Deanna Brooks has come a long way in transforming herself from farm girl to femme fatale. Perhaps it’s her humble, down-home charm– offset by her feisty tenacity– that makes her so likeable.

She giggles when asked if it was a courageous act to stand up in Dayton, Ohio, and tell her friends and family that she would pose for Playboy.

“Well, why not?” she told them.

But Brooks doesn’t want to talk nudity. She wants to talk bunnies: not centerfolds, but cute and cuddly rabbits. She has been an animal lover since living on an Idaho ranch as a child.

“We had goats, dogs, and kittens,” she says with nostalgic excitement. Her most beloved pet was Dieter the bunny. She compares him to a dog, describing how he loved to bounce around backyards and snuggle.

Brooks so loved Dieter that she brought him with her to the West Coast– unfortunately, though, a rabbit was against the rules at her L.A. apartment. Things looked grim.

But cue Hugh– Hefner adopted the bunny for the zoo at his mansion. Deiter had a new lease on life.

“I’m very happy that he’s part of Hef’s zoo,” says Brooks.

She visits Monterey to promote the Playboy-sponsored Mazda MX-5 sports car race this weekend. She and three other Playmates will lend their celebrity to a rabbit-adoption event at the Monterey County SPCA.

“Charity goes along with being a public figure,” Brooks says. “I absolutely want to give good back to world.”

Deanna Brooks will appear 1:30-2:30pm on Saturday, Oct. 18, at the SPCA of Monterey County, 1002 Highway 68, Monterey. Free. 373-2631.