Penny Smith 

Ed. note: There’s a Bunny Adopt-a-thon at Utopia Bakery and Café on May 10, 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m.

NEW TIMES How many bunnies are there, and where do they all come from?

SMITH We will probably have eight. They all come from SLO Buns. Usually we have someone who tells us that they see a domestic bunny running around their neighborhood that was thrown away. Sometimes people have purchased Easter bunnies, or their kids don’t want their bunny anymore. They’re just unwanted bunnies. It usually happens if people don’t know about bunnies—they just think it’s cute and buy one without researching how to take care of it.

NEW TIMES Are bunnies time-consuming pets?

SMITH Not if you know how to take care of them. We teach that and help people out, and we make sure that the bunnies that people want to adopt are right for their situations. Bunnies are excellent pets for adults. They love to be cuddled; they’re perpetual babies, but they don’t go off to college and they don’t talk!

NEW TIMES They’re really called rabbits, so do you know where the nickname bunny came from?

SMITH I don’t. And I have no idea how Easter got to be about bunnies, chickens, and eggs.

NEW TIMES Are there personality differences between males and females?

SMITH Our bunnies are all neutered. Once they’re neutered or spayed, then they’re just good pets. They all have cute, different personalities.

NEW TIMES Is the Easter bunny real?

SMITH No. But don’t tell kids that! Actually, the Easter bunny is very real—and we have about 30 of them.