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Wonderful village pet shop

thumps_

Wise Old Thumper
When I'd said I'd have Thumps I asked the owner of a family run village pet shop for advice. He told me to keep Thumpsnear the house so I wouldn't forget him at the bottom of the garden.:shock::shock::shock: I left almost shaking, everything he said was more than offputting. At the time they'd have 2-3 buns for sale, but lots of hamsters & piggies. He'd just taken over the running of the shop.

He wouldn't let the assistants handle the buns either, but they let the buns have a hop round the shop before closing. They'd cuddle all the piggies & hamsters though.

6 months later - no bunnies & there haven't been any since.
When I told him that Thumps & I were getting on fine & had a great relationship, his face softened. I realised he was a very kind gentleman. In fact he didn't WANT those buns to be sold to anyone who wasn't prepared to put in some effort to care for them properly.

I saw him again today after a long break. He asked after Thumps.
I just wanted to post a really happy story. :D:D:D:D
 
That's lovely :) You must have made a big impression on him yourself, Judy :wave: otherwise he probably wouldn't have remembered you. :)
 
Yes there are nice people too - thank God or I think I would lose the will to live - all you seem to hear is doom and bloody gloom and awful stories of freaks of nature committing horrific acts of mindless violence or cruelty, so to hear of a nice 'gentleman' is actually rather refreshing. :D
 
Thank you everyone for reading this & your replies.
It took me a long time, to work out how clever that gentleman was. In fact not until I heard about the extent of bunny abandonment on here.

Georgie f I think that the main impression I made was that I was pretty green! My face when he told me that I'd have to clean a bunny's bum over a basin of water twice a day in summer or maggots ate them alive, & that they could be fine when put to bed, & dead in the morning, must have been a treat.:shock::shock::shock: We didn't do that for Peter when I was a child!

Of course without being handled at all, the buns made a massive protest when brought out for a prospective owner; clearly demonstrating that they were neither cuddly toys, nor suitable for a child to look after alone.
 
Thank you everyone for reading this & your replies.
It took me a long time, to work out how clever that gentleman was. In fact not until I heard about the extent of bunny abandonment on here.

Georgie f I think that the main impression I made was that I was pretty green! My face when he told me that I'd have to clean a bunny's bum over a basin of water twice a day in summer or maggots ate them alive, & that they could be fine when put to bed, & dead in the morning, must have been a treat.:shock::shock::shock: We didn't do that for Peter when I was a child!

Of course without being handled at all, the buns made a massive protest when brought out for a prospective owner; clearly demonstrating that they were neither cuddly toys, nor suitable for a child to look after alone.

:lol: Green is always a memorable look! The rabbits in the pet shops over here never seem to be handled either but it doesn't seem to put children off. I went in P@H today as my usual pet shop had run out of hay and there was a member of staff getting scratched half to death whilst a little kid was 'patting' a little bun on the head. :roll: I don't think the bun was bought that day and I have to admit, I did have a little giggle at the buns determination to get away! Seemed almost as though it knew what was best for it and that it did not want to go with that child! ;)
 
:lol: Green is always a memorable look! The rabbits in the pet shops over here never seem to be handled either but it doesn't seem to put children off. I went in P@H today as my usual pet shop had run out of hay and there was a member of staff getting scratched half to death whilst a little kid was 'patting' a little bun on the head. :roll: I don't think the bun was bought that day and I have to admit, I did have a little giggle at the buns determination to get away! Seemed almost as though it knew what was best for it and that it did not want to go with that child! ;)

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:Too right!!
Buns have a lot more sense than we give them credit for!:lol::lol::lol:
 
that's nice to hear-do what you can to promote his business-tell everyone you know to give him support.:) sue:wave:
 
that's nice to hear-do what you can to promote his business-tell everyone you know to give him support.:) sue:wave:

I do as much as I can, especially for hardware/gardening things. I like to support the small shops.

There's another much larger warehouse style family run "Pet Shed" a couple of miles away. I can't say that they've stopped selling buns, but only have a maximum of 4 at a time (usually 2), & don't sell them from the end of Oct until after Easter for the same reason. "Turn over" is quite slow.
They won't sell hutches cos they're too small. :D:D :D:D

The buns are kept in a solid 6'x6' enclosure, so small children can't see them, & the buns can't see dogs. It's full of hay & toys/ tunnels.
The owner knows her bunnies too, & tries to get them all eating hay well before they're sold.:D :D :D

I've seen her try to discourage a customer from buying a bun for her 6 year old daughter successfully. When they'd left I said "Bun's aren't really a child's pet are they?" The reply, "Definitely NOT".

The sentiment was that they should be pets for the whole family.

Round here it's the large commercial concerns which are unenlightened. The rescues here are overflowing too.
But if very small businesses can prosper without selling buns, the large ones could do so just as easily.
 
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