Willow the Wallaby is happy hopping about her Animal City home.

The wallaby stays in this little cage downstairs in the basement,” and “seeing the wallaby is kinda sad,” comment various locals when asked about the supposed “wallaby” in Murfreesboro. Some have even mentioned they have started a “save the wallaby” fund. With information like this, The Pulse had to check it out.

Upon arriving at Animal City on Broad Street, anticipation builds to see the wallaby. Owner Evelyn Kiviniemi greets us warmly as we follow her through the store and down a staircase. Upon entering the downstairs, the large size of the room took me pleasantly by surprise. Willow the Wallaby sat animatedly in her cage. She seemed happy when given a piece of apple.

As she hopped around the caged area (which was pretty large), I noticed her long nails clicking on the floor.

Willow came from a wallaby breeding farm in Illinois (ironically the state of my own birth) with a record of having no wild family members in the past ten years. At about three years old (a wallaby’s life span is 18-20 years), Willow hops around the entire downstairs of Animal City for about an hour every morning and whenever it’s not busy, and she can run up to 25 mph.

Though the demand is not very high for a wallaby in Murfreesboro, and though the search for good parents is extensive, Mrs. Kiviniemi seems confident they will find her a home. She seemed in no hurry to sell her because as she explained, “Willow is very catlike in behavior and attitude.” Willow is the fifth wallaby Animal City has received, and wallabies in general are far less expensive than most animals over a span of time, eating only 100?125 pounds of food a year, needing no vaccinations and having few illnesses. There is special wallaby food like hay and different fruits and veggies, and they can be potty trained. Their only possible downfall is injury.

Kiviniemi explains if wallabies do not chew enough, for example, their jaws will soften and become more susceptible to infection. Most of the time, she laughs, Willow is “like a child when it comes to eating.”

So why doesn’t everyone own a wallaby? Even though there has been interest in purchasing the wallaby within the past eight months she has been here, the correct setup and documents must be obtained before release. The wallaby owner must have a USDA license to sell and breed Bennett’s Wallaby Type, and a nine-foot fence must be put up around the property, not for the worry of hopping over but rather the idea that they could get hurt by other animals because wallabies are too domesticated. An Exotic Pet License is not necessary, however, and they can live outdoors or indoors.

The main thing is that the owner of the wallaby understands the maintenance of such a creature. For example, Willow must be sedated in order to cut her long nails.

She also costs $3,000. Though some people say the wallaby should be in the wild, Kiviniemi takes pride in the fact that Willow is happy and almost spoiled.

“If she was in the wild, she would probably lose to running from danger,” says Kiviniemi.

Another strange thing, she explains, is that “wallabies can be bad parents because they have been known to sling the joey behind them in an attempt to distract a chasing predator.”

For more information on Animal City, call (615) 890-0700 or visit the store at 919 N.W. Broad St. next to the bowling alley.