552. Rabbits

One of the most interesting presentations I heard at the GHC conference in DC was how an organization reduced malnutrition among children in Africa by introducing Rabbit into the diet. I think the country was Mali, but I'm not sure. The typical diet there was maize and lentils, so the children didn't have enough protein.

The way it worked, as far as i remember, was like this:

You give each family a papa rabbit, and a mama rabbit. Very soon, they would mate, and produce a lot of baby rabbits. You keep the baby rabbits, and let them grow, while you eat the papas and the mamas. Then the babies mate, and produce grandchildren. And you eat...

I like to think of rabbits as cute furry animals that should be petted, not eaten. So obviously, my stomach churned at the idea. But I guess it's saving a lot of lives in Africa.

I think Kontor, our horny albino dog is becoming depressed, blind and stupid. He keeps climbing on to people, even though people keep hitting him. And often when the wind rustles, he keeps running aimlessly around our garden. My analysis says he's suffering from malnutrition.

So, I plunked some major moolah and bought some dog food titled Pedigree. The can advertises "Made with Fresh Meat", and that was good enough for me. In a red box, it also says,"in loaf", which did not really mean much to me. But after three days, I noticed the preceding words, the complete sentence being "With Rabbit in Loaf".

I was gonna do a double take. But then I realized that I now have at least 3 days worth of dead rabbit in my room.

Might as well put their life to good use.