Dannevirke: Focus turns to furry friends

Jacob Thorburn with chocolate Labrador Bailey and her 4-week-old pups. Photo / Dave Murdoch

Animals to lead, pat, cuddle and admire were on show at Dannevirke South School at last week's Annual Pet Day. It lasted all day with the lambs and calves judged in the morning and the other pets in the afternoon.

Judge David McKenzie had a difficult task picking the "lamb and owner" winners and even resorted to the lambs having a race to the bottle held by the children. There were up to 20 in each division and when one got loose there were plenty of chasers.

Winning was not the most important part of the day, however - the fun came from the participation of children, pets and parents.

Some pets took some persuading to follow the lead. Little Amelia Caseley, 5, was barely bigger than "Sparks" her calf which was more than 40kg at birth.

It's not hard to see why Megan Crampton's chook is called Frizzle. Photo / Dave Murdoch

In the afternoon there was a spectacular display of inanimate items in the hall. There were woven items, painted rocks, decorated sand saucers and even some dressed teddies.

In two other classrooms were other pets - those of the furry kind such as cats, rabbits, guinea pigs and mice, those of the feathered variety like ducks, chooks, parakeets and budgerigars.

Down on the middle field Jack Russells seemed to prevail, but there was just about every other kind of dog as well. They were much-loved members of the family and they had a great time sniffing where the lambs and calves had been and each other, of course.

Each animal had its story.

Six-year-old Princess was found abandoned three years ago in a house after its owners had left. She had lived on rats and was in a very rundown state until the SPCA saved her. When Piper Carnie and her mum visited looking to adopt a cat, Princess curled up on Piper's shoulder and that was that - the decision was made with no regrets.