What Rabbits Do You Have? Show Off Your Rabbits Here!

[AmandaVirginia]

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I realize they are for pets. I just think that it may not be a good idea. It's up to you though. I was just giving you a look at the other side of the story.

Why would it not be a good idea?

 

[BantamSlave02]

Why would it not be a good idea?

It may not be a good idea because, although I believe you would treat your rabbits well, I just believe that there are enough mixed breed rabbits in the world. If you were breeding to try and better a breed or create a new one, I would be all for it. However, if you are able to find homes for all of your baby rabbits or are able to keep them then go ahead and breed. I personally try to Better the breeds I raise.

 

[AmandaVirginia]

It may not be a good idea because, although I believe you would treat your rabbits well, I just believe that there are enough mixed breed rabbits in the world. If you were breeding to try and better a breed or create a new one, I would be all for it. However, if you are able to find homes for all of your baby rabbits or are able to keep them then go ahead and breed. I personally try to Better the breeds I raise.

All that is though is a personal opinion, it doesn't mean I agree with you or should do what you do just because you do it. It's not about bettering the breed for me, never has been and never will be, it's about providing a loving home and giving the bunny the best life because each and every single one deserves it.

 

[BantamSlave02]

All that is though is a personal opinion, it doesn't mean I agree with you or should do what you do just because you do it. It's not about bettering the breed for me, never has been and never will be, it's about providing a loving home and giving the bunny the best life because each and every single one deserves it.

I never said i wanted you to do things always in my way. I completely support you, because you want good things for the babies, I was just making sure you weren't in it for the money. I'm done arguing now, because I don't want to get the thread locked.

 

[Bunnylady]

We are responsible for the lives we bring into this world, so it behooves us to breed responsibly. There will always be more pets than there are homes for them. If you can provide a home for every baby you breed, well, have fun with that, but if all you are doing is making more and expecting someone else to take care of the "more" for you, then you must face the reality that some will be eaten, some will be neglected, abandoned, or by other means wind up living short, miserable lives because someone else didn't value their lives as much as you say you do, and you are indirectly responsible for that fate. I think it is actually a blessing that rabbits seldom live more than a few years, because most people's lives take them "somewhere else" sooner or later, and that "somewhere" can often be a place where an animal that was once a pleasure becomes a liability. However sad we may be when a beloved pet dies, at least we aren't stuck with having to sell or give it away, and wondering what sort of nastiness may come into its life, now that we are no longer there to take care of it.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I have been in rabbits for 10+ years, through ownership, rescue, a pet store and now breeding meaties. The vast majority of rabbits that are pets that I have seen live sad, short, neglected lives in too-small cages with nothing to do, improper diets and no vet care. Rabbits are sociable creatures with specific needs, and they are intelligent and can live up to a decade. Frankly, most people have no idea what they are doing with them. They buy them for children who get bored after a few years and just stop caring. At the pet store and in rescue I'd say most of the rabbits I saw lived a few years and then either died from poor ownership or were abandoned. My breeder rabbits live longer than that... The ones that end up in rescues rarely, if ever, see the outside of the small animals room at the shelter they wind up living in for the rest of their lives. Whether they end up in a home or a shelter for their whole lives, most rabbits will never leave their boring, bare, cages again. It's a sad life and rabbits aren't valuable or valued enough to screen homes as thoroughly as people do for say, dogs. My guess is that probably one out of every ten rabbits that's a pet gets a genuinely decent life.

Personally, I can't tolerate the concept of animals I produce ending up in shelters. I breed purebred meat rabbits. I rarely sell as pets (perhaps 1-3 times a year) and when I do I screen carefully, make sure that I'm selling them to the adult and that the adult wants rabbits (and not just their kids), make sure they know what good rabbit care looks like and emphasize very firmly that should they be unable to care for the rabbits that they need to come back to ME, not to a shelter. I've considered putting in a contract like some dog breeders do, even. I can't imagine doing that for every rabbit in every litter I had for the rest of their breeding lives. It would take forever and is not worth it and even if I did that I would still be sending most of the rabbits to terrible fates. 98% of the time I sell a rabbit it's to a homsteader who I know will give the rabbit a swift, humane end if they can no longer care for it... Not leave it rot in a cage, depressed, for the rest of it's life.

While it's your choice, understand that many people in the rabbit community won't support that choice. We've all seen too many neglected rabbits to`be excited about another person producing mutt "pet" rabbits that get dumped into shelters or die from neglect.

 

[AmandaVirginia]

Someone else might not value their life as much as I 'say' I do? I'm not just 'saying' anything and I would appreciate you not make that assumption.

I, too, would emphasize to the family buying the bunny if ever a situation were to arise where they could no longer properly take care of the bunny that I would want he or she back.

My animals are my life. I don't raise them to collect eggs and I don't raise them for meat production. I have them to love them. And, I would only home babies with families that felt the same as myself. There are people out there like that because I'm one of them.

I don't tell you I don't support your choice to raise rabbits just to kill them and eat their meat, so I expect the same respect when it comes to my having them as loving pets.

 

[BantamSlave02]

Someone else might not value their life as much as I 'say' I do? I'm not just 'saying' anything and I would appreciate you not make that assumption.

I, too, would emphasize to the family buying the bunny if ever a situation were to arise where they could no longer properly take care of the bunny that I would want he or she back.

My animals are my life. I don't raise them to collect eggs and I don't raise them for meat production. I have them to love them. And, I would only home babies with families that felt the same as myself. There are people out there like that because I'm one of them.

I don't tell you I don't support your choice to raise rabbits just to kill them and eat their meat, so I expect the same respect when it comes to my having them as loving pets.

I do the same thing.

 

[AmandaVirginia]

I do the same thing.

What do you do?

 

[BantamSlave02]

What do you do?

Make sure they go to a GOOD home.