck, and then either bury it in the presence of the kids (where the dog can't dig it up) or throw it away where the kids won't know about it.

Discussion points - humane treatment of injured wild animals, food chain, allowing dog to kill or returning to wild would result in slower and more painful death, death is part of life, dogs will be dogs, nature allows rabbits to have large and frequent litters to counter rabbits' poor choices of where to give birth (really, it's crazy how we sometimes find a litter of rabbits in the middle of our lawn in a small depression in the grass, but otherwise out in the open...) etc etc etc.
 
Yes, he is a jerk, but only because he screwed that dog out of his snack. That's life, and death. A good lesson for the kids indeed. At least he didn't punish the dog for doing its job.
 
I'm trying to figure out how the dad is even considered a jerk. Maybe city dwellers think so, but then again... They are a soft bunch anyways!!!!
 
Let the dog keep it. Domestic cats take down birds and rodents all the time, what's the difference? I'm not so worried about the kids, haven't you ever watched a Disney movie? How many times does the primary character's mother or father get whacked? Ain't going to be any more traumatic for the kids than the first time they watched Lion King...
 
No, perfectly fine to do.

RR

Captain said:
***Back by popular demand...don't accept the imitators.***


So, everyone is sitting around the house when the dog starts going nuts in the back yard. Everyone goes and looks and sees that the dog has some animal. Dad and the kids go out and see its a baby rabbit that the dog is tossing around.

Dad shoos the dog a way and grabs the baby bunny. The kids want to see so Dad takes the rabbit inside. The rabbit is placed on the table and the kids ohhh and ahhh.

But Dad sees a problem. The baby rabitts front leg is broken. The kids want to take the rabbit to the vet but Dad sees this as a life lesson. Besides, no way is Dad paying a hundred dollars to hear a vet tell him theres nothing that can be done. He takes the rabbit outside without the kids and chops the rabbits head off with a shovel and tosses the carcus over the fence.

Dad explains to the kids how this was the humane thing to do and the kids are saddend by the events.

So, is this Dad a jerk?
Click to expand...
 
jhausch said:
How old are the kids?
Urban, Suburban, Country, Farm?
Click to expand...

Indeed. I'm city-raised, but my grandparents farmed nearly all their lives. I used to stay on the farm for a week or two, every summer. My Grandma spoiled me rotten, and never a harsh word did I hear. By this point, they actually rented out most of their land, and made their income selling eggs. Hundreds of chickens, all "free range."

One night when I was about six years old, we were driving back after a staid Saturday night in town. Grampa leaned forward and said, "There's something on the road up ahead."

We leaned forward. Several four legged beasts were running down the road ahead of us, lit up by the Ford's headlights.

"It's baby foxes," said Grampa. I looked even more eagerly. Wow!

My sweet, matronly, never-a-harsh word Gramma screamed: "KILL THOSE SON-OF-A-*******!"

It took them quite a while, afterwards, to make me understand that baby foxes became adult foxes who would kill their chickens and cost them money.

Ron Wanttaja
 
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And bringing in a wild animal into the house is never a good idea, particularly if there are "indoor" pets or children. Lots of pests and parasites and such.

I think the dad's a jerk. I'd have killed the rabbit humanely out of sight of the kids, and then either had a funeral or if we were in the "country" possibly put it somewhere where it would be food for another critter.
 
TMetzinger said:
And bringing in a wild animal into the house is never a good idea, particularly if there are "indoor" pets or children. Lots of pests and parasites and such.

I think the dad's a jerk. I'd have killed the rabbit humanely out of sight of the kids, and then either had a funeral or if we were in the "country" possibly put it somewhere where it would be food for another critter.
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If Dad did exactly what you claim you would have done...to the letter, then why does he get your 'jerk' vote? Are you a jerk too or did we miss something like an "isn't" in our post?
 
He's a jerk for:

Bringing the rabbit in the house.
Tossing it over the fence. I don't know the land layout but it implies that the kids could go and find the carcass.
 
TMetzinger said:
He's a jerk for:

Bringing the rabbit in the house. Oh, okay
Tossing it over the fence. I don't know the land layout but it implies that the kids could go and find the carcass. Nah, it was vegetated and the kids never go out there.
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Why do you not like the idea of bringing is soft fuzzy baby rabbit into the house? Lots of people have these things as pets no?
 
One time I was cutting the grass (push mower), after a long period of rain and being unable to do so. I think the grass was probably about 8" tall. As I was pushing through the yard, listening to my mp3 player, all of a sudden, I see fur come from under the back of the mower. I jumped, the mower died because I let go of it. There were about 5 or 6 baby rabbits, probably a little smaller than a baseball each. There was a little sunken spot in the yard that momma had obviously hunkered down in (why not the back yard where there were places to hide from the weather??). None of them was injured. No blood. Whew!

I finished cutting the lawn, being very careful. One of them stayed in that spot, the rest took other places around the front yard, but I could see them. No sign of any momma rabbit.

