And the winner is..
Lionhead mini lop Arthur
After six nail-biting months the wait is finally over and we can now reveal the winner of our 2018 Pet Idol competition.
Hop forward, Arthur. The eight-month-old Lionhead Mini Lop, owned by the Pheely family from Bridge of Allan, won the most votes and can now be crowned champion.
Things were close at the top but the prized pet managed to see off stiff competition from Haggis, a rescued desert dog from Dubai, and Bengal cross Boab who finished second and third respectively.
Arthur is owned by youngsters Emmy (12) and Joe (15) along with mum and dad Rachel (44) and Tom (48).
Rachel told the Observer of the euphoria that was sure to surround the family home after news of the victory is revealed – and announced that Arthur may enjoy some of his favourite treat to celebrate.
She said: “I can’t wait to tell everyone that he has won. Emmy and Joe will be so happy. We’ve all really fallen for him. He has such a lovely nature and loves the human attention.
“He lives in a two-storey hutch in our living room and loves sitting behind the sofa. He loves interacting with us, playing with newspaper – the Stirling Observer of course – and his favourite food is kale.
“I think we’ll have to get him some kale to celebrate winning.”
Rachel said Arthur had fitted seamlessly into family life in the Pheely household.
She added: “The kids wanted a dog at first but as we work it wouldn’t have really been fair as we wouldn’t have been at home enough. But we did some research and found that rabbits like to be left during the day and are more often up and about at dawn and dusk.”
The Pet Idol 2018 competition was launched in January and more than 700 entries came flooding in. We had everything from cats and dogs to bearded dragons, hamsters and hens this year.
By winning, Arthur has earned himself £50 worth of pet treats from the Morrisons supermarket at Springkerse Road while his owners will pick up a mystery prize. The owners of Boab and Haggis will each take home £25 worth of treats from the store.