I suppose with it being a "people and PETS show"  the owner probably considered her rabbit to be a "PET" and therefore welcome.  I personally might have thought twice, but maybe the lady didn't realise that people would take dogs to a show where there would be small furries? I think also that if anyone was likely to sue it would be the rabbit owner.

Yes, a rabbit is a pet, but would you have a cat out of a basket or a budgie out of a cage at such a place? Even in a vet's waiting room that's not allowed. Surely the animal's security is paramount?

At our local agricultural show there is always a Pets Class regularly attended by all sorts of animals from rabbits to pet lambs.  Some arrive in boxes but are invariably removed and held.....loosely .....in childrens arms.  I really think if it is a pet show it must be expected that a variety of pets will be at least out on leads and if you plan to take your dog, perhaps the onus should be more on the dog owner to ensure he is not a risk to others.  If others can't bring their animals safely to be looked at it it becomes just a dog show, top of the chain etc. :)

When I took my pet rats to the vet they gnawed through the carrier box whilst I was booking them in and ran up my arm and sat on my shoulder :D :D  The dogs in there just looked impressed LOL

In a vets waiting room all that is usually asked is that pets be kept under control.  As they should at ALL times.  It was a pet show and as such people with untrustworthy dogs around small furrys should have maybe kept them at home.

    > when the owner returned the rabbit was like a jigsaw.      

albeit a rather wobbly one?

Well in pieces with some missing.

If you want to talk about working dogs giving a demonstration, guess what the OH and I saw once.  Some police officers and a few of their K9 dogs showing off, in a crowded shopping mall, how the dogs could apprehend a fleeing suspect.  I bet you've already guessed.  The dog went after the cop who was doing the announcing.  Jumped on his back, this is a big cop but a big GSD, sank his teeth in and ripped right through the poor guy's shirt.  The OH and I were behind the cop and we could see the bare skin and the blood.  The cop staggered and nearly went down but he didn't make a sound and never gave away what happened.  End of demonstration but, my god, there were all kinds of little kids standing around watching and no barrier between them and the police and the dogs, just space.  It could have been an awful lot worse than just the cop being bitten.

blimey! i recall a similar but luckily not so hairy experience with a police dog in this county once. only while out at a village bonfire celebration, this particular cop was very keen to show how his dog could keep us rampant bonfiery yokels in order. so a great display of chain pulling, teeth baring, jumping up and barking was put on for an unimpressed crowd. comments were made about the nature of this dog and his handler afterwards but all was soon forgotten since the only damage caused had been to the ego of the cop.

forgotten, that is, until a very knowing item appeared in the local paper a couple of weeks later when a on a local womens' institute meeting included the words "the afternoon came to a rather boisterous end after PC XXXXX brought his dog Jet along to give a talk about his work. Jet was a lovely dog but found the afternoon rather unsettling as did some of the members of the institute".

if only we could have been flies on the wall....;)

At Ardingly (South of England Showground) this weekend there was an agricultural show attached to an Open show. The very first stand as you walked in the main enterance (which was quite narrow) was a stand selling modern hen coops. They had small wire runs on them. A couple had one or two live hens in each. As dogs walked past to enter the show the bids were pecking and fluttering about in these runs about 3 foot from the path and it caused a mini riot in some cases ;-) Very nearly Chicken fricasse with one particular Springer!
Chuckle
Di

I did something incredibly stupid myself once.  Well, OK, I've done lots of stupid things but I'm only going to put one here.  When Jet was a six month old puppy we took her to the International Ploughing Match near us.  While not a livestock show there were, nevertheless, livestock on display, generally about one of each.  Plus all the horses for the old time ploughing.  We stopped to admire a big Hereford cow and her calf and the farmer came and asked us to remove the dog lest the cow charge her.  Now, I would have thought that if you were going to display your animal at such a show, where all kinds of people, noise, screaming kids running around and machinery were to be, that you would pick your most placid, most used to that kind of activity, animal.  I expected that cow to be quite used to the attention and observation.  Nope.  Dogs were exhibiting (sheep dog trial demo) and allowed at the show as guests as well.  I felt very, very stupid after spending all my summers as a kid on my grandparents' farm.