Rabbit ear tagging, what is this?

[MopsyLops]

I was on this site and saw this advert. It mentions ear tagging Rabbits. It is written in Danish so I will put the translation below:

"When he moves away from home, he receives a progeny certificate, ear tagging and feed for the first few days. If you are completely fresh on rabbit contents, you also get a nice little rabbit booklet with, with care instructions, green list, and various other information about rabbit contents. see more at www.cheersforears.dk or facebook.dk/cheersforearsDK"

Link: Kanin, dværgvædder / teddy, Smukke Jolly søger nyt hjem d...

What is ear tagging? When I lived in Switzerland long ago I know my Dog was made to get a chip under the skin which contained all of my Dogs medical history and such...but this doesn't seem to be that. I tried Googling "Rabbit ear tags" and the information is limited. Any idea what this might be? And is it justifiable and moral?

 

[Preitler]

Show breeders tattoo the ears for identification, and to mark from which rabbitry they come from. A search for "ear tattoo rabbit" should give you some results.

Microchipping is also done sometimes, but that's the owners decision to get it done or not.

 

[SableSteel]

It's just a way of ID. In the US they use ear tattoos, in UK they use leg rings, in some places they use ear tags. Ear tags are used in wild rabbit reintroduction programs in the US as well.

 

[Shmibunny]

I was on this site and saw this advert. It mentions ear tagging Rabbits. It is written in Danish so I will put the translation below: ...
What is ear tagging?

I think it means tattooing the ears. In Finland, registered breeders tattoo their bunnies' ears: the right ear gets a tattoo that identifies the breeder and the left gets a number that identifies the rabbit from that breeder. I read that it's often done in a way that follows the "Nordic rabbit standard" so that buns tattood in one country are eligible to take part in shows in other Nordic countries. Once healed, the tattoo doesn't affect the bun and can't be caught in anything, so it seems better than actual rings or tags.

A bunny could also be given a microchip under the skin like the cats. I've never had this done, as it would only be useful if a bunny escapes into the wild (and is caught by someone), and my bunnies don't even go outside. I also don't do shows or things like that.

 

[MopsyLops]

I think it means tattooing the ears. In Finland, registered breeders tattoo their bunnies' ears: the right ear gets a tattoo that identifies the breeder and the left gets a number that identifies the rabbit from that breeder. I read that it's often done in a way that follows the "Nordic rabbit standard" so that buns tattood in one country are eligible to take part in shows in other Nordic countries. Once healed, the tattoo doesn't affect the bun and can't be caught in anything, so it seems better than actual rings or tags.

A bunny could also be given a microchip under the skin like the cats. I've never had this done, as it would only be useful if a bunny escapes into the wild (and is caught by someone), and my bunnies don't even go outside. I also don't do shows or things like that.

Thank you for replying to me! So there is no health purpose to this, no way that it benefits the Rabbit at all? Then why do they need to brand a Rabbit when it is no longer going to be theirs because they are selling it to be someone's pet? Why would anyone want or need to have their new pet marked with the breeder when he is going to no longer belong to that breeder? That's like tattooing someone's baby with the name of the professional who helped birth it, I doubt a mother would want the Doctors name tattooed on her child and I feel people would have similar feelings to this? If I am honest, these are the feelings I have currently, I am not in the market to buy a bunny currently, I am letting my Buck get his neuter complete and recovered from before attempting to introduce a partner but I was browsing anyway because I do love bunnies (as do all bun mums and dads) and when I saw this ad it made me a bit sad and a bit confused to see this. I am a little against any body modification unless it serves a health purpose. I hope you kind of understand me a little bit and why I feel confused by all of this?

 

[Bunnyman61]

My first rabbit was a mini-rex doe who had originally come from a breeder to her first owner, my ex-girlfriend's daughter, who neglected her and left her to live in terrible conditions. This little angel had a four-digit alphanumeric code stamped in indelible blue ink on the inside of one of her ears. I reside in Northern California, so evidently some breeders here in the States must also engage in this practice.

 

[SableSteel]

Thank you for replying to me! So there is no health purpose to this, no way that it benefits the Rabbit at all? Then why do they need to brand a Rabbit when it is no longer going to be theirs because they are selling it to be someone's pet? Why would anyone want or need to have their new pet marked with the breeder when he is going to no longer belong to that breeder? That's like tattooing someone's baby with the name of the professional who helped birth it, I doubt a mother would want the Doctors name tattooed on her child and I feel people would have similar feelings to this? If I am honest, these are the feelings I have currently, I am not in the market to buy a bunny currently, I am letting my Buck get his neuter complete and recovered from before attempting to introduce a partner but I was browsing anyway because I do love bunnies (as do all bun mums and dads) and when I saw this ad it made me a bit sad and a bit confused to see this. I am a little against any body modification unless it serves a health purpose. I hope you kind of understand me a little bit and why I feel confused by all of this?

It is not like a signature or a brand or anything. It IS for the benefit of the rabbit. Quite often if a rabbit with an ear tattoo is lost & found, people will look at the Ear tattoo and ask around to find the breeder (ear tattoos are more visible than microchips; most people wouldn't check for a microchip) and the breeder can help either take back the rabbit or get it back to its rightful home. It's just a means of ID. And it is personal per rabbit, not per breeder, although most tattoos from each breeder follow a certain pattern (for example, I know one breeder whos tattoos all start with "CK"). If a rabbit is returned to a breeder, this tattoo can help tie it back to its pedigree & medical paperwork like a microchip would and if you have multiple identical looking rabbits like a lot of breeders do, it is sometimes very nice to have a tattoo to tell them apart (for example, I can tell all my rabbits apart of course, but a petsitter can't, so all they need to do to make sure who is who is to look at the ear). Also at shows, rabbits can get mixed up very easily so its nice to have a quick way to tell them apart. They are also used for medical records; in my state, RHDV2 vaccination requires require permanent ID, so the vaccine records are tied to ear #s or microchip #s. It is not really stressful for the rabbit, with an experienced handler it can be done in less than a minute and the rabbit is given a topical numbing agent so they don't feel it (I'd rather have that short tattoo than a giant microchip needle). Tattoos are, imo, the best way to identify a rabbit. Easier and faster to read than a microchip reader (and you don't need special equipment to read it) and safer than leg bands or collars (rabbits cant exactly wear a collar with ID on it like a dog or cat can)

 

[MoonMama]

Our bunny vet just sent out an email letting us know they have the vaccine for rabbit hemmoragic disease. She said she is requiring rabbits be tattooed or microchipped when vaccinated. I wonder if they are doing this as part of a database to keep studying the vaccine and virus spread? She said the microchip also had a temperature monitor in it, which confused me. But I have only been a bunny owner since last summer.

 

[SableSteel]

Our bunny vet just sent out an email letting us know they have the vaccine for rabbit hemmoragic disease. She said she is requiring rabbits be tattooed or microchipped when vaccinated. I wonder if they are doing this as part of a database to keep studying the vaccine and virus spread? She said the microchip also had a temperature monitor in it, which confused me. But I have only been a bunny owner since last summer.

The vaccine is not fully licensed in the US yet, so for legal reasons the vets have to track which rabbits they vaccinated with a permanent ID, so that if they were tested later on they'd know where the vaccine & antibodies came from