The British Rabbit Council - has anyone any knowledge of this organisation?

I was just browsing the Internet, and came across the British Rabbit Council's website.

I hope I don't offend anyone, but I got a slightly uneasy feeling when looking at the site, and in particular their mission statement:

"To protect, further and co-ordinate the interests of all British rabbit breeders; to assist and extend the exhibition rabbits, to influence, advise and co-operate with central and local authorities, departments, education and other committees and schools in promoting the extension of the breeding of rabbits, and to promote and encourage education and research of a scientific and/or practical nature for the welfare and benefit of the rabbit."

From what I understand, here is an organisation focusing on the breeding and the breeders, and in my opinion putting these and their shows ahead of the welfare of the rabbits involved - quite honestly, the number of shows listed there disturbed me as did the section on the Pet Animals Act and how the selling of rabbits is fine as long as it is not "a business activity" and the purchaser being over 16 years of age.

Someone please tell me I am wrong in being queasy about this lot!

I saw this too and didnt know what to think if its promoting educated, safe and well informed breeding then I dont have as much of an issue with, but if its what I fear it is.... its upsetting....

The BRC are a breeders club, they are never going be a rabbit welfare organisation.

Stator said:

The BRC are a breeders club, they are never going be a rabbit welfare organisation.

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This is how I see them too. It would be nice in an ideal world if they could amalgamate the 2 but sadly in the rabbit world breeding and welfare are 2 polar opposites.

Stator said:

The BRC are a breeders club, they are never going be a rabbit welfare organisation.

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This was my take too - do you know if they are subject to any kind of controls or restrictions or do they just go about their "business" as they want?

I think they probably have a members code of conduct and if someone was found to be ignoring it they could be warned or have their membership revoked. I don't know what's in it though.

The british rabbit council-has anyone any knowledge of this organisation?

The BRC is the original rabbit breeder's club if you want to show or be a registered breeder then this is the one you would join I joined many years ago when i first got rabbits as they edit a magazine which back then was the ONLY one than catered for rabbitsThe mag used to have some really good health articles in it (which is why i joined) vet's in those days didn't have much knowledge of rabbits (hard to believe now i know)so any information on dealing with illness was much needed I remember when i first turned up at my vets with my bunny only to be told to go away as "no one took rabbits to the vet they just let them die and buy another one"
I don't know much about the showing/breeding as i only wanted the magazine but they list breeders and keep a record of the numbers on ringed bunnies (so if your bun is rung you would be able to trace the breeder from this)
It is a very old council for rabbit breeders/showing not rescue although they do try to advogate some of the advice given for rescue

It's no different than the kennel club and no one gets upset about that

Lea-Anne said:

It's no different than the kennel club and no one gets upset about that

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Maybe I am thin-skinned then, but isn't it something inherently wrong about a group of people breeding rabbits for the sole purpose of "creating" the best one that conforms to a set of given standards developed by God knows who, and meeting several times a month to show off their "creations"?

This would not be considered acceptable for humans, so why it should be acceptable for rabbits?

Alleycat said:

Maybe I am thin-skinned then, but isn't it something inherently wrong about a group of people breeding rabbits for the sole purpose of "creating" the best one that conforms to a set of given standards developed by God knows who, and meeting several times a month to show off their "creations"?

This would not be considered acceptable for humans, so why it should be acceptable for rabbits?

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Totally agree, don't get it myself. But there's nothing worse than the dog world and think how many people love Crufts or own pedigree dogs. All I was stating was that the BRC is no different than the Kennel Club or Cat Club (whatever that is). Their all aiming to breed an animal that doesn't exist not just rabbit breeders.

Lea-Anne said:

Totally agree, don't get it myself. But there's nothing worse than the dog world and think how many people love Crufts or own pedigree dogs. All I was stating was that the BRC is no different than the Kennel Club or Cat Club (whatever that is). Their all aiming to breed an animal that doesn't exist not just rabbit breeders.

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Gotcha

Alleycat said:

Maybe I am thin-skinned then, but isn't it something inherently wrong about a group of people breeding rabbits for the sole purpose of "creating" the best one that conforms to a set of given standards developed by God knows who, and meeting several times a month to show off their "creations"?

