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

[Lynzi777]

What are the chances of someone bringing a sick rabbit to any show? I mean really now...

And yeah, I'm sure it's an ARBA judge. The shows are listed on the ARBA website. And it's against fair rules to bring your rabbit in for just the show for every fair I've looked at.

And again, not really fair to those of us without easy access to ARBA shows. Most of the shows in the area aren't held ANYWHERE near where I live. This one and the neighboring county fair are the closest.

The only non-ARBA judging was for the 4H club... And all their rabbits looked GREAT except for one under-weight rescue bunny that they were nursing back to health.

Ummmm about as highly as someone bringing a sick bird to an animal auction! Not all people are normal out there and have a care for others. Put it this way, I used to attend rabbit shows about 10 years ago. Every show I went to, we all warned everyone to stay away from this woman who ALWAYS showed up at these shows. This woman was literally a rabbit hoarder! She had to had over 100 rabbits. People had been to her property and were totally shocked as to how gross it was. The smell was awful! Did her rabbits LOOK sick? Maybe not, but those are the people who come in their animals are in perfect health and fight you tooth and nail if you tell them otherwise.

 

[imtrying]

Here is a pic of a blue - - 12 days old. They started hopping around today (all wobbly.....cute!). They chase mom. Or try to.




not the best, but it was 10 at night with a cell phone.

 

[CicisBunnyBarn]

What are the chances of someone bringing a sick rabbit to any show? I mean really now...

And yeah, I'm sure it's an ARBA judge. The shows are listed on the ARBA website. And it's against fair rules to bring your rabbit in for just the show for every fair I've looked at.

And again, not really fair to those of us without easy access to ARBA shows. Most of the shows in the area aren't held ANYWHERE near where I live. This one and the neighboring county fair are the closest.

The only non-ARBA judging was for the 4H club... And all their rabbits looked GREAT except for one under-weight rescue bunny that they were nursing back to health.

Well are president is so terrible that even she brought sick rabbits to the shows!

 

[CicisBunnyBarn]

My champion holland lop buck who placed at convention got a HUGE abcess on his chin thankfully my cousin a vet knew what to do! That would have been one death I couldn't handle. We have Netherlands and Hollands due next weekend.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

So basically... What you're saying is there's sick rabbits at every show and that there's a good chance of your bunny getting sick if you take it to ANY show, state fair or not. Which is exactly the point I was trying to make. No matter if you go to a state fair or a ARBA fair, you're going to have to quarantine your rabbit for up to a month when they get home and make sure they're healthy, possibly even treat an illness before re introducing them to the rest of the herd.

I mean, state fairs are the shows that are the most in the public eye. We should be doing our best to make state fairs GREAT, to show off "Hey! This is what rabbit breeding is about! These are great quality animals, and these impressive beasts are what you're here to see! And boy am I proud to responsibly breed bunnies!" State fairs are an extraordinary educational source for many people who have never even handled rabbits before let alone seen so many breeds. I feel like more people should take them seriously is all. But hey, just my opinion in any case.

 

[CicisBunnyBarn]

At my fairs there are never bad quality rabbits but at ARBA shows it can be bad at times we got new staff for our club and they are amazing! So now they're i forcing the no sick rabbits rule.

 

[Lynzi777]

So basically... What you're saying is there's sick rabbits at every show and that there's a good chance of your bunny getting sick if you take it to ANY show, state fair or not. Which is exactly the point I was trying to make. No matter if you go to a state fair or a ARBA fair, you're going to have to quarantine your rabbit for up to a month when they get home and make sure they're healthy, possibly even treat an illness before re introducing them to the rest of the herd.

I mean, state fairs are the shows that are the most in the public eye. We should be doing our best to make state fairs GREAT, to show off "Hey! This is what rabbit breeding is about! These are great quality animals, and these impressive beasts are what you're here to see! And boy am I proud to responsibly breed bunnies!" State fairs are an extraordinary educational source for many people who have never even handled rabbits before let alone seen so many breeds. I feel like more people should take them seriously is all. But hey, just my opinion in any case.

I agree with you completely, but unfortunately that's not the case these days. I also think that every animal entering a show should have some sort of health cert stating they have been seen by a vet in the last 48hrs at least and are determined to be healthy. But will that ever happen? Probably not. Also, how many people would continue to show if they had to go thru the trouble of doing all that before entering one?

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Lynzi, that'd be VERY expensive. I think a more prudent rule is that each rabbit be looked over by a knowledgeable rabbit person (maybe a judge?) before being allowed to enter for obvious signs of illness. Things like the eye infections I saw at the fair, or the sore on the feet of the Cali's BOB, rabbits that are obviously badly underweight or really dirty and clearly poorly kept.

You'll run into some complaints even with things like that... I have a Rex that sneezes a lot. No other symptoms. She just sneezes. None of my other rabbits have it, I quarantined her for 6 weeks before introducing her with no other symptoms, and I think it's allergies since it's been 6 months now. I could show her at a fair but with a health check they might freak out over snuffles and not let her in. Which is reasonable but a shame because she's a good looking rabbit! I personally would just not show her or ask for an exception due to circumstance but I can see some people being upset if they're in similar situations.

However I think it's a rule that would be better when implemented than a vet check. That ****'s expensive and if you want to enter 3-4 different rabbits you're looking at a vet check for each? The only rabbit vet around here would charge me $30 per rabbit to look them over. I better be winning BOB in every category I enter at a fair with that kind of money going in! But a quick visual health check would be much better than nothing or too much.

I think I will try to speak to the director of the rabbit show at the fair and propose the concept of it and my concerns over people only getting to see low quality rabbits. If someone looking into breeding NZW rabbits (for meat or show) took the only NZW rabbit there to be thought of as a good show of breed standard they'd be looking to buy rabbits with very low shoulders and a sway back. I don't want that to be the face rabbit breeders show to the public.

 

[Lynzi777]

Oh I know how expensive it can be, thats why I figure it will never be implemented nor would people dish out the money for it. But like you said, it would be nice to have someone standing at the door upon entry who is knowledgeable enough to pick up on the visible signs of illness.

 

[CicisBunnyBarn]

All of our rabbits get looked over at the fairs when u sign up.