This Easter you get to meet Sweet Pea the Bunny. But she’s not your ordinary cotton-tailed thumper — she’s a dwarf bunny used for therapy at Arcata Elementary School.

Sweet Pea is just a few months old and has only been at the school for about six weeks, but she’s already socialized and winning the hearts of all she meets.

The school’s principal, Victoria Parker says she was hesitant at first because of students’ allergies and the possibility of the bunny biting. But then she totally caved after meeting Sweet Pea.

“She was so nice and so relaxed. It was so positive to see the kids and see how calm they were when they were interacting with her,” Parker said.

Sweet Pea’s primary provider is the school’s counselor, Althea Jones. She equally raves about the bunny and says Sweet Pea’s worked wonders getting kids to feel comfortable opening up about their problems.

“For some kids it’s easy when they’re having big feelings or emotions to have something outside of themselves to focus on,” Jones said. “You can relax with the bunny.”

In this LoCO Video Report we also get to hear from a few of the students who spend time with Sweet Pea, get to see her hop around the classroom, eat a ton of wheatgrass, and just be a cute little bundle of joy. And to top it off, Nature Joe and his exotic animal exhibit just happen to be visiting the school the same time we were there, so we show you some of that too!