This would not be considered acceptable for humans, so why it should be acceptable for rabbits?

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But humans do do this, parents put their kids in beauty shows etc, adults want to become models and superstars. Buying images of 'perfect' 'good-looking' humans is a multi billion pound industry.

I don't think there is anything wrong with a club for people who wish to share a love of rabbits. I would rather breeders where motivated to breed healthy 'pedigree' rabbits than irresponsible cross breeding that increases the number of health problems such as malaclussion. With on a couple of exceptions in my mind, rabbits are not breed to have extreme features like some other animals.

The BRC could be a powerful ally in Rabbit Welfare. The thing is it's a members club not a regulatory body. It doesn't vet members and someone being a member doesn't mean they are a good breeder. However, that said, the rabbits are judged on condition, so breeders who show rabbits will need to keep them in good health to have a chance at winning.

The whole being able to sell excess stock I think is generally a good thing. If they make a profit they are a business, its just a bit of money going back in to the existing rabbits PLUS previously (like 30yrs ago) no good babies would likely be culled. I prefer the responsible sell option.

On the whole they give good advice although I think they are copping out a bit with the minimum hutch sizes (they don't really have any, just say the rabbit should be able to fully stretch and make 3 hops).

blue_vix said:

But humans do do this, parents put their kids in beauty shows etc, adults want to become models and superstars. Buying images of 'perfect' 'good-looking' humans is a multi billion pound industry.

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But humans have the choice. Adults have a choice of whether to want to be 'perfect' and a superstar. Adults who put their kids into beauty shows etc are doing it for the adults' benefit, not the childs, in my opinion, although when those children are old enough to speak, they too are able to articulate a choice and say that they don't want to do it. Rabbits (and young children) don't have that choice, it is imposed upon them, and I don't see how 'the exhibition of rabbits' is in the best interests of the animal.

I also don't think that many pedigree breeds are in the best interests of the animal. Lops are at greater risk of malloclusion, ear infections, and are unable to hear normally hence can't display their normal behaviour; dwarf bunnies also have increased malloclusion/snuffles risks, long haired breeds have the additional stress of grooming and tangling, belgian hares seem very fragile bone structured etc etc. None of those things are in the best interests of the animal, however 'well' bred.

Some of the 'advice' on the BRC site is horrifying in my opinion - clean 'dirty corners' of a hutch twice a week to prevent flystrike. If your rabbit gets flystrike, get your tweezers out and pull the maggots out having dipped your bunny into savlon solution. Really???

What I'm trying to get at (and please correct me if I am wrong) is that from the number of shows and the number of members this BRC has, there must be a whole host of bunnies being "unnecessarily" born in these people's pursuit of the "perfect" bun - it is not right for dogs or cats either, but I'm a rabbit person, so focus on them.

This leads to in my opinion, an excessive number of buns being born, and I really didn't get the impression these people as a group (there are always exceptions) are that concerned about rabbit welfare.

It would be really interesting to see the full statistics for this group as a whole on rabbit births, sales, deaths, living conditions etc.

the british rabbit council - has anyone any knowledge of theis organisation?

This is the problem with BRCthey are an old established "club" who have outdated methods of rabbit keepingI once had a long conversation with a breeder who had 500 dutch rabbits in a 22 X 12 shed:? when i asked him where he kept his runs for free ranging he didn't:shock:the buns were imprisoned 24/7 in small breeder hutches:shock: this practice is still carried out as some of the members are older now and see no point in changing how they keep their bunnies:evil:
My daughter used to be friends with a family who bred dutch and when a littler was born they would inspect them :roll:any babies who did not have perfect markings were culled by having their little necks broken:shock::evil: such pratices no longer belong and BRC should be trying to stamp this out

rabshan said:

My daughter used to be friends with a family who bred dutch and when a littler was born they would inspect them :roll:any babies who did not have perfect markings were culled by having their little necks broken:shock::evil: such pratices no longer belong and BRC should be trying to stamp this out

