Is it justified?

I would love to hear everybody's opinion/view on this!

Is it justified to breed Rare and Endangered varieties of Rabbit’s, when there is 30,000 plus Rabbit’s in Rescue?

I'm in the not sure category of this I think it would be sad to see the rare breed's go and we should do everything in our power to save them. But on the other hand I'm not sure you can justify breeding them when there is so many Rabbit's in rescue's lookng for home's.

Louise

There are always going to be rabbits breed so I think breeding rare varieties is as justified as breeding any other. The rare varieties very rarely if ever end up in rescues, because they are rare I imagine a very careful record of where they go to is kept and of course they aren't going to end up sold through petshops. This means they are very unlikely to contribute to the numbers of rabits in rescue and the homes are likely to be with breeders specialising in them so they aren't taking a home away from rescue bunnies.

As we have seen in other posts many breeders are very responsible in finding homes and its those that mass produce for the pet trade which are causing some of the main issues. These aren't the sort of breeders that have any interest in rare varieties.

Bare in mind we are also talking about a very small number of rabbits (I imagine a few hundred at most?). I think this will have virtually none/no impact on rescues.

Tamsin

Hi there,

I agree with Tamsin. The rare variety breeds of rabbit rarely have the 'cute & fluffy kids bunny' appeal that the pet trade desires, so probably wouldn't get very far in that respect!. :wink:

I believe there is a place in our planet for preservation of rare/nearly extinct creatures whatever the species.

Tri-colour Dutch do occasionally turn up in rescue... though not many, and as I've seen them for sale in branches of P@H, I would guess some of the "commercial" breeders have got hold of them, because they are so pretty!

I even saw a Blue Tri-colour Dutch LIONHEAD for sale in Portsmouth P@H earlier this year!!!

I don't think people breed the rare ones just because they are rare; it's more common for them to breed them because they like them, rare or not! It wouldn't bother me if Tri-Dutch were as popular as Lops... I have them because I like the pattern and their personality.

And quite a lot of breeders look down a little bit at the Rare Varieties, sometimes calling them "cross-breeds". That's why the Tri-Dutch aren't
recognised alongside "normal" Dutch (and probably never will be, although they are in Holland).... the die-hard Dutch breeders here consider them unworthy!

I should also point out that just because a breed is "rare" it's not worth more either! In fact it can sometimes be harder to home them, as there is less demand; people tend to go for something they've heard of or seen before.

Several of our breeds which we accept as commonplace nowadays were catered for by the RV Club once upon a time, before they became popular enough to have their own specialist clubs.

No!!!!!!!!!

Could you elaborate a bit more please?

this topic will always be a heated one. I stared my rabbit love affair doing work experiance in a country park where they breed rabbits to sell to the public to help cover the cost of feed for all the other other animals.
I then got interested in rabbit showing and became a member of the BRC. There are very good breeders and bad breeders, these tend to be people who think they can make money by breeding a few rabbits. When i got myu first pedigree french lop i was vetted by the breeder. He wanted to know if i had rabbits before, if i know anything about french lops etc He also said he would have the rabbit back if i changed my mind. At this time i have got interested in house rabbits and through them i got interested in the rescue side of rabbits.
Most rabbits that end up in rescue centres are not pedigree rabbits, you dont see many black and tans or belgium hares for example. I think everbody concerned with rabbits shouyld all work together to educate the public about rabbit welfare. I think pet shops shouyld not be allowed to sell animals of anyu description, but i do recongnise that they have a role to play as most people get their pet food from there, it would be great if you could educate people from the grass roots level.
I'Ve been to a few shows such as the Town and Counrty with myu frenchies as part as the RWA, and i was shocked that a lot of the public still didnt know about vaccinations, insurance, the right size hutch, or even the basics about feeding or health care.
anne

I think there is a place for rare varietys to be continued it would be sad say if the english lop were to go, they are almost a part of history as you may know they are were all the lop breeds started. Ive never had one turn up for rescue there are so few people breeding them. They do not go as pets they are totaly unsuitable as pets and any one who breed them wouldent want them going as pets they would only go to other breeders. val

Don't some breeds get bread further even though that breed have a tendency towards certain health problems? Like when you get whats considered the best of certain dog breeds they often have health problem associated with it, bad backs, folds of skin effects breathing etc etc.

Anything that keeps a varied gene pool is a good thing. You never know what will happen in the future.

I think the difference between dogs and rabbits that in the case of dogs the attributes that can cause problems are often part of the breed standard (e.g. short nose causing breathing problems) and with rabbits although the problems (e.g. teeth) may be associated with a particular breed they would actually be considered a fault so breeders deliberatly breed from animals with out the problems with the aim of producing future animals that are problem free.

Tamsin
Ps Prize for the longest sentence?