Things to
consider before breeding your rabbit
Written by Meg McRoberts (email address removed to stop her address from being scraped by spam, and because I do not have a recent email address)
The #1 concern of most people who are against breeding is the rabbit
overpopulation problem.
Many people on the list are involved in rabbit rescue efforts
and are unable to take in all the abandoned rabbits who can't
find homes. So any rabbit you breed and find a good home for
has a parallel rabbit who is euthanized because it could not
find a home. The other primary consideration is that many breeders
cull (kill) imperfect show animals. The members of PetBunny believe
that every rabbit is an individual and deserves a chance regardless of
their markings or other "imperfections."
There is really nothing wrong with breeding per say, as long as it
is
done with the best interests of the rabbits at heart
- the breeding/show rabbits are kept as pampered
housepets, not in outdoor hutches or some such
- all babies are raised for maximal socialization and
pet-worthiness from birth
- any female will have a limited number of pregnancies,
spaced far enough apart to minimize the strain
on her physical well-being -- probably no more
than one litter a year but i don't know the
specifics. Babies are left with their mother
until they are at least 8 weeks old.
- rabbits who are not show/breeding quality are only
placed in loving homes, with spay/neuter contracts
to ensure that they are not bred. Homes are
carefully screened to ensure the rabbit's well-
being and the owners are given proper information
about caring for their pet.
- people who adopt rabbits from you are asked to return
them to you if they are unable to keep them at
sometime in the future. In other words, you
commit to keeping the rabbits you breed out of
the animal shelter/rescue cycle
- you actively participate in rescue and education
operations yourself, including rescuing rabbits
whom you did not breed
- all matches are designed to enhance the intelligence
and personality as well as the hardiness of the
line. So a stupid or mean rabbit with impeccable
markings would not be bred. A line that was showing
a lot of heart problems or something would be stopped,
even though the rabbits might be prime show bunnies
until they are 3-4 years old.
In other words, the same standards as apply to reputable breeders
of cats and dogs should apply to reputable rabbit breeders. We
have some breeders on the list who are meeting these standards
and others I have probably omitted, but this is certainly not the
norm among rabbit breeders.
I am sure we have breeders on this list who have different standards,
but in general they avoid postings that involve activities that go
against the pet nature of this group. Except for occasional little
problems, we are a great group of folks who love our rabbits and
have a lot of fun exchanging information and cute stories. If
this interests you, I hope you'll hang around.
