What You Should Know About Show Breeders
Things have been a bit rowdy in the rabbit world lately. I was just thinking about all of the silly drama that has been going on in various Angora groups lately, and I realized that these things go in cycles.. so I'm going to bring some points up, and dedicate this page to our newer breeders.
Angoras are cute, and fluffy, and sweet, and generally have the PERFECT personalities. This makes them easy to fall in love with. They are the ultimate multi-purpose animal: easy to house, require far less space than sheep or goats, provide you with luxurious fiber, and yes, even make meat! The one thing they're not typically good as? Pets. Look, I know they have amazing personalities and temperaments. We all know this.. but that doesn't mean they deserve to suffer. And suffering is what they generally do in a pet-only home. So unless you're a spinner, or you just particularly enjoy spending lots of time grooming fruitlessly, they're probably not what you should be getting as a pet. Okay? Let's move on..
Reputable Angora breeders have a reputation for being "cliquey." And to some extent, you will find that in every breed.. but we kinda take it to a whole new level. "They" even gave us a name: the Angora Mafia. This term was even catching beyond the realm of Angora breeders- people from other breeds were referring to the best Angora show breeders as "the Angora Mafia." There are lots of reasons why, too.. jealousy and a lack of understanding were the biggest ones though.
Too often, we hear "Those evil show breeders are mean!" "Stay away from the show breeders, they don't think anyone has the right to breed if they're not breeding their 'superior level rabbits.'" "They think if you're rabbits aren't competitive, you're a lousy person for breeding them! Don't even talk to them! Don't let them know you exist!" And here's a little secret: they're right! But it's taken out of context the way it's said by most.
So here's how it REALLY is:
1) Yes, we're mean. We've spent hundreds and hundreds and maybe even thousands of hours educating people about Angora rabbits, and husbandry, for free. To help the breed we love. So when you come along as person number 124 to argue with us about the same thing 123 other people have argued with us about, we're going to cut straight to the point, we're going to be blunt, and we're not likely to sugar coat. We likely sugar coated that topic with the last 123 people, and by the time we rolled around to you, we ran out of craps to give. We don't mean anything by it, and certainly nothing against you! We're just exhausted.
2)Yes, you're darn straight we don't think anyone has the right to breed inferior rabbits! Look, we all know there are plenty of pet-quality rabbits out there. In some areas, there are lots of rabbits sitting in shelters. Why on earth do we need to make more of them? If everyone who bred any sort of potential pet animal (rabbits, dogs, cats, etc) only bred the highest quality animals.. we would never have a pet overpopulation issue, those who are working to improve the breed would have to terminally cull less, because good homes would be easier to find, and the frequency of health problems in the entire species would be much lower than it is right now! So how about you do your part and not breed just to make more animals, and we'll do our part to improve the breed and continue producing healthy, quality, animals.
3) Yes, we do think people who KNOWINGLY breed lousy rabbits are lousy people. This doesn't apply to the new breeder who doesn't know better, or to the pet owner who bought a doe not knowing they were pregnant, etc etc etc. But it does apply to those who know their rabbits barely meet the standard, if they even come close, but continue to breed them for the sole purpose of producing rabbits to sell. And if you are a newer breeder and you do discover that you've been breeding inferior rabbits, hope is not lost! You are not doomed to life as an outcast. If you really want to improve your herd, and the breed, and you're willing to put forth the time and effort, then it is highly likely that we will help you start over! You may need to rehome or spay/neuter your current rabbits for someone to trust you, but hope is not lost.
It's a note worthy to mention that "winning" and having "grand champions" mean very little about quality! There are many areas of the country that I could take a cull to and be highly likely to win breed with. Those legs don't mean that the rabbits are suddenly high-quality, it just means that the competition was even worse. And then there are areas that are highly competitive, and in these areas, I'd be likely to breed a rabbit who comes in last.. Half of winning with Angoras is coat timing, so it's highly possible that a high quality rabbit will place last today, but get BIS 2 months down the road. So just because you see somebody place last with a rabbit today doesn't necessarily mean they've got crap, either.
It's also worth a mention here that while you're building your herd, you may not grand champion rabbits for a couple of generations. And that's expected. You're building a herd with mostly "second bests." You're learning how they pair and how they produce. You might not get lucky your first litter. Don't give up. You'll make it there one day.
So how on earth could any reasonable person think that show breeders are mean, knowing the reasons they make the decisions they do? Well, here's what happens: We kindly explain, kindly explain, kindly explain things to new breeders.. then pet owners who really aren't interested in learning start jumping in with no education, and start screaming really strong opinions. Experienced people try to educate the people insulting them, only to be told how rude they are while the uneducated sit there with their fingers in their ears screaming "lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalaaa, YOU'RE A MEANIE HEAD, lalalalalallaalalalalalalalaalalalalaalalalalalaaa!!" Breeders get frustrated. Then a new, uneducated but willing-to-learn breeder pops in with a question. Experienced breeders, being frustrated by the massive numbers of overgrown children they've been dealing with lately, answer with short, straight-to-the-point, sugar-free answers. Newbie breeders think the experienced breeders are being mean to them because their answers are borderline rude and almost snappy. Newbie breeder gets upset. Now everyone is upset. Many experienced breeders have left all groups because of this continuous, awful, cycle.
