MACUNGIE, Pa. - Macungie Memorial Park's hall will be hopping with fans of rabbits, guinea pigs and other small pets on Sunday for the Winter Bunderland Bazaar.
The holiday fair will feature vendors selling rabbit- and small animal-themed merchandise and will raise money for small animal rescues.
Grooming services and photo opportunities will be available for those who bring along their small animal friends.
The event will take place from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 4, and will have a $5 door fee benefitting nonprofit small animal rescues.
The event will take up both floors of the park's Memorial Hall.
- Winter Bunderland Bazaar will take place at Macungie Memorial Park
- The event will feature a vaccine clinic for a deadly virus for rabbits found in Pennsylvania this year
- The event will take place from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 4
Not all of the 40 vendors are just for pet owners, however. Gifts, crafts and food also will be available.
There will also be a scavenger hunt at the event for attendees to learn about bunnies, guinea pigs and their proper care.
Pets brought to the event must be in enclosed carriers or strollers. Bunnies must have proof of RHDV vaccination for or be vaccinated at the event.
Event organizer Alicia Eroh, an rabbit program adoptions coordinator for the Peaceable Kingdom animal rescue in Whitehall Township, also runs the small animal rescue fundraising nonprofit Miss Bunny's Menagerie, which runs the event.
Shelters participating include Peaceable Kingdom, Bunny Brigade and others.
Eroh said anything sold at her Miss Bunny's Menagerie booth and any donations that the station receives will go to a medical fund to help 501c3 nonprofit rescues with veterinary bills for rabbits.
"I started this because I saw how little funding there is available for small animal programs," Eroh said. "Working with Peaceable Kingdom for the last five years, you see more people are willing to donate to the cats and dogs, and it's not as visible for the guinea pigs [and] the rabbits."
She said small animals in need — such as rabbits, guinea pigs, reptiles, hamsters, rats, chinchillas and others — often don't get the same attention as bigger pets, such as cats and dogs.
"Bunnies require just as much work as cats and dogs, as do all small animals."Alicia Eroh, adoptions coordinator for Peaceable Kingdom
"Around Easter time, around Christmas time, people think, 'Oh, they're starter pets, they're super easy.' That's absolutely not the case," Eroh said.
"Bunnies require just as much work as cats and dogs, as do all small animals," she added. "But people think, 'Oh, they're tiny, they're quiet, they can sit in a corner in a cage,' and that's just not the case at all."
Eroh explained that small animals often need specialized diets and veterinary care, of which new or potential owners may not be aware. That even includes tropes such as feeding bunnies carrots, which are not healthy for them, or picking them up, which can be distressing to them.
This is the first time the event will offer an RHDV (Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease) vaccine clinic, which is granting the second dose to those signed up at the event.
The state Game Commission said the RHDV2 virus was first detected in a domestic rabbit facility in Pennsylvania this year. The Game Commission said the deadly disease poses a threat to the state's native rabbit populations, as well as pets.
The House Rabbit Society, a national nonprofit rabbit welfare group, has compiled a guide on RHDV for rabbit owners.
The event was held last winter for the first time, with another bazaar occurring near Easter called the Spring Bunanza. Eroh said she plans to hold another event in spring and will look to offer the clinic again, which would benefit owners due to the difficulty in finding the vaccine.
All rabbit owners seeking information on RHDV vaccinations for their pet can email alicia@missbunnysmenagerie.com.
