Breeding - How would you do it?

[Kavanne]

Some of the dog prices do seem ridiculous! But I'd have no objection to paying say £100 for a neutered/vaccinated rabbit that had grown up in luxury surroundings and had excellent genetics that made it less predisposed to health problems. Maybe £50 if I had to do the vet stuff myself.

Considering the gambol you take with just teeth problems which could be almost wiped out with proper breeding it would save you in the long run!

I would do it the way the lady I got my frenchies from does. With passion, love and care. Her buns are her world and I would be the same

 

[happybunny]

I would not breed either. I actually disagree with animals been kept as pets and long for a world where animals are left in the wild. I understand that the pets we have now are domesticated and I would happily let them die out and leave the wldies to take over our discussions.

 

[AnnieElms]

If there was not a single rabbit in rescue, and domestic rabbits had to be bred, in a perfect, ideal world, I would suggest a system like this:

• Have a small number of licensed and heavily regulated breeders who had to adhere to strict housing and welfare standards, and were visited regularly to check these standards were being stuck to
• Only allow the breeders to sell health-checked, neutered and vaccinated rabbits, and in pairs/groups or to be homed with another
• All rabbits would need to be microchipped with the breeder's details identifiable even when the rabbit was in the new home
• Enforce home checking for obvious reasons but also to force a 'cooling off' period between seeing the rabbits and taking them home
• No rabbits to be sold on premises other than the breeder's
• Strict limits on the number of litters that would be able to be produced, so supply doesn't outweigh demand

Breeders would be obliged to take back any rabbit that needed to be 'given up' by an owner, or which was found to be straying (so already we have a 'rescue' situation arising).

This wouldn't be 100% fool-proof though (and I'm sure I've missed lots of loopholes too). The breeders would need to be very carefully and regularly checked to ensure that everything is being done correctly, and owners would ALL need to be excellent, and I'm not sure that would ever happen successfully. I don't trust people , so the only other option is not to breed any more at all as many others on this thread have already said.