Bob CollinsA kid can’t even take a rabbit to a county fair anymore, at least not in southern Minnesota’s Steele County.
Smokey, a Holland Lop, was a prize-winner, good enough to advance to the Minnesota State Fair last year, and good enough at the county fair this year to be declared “Super Bunny.”
And, apparently, good enough for someone to steal.
Marisa Wagaman, 18, A 4-H’er from Medford, still holds out hope that Smokey got out of its cage without it being unlatched, but that’s unlikely.
“It was the saddest moment of my life,” Wagaman tells the Owatonna People’s Press.
“4-H is a great program,” she said, “and you work hard for months, sometimes years, to get an animal ready to show. And you put a lot of effort into finding that one special one.”
And then someone comes along who steals it, and sets a new standard for low in Steele County.
If she’s back to the fair next year, Wagaman says she’ll probably put a lock on the cage
