There was a special visitor helping celebrate Chinese New Year on Wednesday at a Calgary pet store, turning it into a day to remember for staff and shoppers.
The guest of honour was Glen the rooster, visiting from the countryside east of Calgary with his owner, Aimee Diduck.
“He’s like a dog,” Diduck said. “I like to take him everywhere.”
She brought him to Pisces Pets to help mark the Chinese Year of the Rooster, which begins Jan. 28.
“He’s out giving everyone good luck,” Diduck said.
Read more from Gil Tucker here
Store employees, including Brittany Gamble, got to hold the rooster.
“I’ve dealt with goats, I’ve dealt with mice, I’ve dealt with mini-pigs, so I’ve dealt with almost every animal from the Chinese zodiac and this is the first time I’ve dealt with a rooster,” Gamble said.
“People celebrate you,” Diduck told her pet. “You’re a very honoured bird.”
And she was honoured to save Glen from his fate on the farm where he used to live.
“They were going to kill him and they said, ‘do you want this guy?’” Diduck explained. “Then I had this rooster that was going to live in our house, temporarily. Three years later, he still lives in the house. He actually lives with two kitties. One jumps on him all the time.”
Diduck’s friend, Missy LeBlanc, had come along for the visit, impressed by Glen’s good behaviour toward her.
“Glen doesn’t usually like me,” LeBlanc said. “So he’s ready to celebrate the year, I think.
“Maybe it’s a sign of good times to come that he’s not attacking me.”