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SALT LAKE CITY -- They're cute, they're cuddly and they need long-term commitment. No, they're not girlfriends. They're Easter pets -- chicks and bunnies -- and they require their share of maintenance, too.
Advocates and retailers alike are offering advice and a warning to families seeking Easter pets this weekend.
"It requires careful thought and consideration," Humane Society of Utah spokesman Carl Arky said.
Easter pets are "not just something that you put on the shelf, look at every now and then and say, ‘Oh isn't that nice.'" -Humane Society of Utah spokesperson Carl Arky
Too many of these animals, Arky says, wind up in shelters. They're apparently the lucky ones. Arky says many others are left on their own and simply die.
"It's not just something that you put on the shelf, look at every now and then and say, ‘Oh isn't that nice,'" Arky said.
For those that are serious about raising the pets, Arky says they can be good ones. Otherwise, he tells people to find another gift.
"There are other alternatives," Arky said. "How about a chocolate rabbit? How about a stuffed animal?"
At the IFA in Salt Lake City, workers start bringing in chicks and bunnies in February. For the store, it's an agricultural business. Most people come to buy the animals for their gardens, or to simply raise chickens. That said, the store also gets its share of Easter shoppers.
There are pages of instructions in the store on what to do with chicks.
Department manager Cleo Barlow says chicks are social birds, so the store recommends buying them in groups. They also generally need a box with a heat lamp.
"They need to be at 90 degrees and every one week older, you drop it by five degrees," Barlow said. Eventually that temperature meets the outside temperature.
Children or adults kissing chicks can be problematic. Saliva is toxic to them. They can carry salmonella.
Bunnies also require their share of attention.
"Sometimes people tend to get bored with them and they get them an exercise pen," Barlow said. "Let them go outside and run around, because they are animals and they enjoy the outdoors."
Arky says bunnies and rabbits get nervous around too many people, and rabbits and dogs do not mix well.
Some cities have laws in place to discourage the sale of chicks and bunnies as Easter gifts. In Salt Lake City, if chicks are less than two months old a person must buy at least six. In Salt Lake County, if it's less than two weeks before Easter and the animals are less than two months old, a person must buy no fewer than 25.
Email: aadams@ksl.com
