I’ve seen Shakespeare’s comedy “As You Like It” multiple times. I never remember seeing a performance that included actual dead rabbits onstage during the performance. Nevertheless, that’s precisely what the Royal Shakespeare Company was proposing to do as part of New York’s Lincoln Center Festival this summer. As you can imagine, the outcry was swift and furious. RabbitWise quickly mobilized the forces, and on Sunday,
Michael Boyd, artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company and director of As You Like It, released the following statement today:
The Royal Shakespeare Company has decided not to use rabbits for its performances of As You Like It in New York.
The production opened in Stratford-upon-Avon in 2009 in the rural heart of the U.K. The dead rabbits used for the performances in Britain—part of a scene illustrating the contrast between court and countryside, where life was harsher and people hunted and prepared their own food—were sourced locally from gamekeepers as part of a farming control program.
The RSC and the RSPCA (the U.K. equivalent of the ASPCA) were satisfied that the rabbits used for the performances in Britain were sourced responsibly and killed humanely.
The moral of the story is: making your voice heard can make all the difference. (Thanks to Mary Cvetan for the heads up).
Rabbit bust in Oakland: Staying on the bunny theme, but with not as happy an ending, a scene out of a bad episode of “Cops” played itself out last week in Oakland, Calif. last week, when nearly two dozen rabbits were seized from a home in Lake Merritt. According to SFGate, the seized animals were malnourished and deformed.
The bunny bust comes just as Oakland enters into the debate over urban agriculture regulations, deciding how to monitor livestock – its treatment and slaughter – in one of the country’s hotbeds of urban homesteading.
“This blurs the lines for animal cruelty. When is it OK to raise something for food, and when is it cruelty?” said Megan Webb, director of Oakland animal services. “This is an issue we’re all going to have to sort out.”
In the case of the 21 rabbits, a neighbor alerted the East Bay SPCA to the rabbits’ condition last week, and on Tuesday, staff from Oakland animal services and the SPCA raided the home.
The additional details are grim, so read at your own peril. Thanks to Susan Fox for the link.
Generics meet veterinarians: It was just a matter of time. Generic medications are finding their way into the veterinary market.
Border Collie beach cleanup: Four different readers wanted to see this story covered, and it’s easy to understand why. Anyone who’s spent time at coastal beaches is familiar with the screech and the mess of seagulls. I’m a sailor, so I have a particular antipathy toward the obnoxious winged rats. The new solution? Border Collies! Back to SFGate:
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) released a report today that suggests that using border collies to harass gulls has helped improve water quality at Illinois area beaches.
Trained to distinguish gulls from other varieties of birds, the collies patrol beaches from dawn to dusk to chase away gulls, whose droppings have been shown to contribute to E. Coli contamination.
Check out the accompanying video. I loves me some Border Collies.
Austin’s a doggy kinda town: Austin, Tex. is already a great city to visit and to live in. It already stands as a shining light of No Kill success. According to the Austin American-Statesman, it just got better if you’re a dog.
Differences between dog and cat people: Business Insider cites a survey from hunch.com that tries to detail the societal differences between dog and cat people. Check it out and see if you fit any of the survey results. I don’t, but perhaps you will.
Note: I’ll be away next week, but Christie Keith will be filling in as your news anchor. See you in two weeks.
I always like to hear from readers, especially if you have tips, and links for interesting stories. Give me a shout in the comments, or better yet, send me an e-mail.
Image credits: Shakespeare, loc.gov. Ranger, bcxfour.