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Or maybe somebody should stamp the whole "club" out :evil:

the british rabbit council - has anyone any knowledge of theis organisation

Well that was how i got into rescuethere is a breeder that lives near me who culls her unwanted/past their sell by date "stock" when i found out what she was doing i offered to take all the ones she no longer wantedin the end i had to stop as i had too many myself but it is so hard to say no when you know that you are signing a poor innocent bunnies death warrant
How it can be allowed to cull is beyond me but apparently it is not against the law to do so:evil: that is what gives breeders a bad name:evil:if you bring a life into the world then you are responsible for that lifeyou should not snuff it out if it can no longer earn you money:evil:
I havn't contacted this breedre for years so i have to suppose that she is still culling

I think all these concerns are good reasons to work with the BRC. The breeding of rabbits isn't going to stop, at least nowhere in the near future, but really popular clubs like this could be great ways to get the message out about RESPONSIBLE breeding and good animal welfare. A lot of the advice on the BRC website is aimed at people who keep a large amount of rabbits and are competent in a number of medical procedures. I know of breeders for example who bulk buy and do their own vaccinations. Just because a general pet owner would go to a vet doesn't mean that is the only way to do things. Many farmers do the same things with pigs, cattle, and sheep etc. That said I do think they have improvements to make.

Breeding does not equal bad, but the more people get on their high horse and equate the two immediately, the more breeders will become alienated from the welfare movement. It's a counter-productive exercise. You can't expect organisations like that to enter in to welfare issues when they just get completely slated based on assumptions and a few cases of hear say. I'm pretty sure what the BRC do not wish to do is promote animal cruelty. They do not REGULATE and are not responsible for bad breeders.

Give that rabbits breeds have been around for hundreds and in some cases thousands of years I don't see the logic in saying you don't believe in breeds? Does that mean we should let them all die out and just have wildies? not forgetting wildies from different countries have different features depending on their environment. Responsible breeders would be trying to avoid and breed out congenital defects.

Showing animals is just a question of your own beliefs really. Having grown up with horses I have always been part of a world where keeping animals is a hobby, and you go to shows to gain recognition for the hard work and dedication you put in to your animals. An animal probably wouldn't choose to be shown, but then they probably wouldn't choose to be pets either. Nor would they choose to live in a world with all the problems we humans as a species bring to the planet. In order for the rabbits to be calm enough to be handled by the judges they have to be very used to being handled and so wouldn't get as stressed as your average pet rabbit. I personally believe that if you want to do that hobby then you judge your animal based its individual personality and reactions.

I don't think the number of shows causes the number of people who want to show rabbits, more that the shows meet demand. I don't see how you can blame the BRC for catering to it's members. Because the BRC keep records of breed standards they could actually be a very powerful ally in getting some decent legislation for rabbits. For example, they could probably show a minimum length of each breed, that would give you a minimum depth and height for a rabbit hutch (I'm not entirely sure why this hasn't been done already but oh well).

Personally I think we should all be working together to bring in Good Quality Welfare Laws and Regulations for the breeding rabbits (and indeed of any animal), with clear sanctions for those who don't comply.

Santa said:

But humans have the choice. Adults have a choice of whether to want to be 'perfect' and a superstar. Adults who put their kids into beauty shows etc are doing it for the adults' benefit, not the childs, in my opinion, although when those children are old enough to speak, they too are able to articulate a choice and say that they don't want to do it. Rabbits (and young children) don't have that choice, it is imposed upon them, and I don't see how 'the exhibition of rabbits' is in the best interests of the animal.

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It may not be directly in the best interests of the animal, but then keeping any animal as a pet is not in their best interest is it, it's in their owners. That is the way of the world. Everything is subjective. There are a lot of valid arguments that a people who strive to be 'perfect' are not making their own choices, but conditioned by society and are vulnerable. My point was, it does happen, it is generally considered acceptable in our society, and it is an industry based on DEMAND. So to say it wouldn't be acceptable for a human is not correct, although it may be your opinion which is fine. I personally don't like the fashion industry what so ever and actively live my life without supporting it.

The only problem I have with it is that they're usually misinformed and don't realize how much space rabbits need. Other than that, I think it's good to be breeding responsibly. If no one bred responsibly and all rabbits came from rabbit mills (where the majority of rescue rabbits come from, because they almost always come from pet shops or the off spring of pet shop rabbits) then rabbits would be even more unhealthy than they already are. Good breeding should be encouraged and bad breeding discouraged. Saying "all breeding is bad" isn't going to help anything.