Festive favourite: Isnawati Bohari (left) and her two sons playing with rabbits at Firefly Valley Leisure Park in Kota Tinggi. (Top) Tan has over 100 rabbits with many given to him by their owners. — THOMAS YONG/The Star
KOTA TINGGI: Retired businessman Tan Thoo Yow knows what it is like having to take care of rabbits that have outgrown the love of their original owners.
Tan, who has always been fond of nature and animals, has more than 100 rabbits under his care at the Firefly Valley Leisure Park that he started some 13 years ago to enjoy his retirement.
“The animals we have are farm animals, such as chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, goats, freshwater fish and even rabbits. Children love these kinds of animals.
“However, most of the animals that I have, including rabbits, are given to me by their owners when they could no longer take care of them,” said the 63-year-old when met at his park here yesterday.
With the Year of the Rabbit falling on Jan 22, many animal groups have expressed caution against impulse of buying the animal, only to abandon it later.
According to Tan, some of the rabbits given to him were in a sad state and a few were sick.
“Some owners only want rabbits as pets when the animal is small and cute. But when the rabbit becomes bigger and falls sick, they want to discard it.
“It should not happen to these poor rabbits so I took them and the other animals in and cared for them. These rabbits are now healthy and active,” he said.
Tan said it was not that hard to take care of the rabbits or the other animals at the farm as they only needed love and affection – as well as having someone constantly cleaning up their droppings.
“Keeping these animals is also a good form of exercise for me as I have to always keep active to make sure that they are healthy and comfortable,” he said.
Besides the farm, Tan also provides tours along Sungai Johor to watch fireflies at night, which helped to bring in local and foreign tourists to Kota Tinggi.
“Before the Covid-19 pandemic, about 80% of my visitors were tourists from Singapore, Hong Kong, China, South Korea, Japan and Indonesia.
“With the Year of the Rabbit coming soon, I do hope that everyone from around the world will get good fortune this time as the last few years have been difficult for all of us because of Covid-19,” said Tan, whose three children now run the park.
