A few minutes ago, I happened upon this image from spring break last year. My (then) fiance and I drove to California to spend some time with my uncle and family who were also visiting. One day we decided to go see Chinatown. Apart from the LA traffic, we found everything you might expect:  gift shops, trinket shops, restaurants, more gift shops. While browsing each shop down the street I saw a teeny pet shop and jumped in right away. This little place had so many different birds and mice and ferrets, I was just giddy. There were a bunch of baby bunnies, all snuggled up with each other–I could hardly handle it.

But there was something terribly wrong. The shop was crammed with pets. Their cages were grimy and rusty. The baby bunnies were in a fish tank sized container that had severe cracks. They were all snuggled because there was no room to move around. As in this snapshot from my phone you can tell they are unbearably adorable, and in an equally unacceptable environment. I considered buying one, just to save it from the too-warm room and crowded pen. Who knows what they were being fed, there was no hay anywhere in sight…But I had my own rabbit at home to worry about. Who knows what kind of deseases these little fur balls might have? And I had nothing to transport a baby bunny, and my full grown rabbit might not have been compatible, maybe aggressive even.

All this, and now I still wish I had bought one. But that would have supported the store that mistreated these vulnerable animals. Instead I should have immediately called animal control, someone who had the authority to remove the animals from that environment. With that, I post this image in shame but with the resolve to never pass by the inhumane treatment of animals without action.

Forgive me, little ones.