Animal rights activists: Don’t give live animals as gifts for Easter

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In a statement sent to MTI by the association, it wrote that as part of its “rabbit rescue campaign”, bored rabbits will be welcomed free of charge at their Szeged center for a month after Easter, in order to prevent them from ending up on the streets. According to the association’s experience, chicks that can be purchased for just a few hundred forints, and rabbits that can be purchased for a few thousand forints, are often given as gifts at Easter based on a thoughtless decision, primarily to children. According to Zoltán Seres, the head of the association, the festive joy is short-lived, but keeping animals requires long-term responsibility. Therefore, they recommend that instead of live animals, they give durable gifts – such as chocolate, plush figures or handmade surprises – at Easter.

According to the statement, after the holidays are over, caring for animals – feeding them, caring for them, and the associated hygiene tasks – becomes a burden for many families.

In recent years, the association has come across several egregious cases: some people lock their bored animals in boxes and put them on the side of the road, others flush ornamental fish down the toilet, or release birds. The statement emphasized that the majority of pets are not capable of living independently in nature, so releasing them could lead to their death. They reminded that abandoning pets is against the law and may result in criminal consequences.

MTI