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After years of fundraising, a statue of the Caerphilly-born magician and comic Tommy Cooper was unveiled at the Twyn in 2008.

By Cooper’s feet is a rabbit, who has remained nameless – until now.

The Tommy Cooper Society, who were responsible for the statue’s fundraising, has teamed up with Caerphilly Observer and the RSPCA to offer readers the chance to name the animal.

Tudor Jones MBE, 88, is the chairman of the Tommy Cooper Society; and was formerly chair of the RSPCA’s local Glamorgan North East branch for some 37 years.

He said: “I was recently giving a talk to an audience in Caerphilly about Cooper’s life – and one of the ladies in attendance said her grandson loved nothing more than going to see the statue – but not to see Tommy, but the rabbit instead.

“This struck me as a great opportunity to name the rabbit – to hopefully create a bit of interest locally in Tommy Cooper, and the work our society does.

“We put the statue up – unveiled by Sir Anthony Hopkins – a good few years ago. The rabbit was originally supposed to be climbing up Cooper’s shin; but the sculptor had some trouble getting the animal to stick. So, the rabbit was moulded on separately instead and is looking out at the audience – the people of Caerphilly – saying ‘here I am, I’m not in the hat’.

“While ‘rabbit out of a hat’ has become a common phrase in our language, funnily enough, Cooper never actually did this trick. We think it’s pretty funny and fitting that even we got that wrong given the style of his routine – getting Tommy to do a trick he didn’t actually do.”

The Tommy Cooper Society now raises money to install local defibrillators across Caerphilly County Borough, via its “Tommy’s Ticker’ campaign – and has installed 14 since the statue was erected in 2008.

In addition to the honour of naming the rabbit, the competition winner will also receive top prizes supplied by the RSPCA – including subscription to its Animal Life Magazine, and Animal Action Magazine for kids, plus a goodie bag of rabbit-themed gifts – including a mug, washbag, wildlife cuddly toy and set of handcrafted figurines.

The Tommy Cooper Society also hopes the competition will provide a good opportunity for people across south Wales and beyond to discuss rabbit welfare.

Tudor said: “During my time with the local RSPCA branch, inspectors would often attend our meetings and tell us about rabbit rescues, or sad stories where they investigated rabbit cruelty.

“Hopefully, while a new name is chosen, we can also have a really important conversation about rabbit welfare; and the RSPCA’s important messaging about good rabbit care can be heard.”

In 2020, 672 rabbits came into the RSPCA’s care, and during 2021, 859 were taken in by the RSPCA – an increase of 28%. There’s growing concern the spike in unwanted rabbits is linked to the pets being acquired during lockdown; or people being unable to afford to care for them amid cost of living pressures.

Enter competition

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Usual competition rules apply. The best judged entries will go into a draw. Children need to have their parents enter on their behalf.

Entrants will also be signed up to our daily newsletter.

Almost 1,000 more rabbits were classed by the charity as ‘neglected’ in 2021 – up to 5,451 – compared with 4,544 in 2020.

Rabbit welfare expert Dr Jane Tyson, from the RSPCA’s companion animals department, said: “We’re worried a lot of people will have perceived rabbits as a good ‘starter pet’ during Covid lockdowns while looking for companionship or something to do.

“While many rabbits will have found great homes during that time, in some cases, sadly, the situation is different and the novelty is perhaps wearing off – as rabbits have a long life span and complex needs.

“However, if prospective owners have done their research, and know the commitment they’re taking on – rabbits are simply amazing pets.

“There are countless rabbits looking for new homes in our care; so we hope some rabbit-loving Tommy Cooper fans looking to make some new additions to their family will check out the RSPCA’s Find a Pet section of our website.”