Just Sayin': Bunnies, ducks, chicks require real care

Sadly, thousands of rabbits, chicks and ducklings are purchased every year and given as whimsical Easter gifts. Often bought on impulse by people with little awareness of the commitment involved, pet rabbits can live 8 to 12 years if properly cared for, spayed or neutered.

Rabbits need as much care as a dog or cat. Litter boxes need to be changed, cages cleaned and rabbits fed, watered and exercised. Rabbits are highly social and require time and attention from owners. They should live indoors and are not recommended as pets for young children.

If you decide to buy a bunny, wait until after Easter. Animal shelters will be full. Since domestic rabbits cannot survive outdoors on their own, surrender to a shelter is the only humane alternative.

The same goes for chicks and ducks. Many are so domesticated that they cannot survive in the wild. Fowl abandonment is a misdemeanor crime in New York, the same as with a dog or a cat. Because ducks and chickens can live up to 10 years, they should also never be purchased as whimsical Easter gifts.

JoAnn Cave,

  Nesconset

Editor’s note: The writer is a volunteer district leader for the Humane Society of the United States.

High school musical was too raunchy

I saw the Bay Shore High School Drama Club’s production of “Chicago” in March. It was about as unwholesome a spectacle as I have ever seen, and it leads one to question this administration’s leadership of the Bay Shore School District.

I witnessed barely dressed young women, with legs spread wide at times, shaking their breasts in skimpy clothing, a young man zipping his fly to suggest a sex act after a phony examination that determined a fake pregnancy and, of all things, shootings, knifings and a hanging. I heard loud and clear the cursing, mocking, offensive use of Christian gestures and prayers and references to the joys of boozing and philandering. In a word, it was raunchy!

I saw very talented actors, but I submit that community productions need to leave people better off, not shocked and uncomfortable seeing our children openly victimized by the very people who are supposed to guide them.

Were parents given the option of having their youngsters exposed to this production in the form of a permission slip with a “parental discretion advised” warning, even though a modified version was shown during the school day to younger students? I expect those in authority to exert moral oversight to protect vulnerable populations and families they serve, not contribute to the garbage heap.

Joan Eisele-Cooper,

  Bay Shore

Editor’s note: The writer is a public middle-school reading and English teacher in Nassau County with 28 years of experience.