On Saturday 9th April, David & Feona attended a Rabbit Awareness day held in Carrington Village Hall, near Gorebridge in Midlothian, where they assited by running the RWAF information stall. It was a highly successful event, with much to see & do.
Two local school children had been assigned as “”Press Officers”” for the day. Today we wanted to share with you Hana Hyslop’s report of the day.
The Rabbit Welfare Association Fund
On the 9th of April 2011, there was an event in Carrington hall called The Rabbit Welfare Association Fund where you got to bring your rabbit in, enter a competition for the cutest rabbit, find out more about rabbits and the food they eat, watch a film called Watership Down, get your face painted and eat homemade food! I interviewed some of the people at the stalls.
The first person I interviewed was Jackie Gibb and she was helping people make bunny masks and then colouring them in!
The next stall was the Paws Here Small Pet Rescue, the woman who was operating the stall had brought a rabbit called Basil and surprisingly he liked basil. I found out that Paws Here take in small animals and re-home them. They take animals such as rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, rats and gerbils.
The third was a show jumping group and you got to see a rabbit called Rowan jump over hurdles three or four bars high and there is only 9 people in the U.K that are in the group. The rabbits aren’t being forced to do it they do it because they enjoy it! The rabbits train once a week and the do competitions five times a year, some of the rabbits can jump as high as 60cm but the really impressive thing is that Swedish rabbits can jump as high as 1METRE!
The last stall I went to was the RWAF and spoke to David. They had brought Starlight and Marius (two rabbits) in and Starlight was bred and Marius was rescued. It is shocking to think that 35,000 rabbits in a year are neglected or mistreated. The biggest problems are that pet rabbits aren’t given enough space or because they need a balanced diet – they can’t have carrots all the time when it should be hay they eat. SECS is short for Space Exercise Companionship and Stimulation and that is what rabbits need so if you ever decide to get one you should speak to a rescue centre first. You can find out more on the RWAF website: www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk .
It was great to see everyone trying to prove that… RABBITS AREN’T JUST FOR EASTER!!!