The Rabbit in the Wheelie Bin

This is a true story of events which happened a few years ago, which could have had a tragic ending. Not everyone is an animal lover.
It was evening in a suburb of Torquay, and tomorrow was bin day. The residents were placing their wheelie bins on the pavement for emptying next morning. Via the Council vehicle, the refuse would find its way to landfill or incineration. Anything landing in the refuse vehicle would have had to pass through the mechanism in the vehicle and would then have had more refuse landing on top of it.
A few days later Liz and I visited a vet in that suburb, who specialized in small animals. Our guinea pig had an abscess and needed treatment. The vet had a most beautiful rabbit in her surgery. She told us that it had been found and nobody had claimed it.
“Had it just run away?”
“No, it was found in a wheelie bin. A passer- by heard a noise in the wheelie bin and investigated. She found a rabbit in it and took it to my surgery for a check over and for safe keeping. The rabbit has been here a while and notices have been put up. Nobody has claimed it. You can have it, if you wish. It’s in good health and condition.”
We took it, as we suspected that a horrible owner may have put it in the bin to get rid of it, and hence did not wish to claim it. We said that if the owner claimed it and was not to blame for what had happened, we would give it back.
It had lovely colouring and very large feet. It was obviously a much loved pet and was house-trained. It would sit on a sofa with us and watch TV. If Liz lay on the floor, it would climb along her body and sit on her head. We realised that it was a much loved bunny and were shocked at the thought that someone could have put it in a wheelie bin.
We put up extra notices and some in Newton Abbot and then received a phone call from a teenage girl, who was distraught at the loss of her pet. She had seen our notice when visiting Newton Abbot. She described him perfectly, and emailed us a photo. She said that his name was “Legolass”. She explained that they lived near the neighbours from hell, and that after a dispute they had stolen him and must have put him in a wheelie bin.
She was more than delighted to have him back. We were sorry to see him go but delighted for the young girl, who had been distraught when he was stolen. A happy ending.

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