Spayed Rabbits in Fair....

[FallingStar]

As some of you might know I have 2 female rabbits and I've been thinking about getting them spayed. I want to enter them in the fair because I'm in a 4-H group and I was wondering that if I spayed my rabbits that it would affect them in any events in the fair? I've been searching google and everywhere else and I've found sites that say it will and sites that say it won't. So I'm want to know what some of you smart rabbitry people know. Thanks. And maybe how much it will cost to spay a rabbit in Washington...

Karlee

 

[pamnock]

You would need to check with your county 4-H rules on exhibiting altered rabbits.

For ARBA shows,bucks/does may not be spayed/neutered.

Pam

 

[Bo B Bunny]

Also check your state fair rules if you want to show them there. Sometimes the rules can be a bit different from "county to county" or "county to state" and we always check with both if we feel we might want to show an animal both places.

I would like to see a "household pet" sort of thing in the rabbit shows. That would at least allow for spayed and neutered rabbits to be shown. I would love to have had the kids show Bo and I would love to have Tony neutered - he's a stinky boy!

Let us know what you find out.

 

[FallingStar]

Ok, Thanks you guys. I'll go and do some more research on this.


And I would like that to happen also Bo-Bunny. I think that should happen some-time. Because it should be required that the rabbits are spayed/neutered, in case of a buck getting out and all.

Thanks


Karlee

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

I agree. You can contact Heather Dean, Karlee. I'll give you her email. She is the rabbit superintendent for Thurston Co. Washington.

I have only seen one or two rabbits who were spayed/neutered and they were disqualified. If you neuter/spay your rabbits your not supposed to show them, because it tells the judge they are "pets" and something else, but I'm not sure what. You can also contact some judges possibly, but since your does would be in the pet class, it's best to find out from the superintendent.

I found a place near us (me and you) that spays rabbits for $60 each rabbit. They are an exotics/cat vet and have some experience, as what they've told me. They were the only vet out of 10 or 12 that me and my sister found reassuring that our does wouldn't die on the table. Also, you might ask when they perform the surgery, not to give anesthetic but a different drug that's better for rabbits. I can't remember what it is, but it's better than anesthesia; it still puts them out and they can't feel pain but they're likely to make it through easier and recover quicker.

Emily

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

"Because it should be required that the rabbits are spayed/neutered, in case of a buck getting out and all". -- The reason they don't do this is because then the rabbits who have superior titles wouldn't be able to produce excellent offspring and continue the showing and bettering breeds. If all show rabbits were spayed/neutered then there wouldn't really be any good reason for showing to the breed standards, etc. because they couldn't send it off. If you know what i mean. Sorry its kind of hard to explain.

Emily

 

[GoinBackToCali]

I am in agreement, it varies from county to county, show to show. Before I knew what a *House bun* was, I saw English Lops being shown in an open show, and the *mommies* were discussing who did the spaying and the costs. The next show, they ALL had to be breeders.. period.

The small shows even are lax on the ages of the exhibitor's, so I guess there really is no hard and fast rule.

Zin

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

Ok here's Heather's e-mail: [email protected] say that you're in the same 4-H group as us, she'll know who you're talking about. Then ask her your question about spayed rabbits at fair.

I only know that one girl at fair had two spayed/neutered bunnies. She got low marks on her cards and her rabbits didn't place because of it. The judge totally understood why they were spayed/neutered and all, but she said they shouldn't be, even through 4-H. I thought this was kind of dumb, and I still think it is. If they change this rule then that will be great because the rabbits with faults/ or mixes should be spayed/neutered so they dont get sick and all.

I asked my mom why they didn't allow this, and she said because they want the does/bucks to be able to pass their good quality on too their babies, etc. Since you don't show in ARBA shows yet, (with purebreds only) then you dont have to worry about that, and if you are allowed to spay them, I surely would. When/if you get purebreds with no faults then you can't spay them unless you won't show in the ARBA, which is a lot of the shows around.

Hope this info helped!

Emily


Edited to add: This is just for Thurston County Fair but SWWF may be different as well as SYF and other 4-H shows. The best bet is to contact rabbit superintendents in the Lewis & thurston Counties. '

 

[Hayley411]

I looked into getting Sherbert spayed but around here the only place that would do it said it would cost at least 195 dollars not including any complications so that idea went out the window at least for now.

~Hayley~