For at least seven years, Alf Symphorien has been bringing his rabbits to the garden centre every Saturday, allowing children and families to interact with the animals.
This activity was halted following the complaint, which has now resulted in Mr Symphorien and his rabbits being moved to a new, lower profile location at the back of the store.
‘It’s been upsetting because the routine is gone now,’ Mr Symphorien said.
He noted that many regular visitors did not realise he was there, and the new set-up made it more difficult for him to display the rabbits.
‘A lot of the people that normally would have come up and stroked the rabbits didn’t know where I was. They just walked straight past, thinking I wasn’t there,’ he said.
James Robin, operations manager at the Friquet Garden Centre, confirmed that a single formal complaint was raised about a month ago.
In response, the centre asked the GSPCA to carry out a welfare check and provide recommendations. Mr Robin emphasised that the centre had always viewed the activity as a positive, supervised experience for children.
‘Research into human-animal interaction supports what we observe in practice – supervised petting of small animals such as rabbits can reduce stress and anxiety in children and encourage gentle behaviour and empathy,’ he said.
The GSPCA was asked to provide advice to ensure best practice, particularly concerning the safety of the rabbits around dogs, which are permitted in the centre.
Manager Steve Byrne confirmed that its welfare team visited the site and made recommendations to reduce risk factors.
‘The main thing whenever you carry out these sorts of undertakings is that you’re bearing in mind the animal welfare,’ Mr Byrne said.
The advice resulted in the rabbits being moved to an area where dogs are not permitted, which the garden centre described as a ‘minor adjustment’.
Mr Symphorien said that while the situation had been upsetting, he had received ‘overwhelming support’ from the public online. He said he was now working with the garden centre to find a better way to display the rabbits more prominently.
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