Andover Mini Horse Stewie Vuitton Runner-Up To Become Cadbury Bunny

ANDOVER, MA — In the end, Andover-based miniature horse Stewie Vuitton came up just short in his quest to become the next Cadbury bunny.

Earlier this month, the chocolate company revealed that Vuitton — a 4-year-old therapy horse who stands 23 inches tall and suffers from dwarfism — was one of 10 animal finalists to become the chocolate maker's pitchbunny for 2023.

Only one of the finalists actually was a bunny. The list also included a dog, sheep, cat, duck, guinea pig and chinchilla, all pictured on the Cadbury website wearing bunny ears.

The one thing that this year's finalists did have in common was that all were rescue pets, which was the theme of the fifth-annual contest.

Public voting was open from March 6-14. In the end, the winner was Crash, a cat from Boise, Idaho. Crash will get to star in this year's Cadbury clucking bunny commercial and will earn $5,000 and an additional $5,000 donation to an animal rescue organization of its owner's choice.

According to the Cadbury website, Crash broke his leg, jaw and lost an eye after a car hit him. But he was rescued and now performs tricks like high five, sit pretty and more.

Stewie Vuitton, meanwhile, was rescued from an Ohio auction and works as a therapy horse through an Andover-based company called Lifting Spirits Miniature Therapy Horses.

According to Stewie's bio on the Cadbury site, the horse "visits hospitals, veterans, schools and people of all ages and disabilities bringing joy, hope and wellbeing."

On the Lifting Spirits Facebook page, Toni Hadad, the company founder and president, congratulated Crash and said Stewie had finished second in the contest.

"Congratulations to Crash the cat that won the Cadbury Bunny 2023 Contest! And to all the other finalists! It was an amazing journey and we are so honored to have made it to second place," Hadad wrote.

Last week, Hadad wrote: "Well, this has been quite the adventure! We wanted to thank so many people from across the country that followed Stewie Vuitton's journey! The outpouring of support, messages and love was unbelievable!

"We were so shocked, amazed and grateful that we made it to second place out of the thousands of amazing rescues from all over. It was nice to have so many rescue organizations recognized for the work they do, as well as individuals. Congratulations to the other finalists that made it to the top 10. Your rescue pet stories were inspiring and incredible to so many people."