Our Weekend at Petco

This past weekend, Mr. Mick and I participated in a Rabbit Rally at the local Petco. We were there representing the House Rabbit Connection (a chapter of the House Rabbit Society representing MA and CT), along with two other volunteers. This was our first public event, so both of us were a little nervous, but it went very well and hopefully we were able to educate a lot of people about rabbits as housepets and encourage those who were interested in getting a rabbit to adopt from a shelter or rescue.

Mr. Mick inspects his temporary digs on Day 1

The first day was a little unnerving for both of us. While I knew that Petco allows people to bring their pets into the store while they shop, I didn't realize just how many people choose to do that--and how many owners of LOUD and YAPPY dogs like to shop at Petco on a Saturday. Fortunately, we ended up positioned to the side of the entrance instead of in front of it--not so fortunate in that fewer people noticed us, but fortunate in that none of the yappy dogs and their owners noticed we were there, so Mick and his fellow rabbit volunteers were not as stressed about it. 

"Wake me when that damn cocker spaniel is gone."

Along with Mick on Day 1 were two other rabbits:

"I hear you folks like Spots--do you know that dreamboat, Tyler?"

Punkin Pie, the English Spot, and Grady, the Dutch.

"I'm a lover, not a fighter...but if that dog gets any closer, I'm gonna kick some tail!"

Their mom, Mary, made some wonderful posters for us to display:

The Petco staff were super-nice, and they were so interested in the rabbits. They were always coming over to us to pet the buns and tell us about the rabbits they had owned in the past and ask questions about rabbits. One young man told me that Mick was the first rabbit he had ever petted in his life. 

"Of course, you know they all came here to see me. 

I AM a superstar, after all."

Day 2 went even better--not only were all the yappy dogs gone, but we were stationed right at the entrance, so everyone could see us. 

Mick had two new bunny volunteers to work with this time (volunteer Mary has six rabbits in total; three bonded pairs) :

"Who cares about Tyler? I want to meet Sydney!"

Little Boy (another Spot) and Espresso (or Essie, for short--a lovely black bun of unknown breed). Unfortunately, Essie was a bit shy, so I didn't get  any really good pics of her:

"Come on out, honey--don't be shy!" 

(yes, Essie was in the house)

You can barely see Essie's head peeking out from behind the house on the right.

Getting acquainted with the neighbors

We gave out a bunch of rabbit care guides and other rabbit info, and talked to a LOT of fellow rabbit lovers. We ended up staying an hour past our allotted time because we were having so much fun meeting people. It was exhausting, but all kinds of fun. We may even end up doing it again next month, depending on the scheduling. (These are only a portion of the pictures I took; if you would like to see all of them, click here .)