Families out in force to enjoy small animals day

Young animal lovers were given the chance to learn more aboutkeeping pets during an event at Bath Cats and Dogs Home.

The Claverton-based centre held its Small Animals Day at theweekend and the warm weather meant scores of families turned out tomeet the rabbits, guinea pigs and ferrets.

Children were able to hold and cuddle the animals and talk tohandlers about the responsibilities of keeping pets.

Judith O'Neil, who lives in Bath, had taken her two younggranddaughters, Erin and Ibby, to the day.

She said: "We are here to see all the small animals because thegirls are a bit nervous of the dogs."

Eight-year-old Erin, who has a guinea pig called Fudge, said shehad enjoyed herself.

She said: "I thought they were all really cute. I didn't reallylike the ferrets, though, because they were quite smelly."

Kim Baker had travelled from Pucklechurch with her husband Russand their daughters, Holly, aged 15, and Isabel 10.

She said: "We heard about this event at the Bath and West Showand we thought it would be something fun for the family.

"We don't have any pets at the moment and I don't think we willbe taking any of these home with us today."

Isabel, who had taken part in the rabbit cuddling, added: "Iwould like a pet rat though, because I think they are cute."

Animal care manager Jackie Dalton said the aim of the event wasto let the public know that it was not just cats and dogs that thecentre looked after.

She said: "It has been going very well and there has been a hugeamount of hard work put in by the staff.

"I think we have been incredibly lucky with the weather and wehave had lots of people coming along and having fun.

"What we wanted to do was put across to everybody about the smallanimals here because a lot of people think that we are just aboutthe cats and dogs."

But she warned people to remember that even having small animalsas pets required a lot of hard work and responsibility.

For more information about re-homing animals go towww.bathcatsanddogshome.co.uk or contact 01225 787321.