Next day they were all gone. Momma must have taken them somewhere else. I was relieved. :)

Am I a jerk? ;)
 
hopmedic said:
Next day they were all gone. Momma must have taken them somewhere else. I was relieved. :)
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And my pet hamster is still living on a farm where my mom and dad took it after it got sick. :)
 
Captain said:
***Back by popular demand...don't accept the imitators.***


So, everyone is sitting around the house when the dog starts going nuts in the back yard. Everyone goes and looks and sees that the dog has some animal. Dad and the kids go out and see its a baby rabbit that the dog is tossing around.

Dad shoos the dog a way and grabs the baby bunny. The kids want to see so Dad takes the rabbit inside. The rabbit is placed on the table and the kids ohhh and ahhh.

But Dad sees a problem. The baby rabitts front leg is broken. The kids want to take the rabbit to the vet but Dad sees this as a life lesson. Besides, no way is Dad paying a hundred dollars to hear a vet tell him theres nothing that can be done. He takes the rabbit outside without the kids and chops the rabbits head off with a shovel and tosses the carcus over the fence.

Dad explains to the kids how this was the humane thing to do and the kids are saddend by the events.

So, is this Dad a jerk?
Click to expand...

Yes, not for euthanizing the bunny but for not explaining 'mercy killing' (he could have lied about the level of damage) and the for wasting the life by throwing it over the fence. He could have gone further and dissected it (that's what we did as kids with dead animals) and then fed it to the dog.
It's teaching the waste of life that makes him a jerk, not really for lopping off the bunny's head.
 
As I recall, there was a discussion about how the bunny would never have made it with a broken leg and it was nicer to the animal to put it out of its misery than suffer along and eventually starve to death.

Tossing over the fence isn't a 'waste' imo. I guarantee it's not still there. A snake, or bird or bugs have to have eaten it by now. It's been months and months. Seems to me putting the thing in a box and burying it would have been more a waste. Although bugs would have got it that way. I guess cremating it would have been the biggest waste, but even then the ashes would have gone one to fertilize plants to be fed to animals.

It's pretty hard to 'waste' life if you ask me. I think you'd have to wrap it in plastic and place it on a rocket to space to truly waste it.
 
Yep, but to a child watching, that lesson is not taught when it gets chucked over the fence unless you take the kids over to observe decomposition.
 
Heck, as a kid it was my responsibility to kill the rabbits that our cat had paralyzed and brought to us. Hold them by the hind legs and swing them in an arc onto the driveway. Only had to do it to two rabbits, though. I was about 10 - 12 at the time. You don't specify how old the kids were in your tale (tail? :))
 
gprellwitz said:
<snip>
You don't specify how old the kids were in your tale (tail? :))
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It was a 9 year olds birthday party. Loads of kids (15'ish) with parents of different backgrounds and morals. I think Dad handled it pretty well...but what do I know.
 
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hopmedic said:
One time I was cutting the grass (push mower), after a long period of rain and being unable to do so. I think the grass was probably about 8" tall. As I was pushing through the yard, listening to my mp3 player, all of a sudden, I see fur come from under the back of the mower. I jumped, the mower died because I let go of it. There were about 5 or 6 baby rabbits, probably a little smaller than a baseball each. There was a little sunken spot in the yard that momma had obviously hunkered down in (why not the back yard where there were places to hide from the weather??). None of them was injured. No blood. Whew!

I finished cutting the lawn, being very careful. One of them stayed in that spot, the rest took other places around the front yard, but I could see them. No sign of any momma rabbit.

Next day they were all gone. Momma must have taken them somewhere else. I was relieved. :)

Am I a jerk? ;)
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I wonder if they died anyway?

My parents had a number of them tumble down a dryer chute - it was an April in PA and they were apparently huddling near the vent to keep warm.

Some of them died immediately (got chewed up) and they rescued the rest.

Apparently baby bunnies are insanely fragile and sensitive (and I hear big bunnies are too - think of a finely tuned Italian sports car versus a Honda) and must have a very regimented life until they are older and stronger.

The wildlife person told us that they need to stay in a dark place and be fed regularly and no surprises. They told us this after they died. Apparently my brother and his then-girlfriend were taking lots of photos, handling them (gently) but that was enough. Think of the flashbulbs.
 
[7500]

Woodstock - off topic. Re: last post signature. I love your travel photos. Very jealous.

However, I'm going to assume that is not what George sees every morning. I'm going to guess it was more along the lines of this:
YQ8H1399.jpg


and, more recently, this:
WWE+Stacy+Keibler+Hot_.jpg


[/7500]
 
jhausch said:
[7500]

Woodstock - off topic. Re: last post signature. I love your travel photos. Very jealous.

However, I'm going to assume that is not what George sees every morning. I'm going to guess it was more along the lines of this:
YQ8H1399.jpg


and, more recently, this:
WWE+Stacy+Keibler+Hot_.jpg


[/7500]
Click to expand...
Really? Full makeup and hair in the morning?:no:
:rofl:
 
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