A Heartwarming Tale At Easter
Remember Karl Szmolinsky , the German farmer who raises enormous "German grey giant" rabbits? He sold a bunch of the gigantic fuzzy bunnies to North Korea, where officials were planning to raise the humongous hares for food. Szmolinsky was scheduled to visit North Korea to advise them on raising the creatures. He won't be going, though.
He's pretty sure the North Koreans already ate all the rabbits.
Karl Szmolinsky sent the huge rabbits, which can grow as big as dogs and produce 15lb (7kg) of meat, to North Korea last year so they could be bred and used to ease desperate food shortages.
He thought they were being kept at a zoo in the capital Pyongyang and was planning to travel to the country after Easter to give advice on setting up a breeding facility.
But the 68-year-old says his trip has been cancelled and he suspects it may be because communist officials have eaten the rabbits, which he sold for a cut-price €80 (£54) each rather than the usual €200.
Mr Szmolinsky, who has won prizes for his rabbits during 47 years of breeding them, said: "That’s an assumption, not an assertion. But they’re not getting any more.
"I think the animals aren’t alive any more. I was due to go and inspect the animals and look at the facility.
"They kept delaying the trip. I would have liked to go."
He added that he will no longer export rabbits to the country. "North Korea won’t be getting anything from me any more, they shouldn’t even bother asking."
We here at Blue Crab Boulevard could have predicted this, had Szmolinsky just given us a call. The rabbits were doomed from the get-go. Not only are people over there starving but there's an even more important reason. The rabbits were condemned to death when Kim Jong Il realized they were taller than he is. And had nicer hair.
Animals, World news | Gaius Friday, 6 April , 2007
By Sylvia, Friday, 6 April , 2007 @ 9:22 pm
That is one of your best punch lines yet. Daughter and I had big belly laughs (though that’s sad about the bunnies). Thank you!
By BlogDog, Saturday, 7 April , 2007 @ 4:17 pm
Could we set hungry NoKos against the Animal Uprising?