So if you're new, and find our sugar-free comments scary and off-putting, please try and see the world through our eyes for a while and understand that we most likely have NOTHING against you at all! We're just tired.
Angoras are cute, and fluffy, and sweet, and generally have the PERFECT personalities. This makes them easy to fall in love with. They are the ultimate multi-purpose animal: easy to house, require far less space than sheep or goats, provide you with luxurious fiber, and yes, even make meat! The one thing they're not typically good as? Pets. Look, I know they have amazing personalities and temperaments. We all know this.. but that doesn't mean they deserve to suffer. And suffering is what they generally do in a pet-only home. So unless you're a spinner, or you just particularly enjoy spending lots of time grooming fruitlessly, they're probably not what you should be getting as a pet. Okay? Let's move on..
Reputable Angora breeders have a reputation for being "cliquey." And to some extent, you will find that in every breed.. but we kinda take it to a whole new level. "They" even gave us a name: the Angora Mafia. This term was even catching beyond the realm of Angora breeders- people from other breeds were referring to the best Angora show breeders as "the Angora Mafia." There are lots of reasons why, too.. jealousy and a lack of understanding were the biggest ones though.
Too often, we hear "Those evil show breeders are mean!" "Stay away from the show breeders, they don't think anyone has the right to breed if they're not breeding their 'superior level rabbits.'" "They think if you're rabbits aren't competitive, you're a lousy person for breeding them! Don't even talk to them! Don't let them know you exist!" And here's a little secret: they're right! But it's taken out of context the way it's said by most.
So here's how it REALLY is:
1) Yes, we're mean. We've spent hundreds and hundreds and maybe even thousands of hours educating people about Angora rabbits, and husbandry, for free. To help the breed we love. So when you come along as person number 124 to argue with us about the same thing 123 other people have argued with us about, we're going to cut straight to the point, we're going to be blunt, and we're not likely to sugar coat. We likely sugar coated that topic with the last 123 people, and by the time we rolled around to you, we ran out of craps to give. We don't mean anything by it, and certainly nothing against you! We're just exhausted.
2)Yes, you're darn straight we don't think anyone has the right to breed inferior rabbits! Look, we all know there are plenty of pet-quality rabbits out there. In some areas, there are lots of rabbits sitting in shelters. Why on earth do we need to make more of them? If everyone who bred any sort of potential pet animal (rabbits, dogs, cats, etc) only bred the highest quality animals.. we would never have a pet overpopulation issue, those who are working to improve the breed would have to terminally cull less, because good homes would be easier to find, and the frequency of health problems in the entire species would be much lower than it is right now! So how about you do your part and not breed just to make more animals, and we'll do our part to improve the breed and continue producing healthy, quality, animals.
3) Yes, we do think people who KNOWINGLY breed lousy rabbits are lousy people. This doesn't apply to the new breeder who doesn't know better, or to the pet owner who bought a doe not knowing they were pregnant, etc etc etc. But it does apply to those who know their rabbits barely meet the standard, if they even come close, but continue to breed them for the sole purpose of producing rabbits to sell. And if you are a newer breeder and you do discover that you've been breeding inferior rabbits, hope is not lost! You are not doomed to life as an outcast. If you really want to improve your herd, and the breed, and you're willing to put forth the time and effort, then it is highly likely that we will help you start over! You may need to rehome or spay/neuter your current rabbits for someone to trust you, but hope is not lost.
It's a note worthy to mention that "winning" and having "grand champions" mean very little about quality! There are many areas of the country that I could take a cull to and be highly likely to win breed with. Those legs don't mean that the rabbits are suddenly high-quality, it just means that the competition was even worse. And then there are areas that are highly competitive, and in these areas, I'd be likely to breed a rabbit who comes in last.. Half of winning with Angoras is coat timing, so it's highly possible that a high quality rabbit will place last today, but get BIS 2 months down the road. So just because you see somebody place last with a rabbit today doesn't necessarily mean they've got crap, either.
It's also worth a mention here that while you're building your herd, you may not grand champion rabbits for a couple of generations. And that's expected. You're building a herd with mostly "second bests." You're learning how they pair and how they produce. You might not get lucky your first litter. Don't give up. You'll make it there one day.
So how on earth could any reasonable person think that show breeders are mean, knowing the reasons they make the decisions they do? Well, here's what happens: We kindly explain, kindly explain, kindly explain things to new breeders.. then pet owners who really aren't interested in learning start jumping in with no education, and start screaming really strong opinions. Experienced people try to educate the people insulting them, only to be told how rude they are while the uneducated sit there with their fingers in their ears screaming "lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalaaa, YOU'RE A MEANIE HEAD, lalalalalallaalalalalalalalaalalalalaalalalalalaaa!!" Breeders get frustrated. Then a new, uneducated but willing-to-learn breeder pops in with a question. Experienced breeders, being frustrated by the massive numbers of overgrown children they've been dealing with lately, answer with short, straight-to-the-point, sugar-free answers. Newbie breeders think the experienced breeders are being mean to them because their answers are borderline rude and almost snappy. Newbie breeder gets upset. Now everyone is upset. Many experienced breeders have left all groups because of this continuous, awful, cycle.
So if you're new, and find our sugar-free comments scary and off-putting, please try and see the world through our eyes for a while and understand that we most likely have NOTHING against you at all! We're just tired.