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| Taken by 'thegroundabove' on lomography.com |
Our world is both incredibly beautiful and incredibly cruel.
Yesterday I held a rabbit dying of myxomatosis. It was curled into a tiny ball in the road, just waiting to die. It was completely blind; its eyes were swollen shut, weeping fluid almost as if it was crying. The rabbits always end up on the road. They feel safer because they can't feel anything to bump into. I couldn't bear to leave it there. So, I picked it up and moved it to the trees at the side of the road where it couldn't wander back. I realised that it was either going to get hit by a car, killed by a fox or just die from a disease that takes over two weeks to kill, a disease that we deliberately introduced. I thought for a moment about killing it. But then I felt how small and soft it was, and I couldn't face having to snuff out its tiny life; even if it was the kindest thing to do. I made it a kind of nest of leaves and picked grass so it had something to eat. Then I got back in the car and hoped that nothing would find it, so it could die in peace. I felt ashamed for being too cowardly to make its end quicker and less painful.
Today I went to where I left the rabbit. The nest was there, but there was nothing else.
This made me tear up, I have to say. I live in the U.S., and I have never heard of this. After some quick googling, I was vaguely horrified.
ReplyDeleteWhat you did for the rabbit is beautiful, really. You did what you could to make it comfortable, and I admire that.