Pumpkin Station — Local services in San Diego

We took the kiddos to pick out pumpkins at the Pumpkin Station down at Mission Valley Mall yesterday. During our trip, we visited their Petting Zoo. I noticed a bunny kind of sprawled out in her cage in DIRECT sunlight. And mind you, it's been extremely hot lately. She was breathing rapidly and didn't look too well. I mentioned to one of the workers that their bunny was in the direct sunlight and wasn't looking so good.

Her response?

"She's fine. I just sprayed her with water."

I told her that the bunny wasn't fine and that she needed to be moved into the shade. And asked if there was management I could talk to about getting this bunny moved. And with an attitude she told me she would get someone.

Another worker who was there apologized and grabbed the bunny out of its cage and took it into the shade. And even mentioned that the poor bunny was breathing really fast.

And then management came... An older white lady with really short hair. (I didn't catch her name but I will be going back for it.) And this is how our conversation went:

Her: "So I heard you were having a problem with one of our bunnies."

Me: "I have an issue with the bunny sitting there in direct sunlight with no available shade. And the poor thing is laying there breathing fast because it's so hot."

Her: "It's normal for bunnies to breathe fast."

Me: "No, that is not normal. The bunny needs to be moved. There's absolutely no shade for it."

Her: "We do have a tarp that shades it at other times of the day. The sun DOES move throughout the day."

Me: "What about the other times of the day?! Like now?!"

Her: "What do you want me to do? Move the tarp?"

Me: "No. I expect you to move the damn bunny!"

Her: "Well maybe we need to charge more for people to come in here."

???!!!

Me: "All I'm asking is to move the bunny into the shade. Just the necessities. It's really that simple."

Her: "We take very good care of our animals here. Our bunnies get sprayed down and bottles of ice."

Me: "Well it had neither. And maybe I will send this video (I had taken a video earlier.) into Animal Services and see what they have to say."

Her: "Alright. Well are you ready to leave?"

Me: "Nope."

She followed me around the entire time I was in there and left...

For someone looking for something fast to do for the kids and not wanting to do a lot of walking, this is the place to be. Went here today (Tuesday) and wasn’t busy at all. My two year old was scared to go down the slide and the guy was pretty rude about it and told me to “take her to another activity because they have rules”. Went to the jump house right after and waited for 5 minutes at the gate while three employees stood together chatting at the train track right next to it. The lady at the train station was nice, other than that it didn’t feel inviting, and not worth the money. A greeting and smile can go a long way, they can’t even do that. You’d think they’d hire employees that know how to deal with and talk to kids, I’m sure my toddlers not the first one to do this. I wouldn’t recommend this location and won’t be...

I absolutely love the pumpkin station! I have been going here for at least the past 10 years! It is always a great time and has an amazing atmosphere that gets you in the mood for fall. Without fail I always make a visit to the petting zoo. The goats are so sweet and it's such a great time. The tickets are pretty cheap they are round $3.50 and for an extra dollar they give you a bag of munchies to feed the goats. I always make sure to grab a few pumpkins as well. They're reasonably priced and it's so much more fun than picking them up at your local grocery store. A typical medium pumpkin usually ranges anywhere from $5 to about $12. I definitely recommend visiting the pumpkin station and taking your family and children there to experience...