The bunny hutches have arrived at the Weyburn Therapeutic Animal Park

Three custom-built bunny hutches were presented yesterday to the board of the Weyburn Therapeutic Animal Park. They were built by Mr. Paterson's Grade 11 Carpentry class at Weyburn Comprehensive School.

Secretary Treasurer, Janel Stang said the hutches are fantastic, and the students did an amazing job. 

"We were not expecting what they have done. This is blowing us away. They are absolutely gorgeous, and will be so wonderful to have all for the animals in the park. This will be amazing."

She said it's even better that there are three, as the original request was for two. However, Westrum Lumber graciously donated the supplies to build a third.

"They will be used mainly for the bunnies, but we will have some quails in there as well, so it's just great to have the extra space," Stang noted. "Our old bunny cages, which were not looking good, we can finally take down, and use that space for a better reason. Maybe some educational purposes."

She said they will have the bunnies arriving this week to the park, as well as a litter of babies arriving soon.

"They will be so cute. I think they're about three or four weeks old now and we will have more after that, but I know the next batch is getting here this week," she shared. "Stop by the visit the park and check out the bunny hutches for yourself."

Stang added the animal park is still in need of more volunteers. To get involved, send them a message via their Facebook group HERE.

Carpentry Teacher Mr. Cody Paterson said he was also very happy with the progress the students made on the project.

"I was talking to a few students yesterday and [asked], 'what did you learn the most?' They said that they learned how to problem-solve, because there were a lot of angles, and roof theory, two little mini stairs going up that they just didn't have maybe a full grasp on because I hadn't taught them that," he shared. "They were learning to problem solve. So I'm very proud of them for that."

"They surprised themselves, and sometimes everyone needs an opportunity to do just do that, and even though they didn't get an individual take-home project, and it was a group project, I think it feels good to give back to the community. I'm almost more excited about this than any other project this year, just because I know we're giving back to the community."

Paterson added the class was able to 'rock the tunes' while they worked on the hutches, and he is sure they all had a good time.

Read more from Paterson and his class in a story we brought you during the building process HERE.