Bunny is in the house

Nolan Gervais and Evelyn Buyck pet Bunny, a rescue dog that was brought to St. Mary’s School last Wednesday by Cathy Nelson of Tracy Area Animal Rescue. SMS students are raising money for TAAR as part of Catholic Schools Week. Photo / Per Peterson

St. Mary’s School students had a very special visitor last week as part of a Catholic Schools Week fundraising activity for Tracy Area Animal Rescue

Last Wednesday morning was anything but normal for Students at St. Mary’s School.

For starters, they didn’t have to arrive at school until 10 a.m., as school was two hours late. And when school did start, they all made a new friend: Bunny.

Not that kind of bunny. This Bunny was a rescue dog brought in by Cathy Nelson of Tracy Area Animal Rescue. Nelson was there to educate the kids, not just about Bunny, but about TAAR and the reality of the homeless animal situation in the area.

Nelson told the kids that Bunny’s owners had moved and, she needed a new home.

“She loves people,” Nelson said. “And she really loves kids.”

Of course, the kids took to Bunny immediately. But Nelson wasn’t just there to let the kids pet a dog; she wanted to let them know how important it was that TAAR is there to rescue pets that have been abandoned and to remind them of where their “Pennies for Pets” fundraiser money will go.

“That’s just wonderful,” Nelson said of the school’s drive to raise money for TAAR. “We love to get kids involved. A lot of the kids today had no idea that puppy mills exist, or that there’s so many unwanted animals that are euthanized daily.”

See this week’s Headlight Herald for more on this article.