The following article was written by Karen Heintz and taken from the 1997 Mini Rex Guidebook. It was very helpful to me when I first began to prepare my own pedigrees.

Pedigrees and Registering Rabbits

By Karen Heintz
ARBA Judge, ARBA Registrar

New Breeders often ask for some of the "unwritten rules" of etiquette in the process of producing their own pedigrees. For the new breeder, this is one of the most confusing aspects of the hobby. First of all there is a difference between a registered rabbit and a pedigreed rabbit. All registered rabbits have a three generation pedigree, but not all pedigreed rabbits are registered nor are they always eligible to be registered. The American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) only allows those animals which exhibit minimum characteristics of their respective breed and are free from disqualification's to be registered only after inspection from a licensed registrar. This procedure may take place only after the animal is six months old. Usually, this is done at an open rabbit show where a registrar is available to examine the animal, view the pedigree, and fill out the necessary paperwork. It may also be done at a breeder's home, if there are many rabbits to register at one time. By following this process, the ARBA has assured the public that their stud books are not full of undesirable animals of lesser quality. On the contrary, a registered rabbit holds a certain degree of extra value based on the fact it has undergone scrutiny by an official from the club and at the time of registration was free from disqualifications. Notice the emphasis; "at the time of registration". This does not mean that a Mini Rex weighing 4.05 pounds at six months cannot end up being overweight at eight months. It does however, keep from registering the six month old animal that weighs too much at that time. This is important to remember when someone advertises their whole herd as being registered. Accept only at face value any claim you cannot see for yourself. As with most programs there are unscrupulous people who use the registration process to validate their animals. The pedigree behind the animal is only as good as the information supplied to the registrar. All rabbit breeders should keep accurate records of birth dates as well as the parents used. This information is then recorded on a three generation pedigree for each animal in the litter. Tattoo the proper identification in the left ear of each littermate. Now what happens when we sell a rabbit to another breeder? It is common practice in the industry to begin the rabbit's name with the rabbitry that bred the rabbit. This gives recognition to the person who usually has built up a name for himself and is often well known for his or her animals in a certain breed. As a new breeder you should be proud to begin your rabbit's name with "Smith's -------" and to provide this name proudly on your pedigree. But what happens when you buy a rabbit from say, top breeder, Joe Snow. When you get it reads "Snow's Ajax". What we often see happening is this rabbit's name changing to "Smith's Ajax". Most new rabbit people do it without understanding that they are fraudulently taking credit for breeding an animal bred by another person. The breeder's last name or rabbitry name on the pedigree does not determine ownership, but rather gives credit to the breeder of the animal. So please, new breeders do not change the name of a rabbit to your name. Go ahead and breed some bunnies of your own and then add your name as breeder. This problem is compounded when you take your purchased rabbit to a registrar to have it examined and in presenting the pedigree to him, he notices your name is listed as the "breeder" of the bunny. There is a special line on the registration form for the breeder of the rabbit, and if a registrar is misled, a purchaser may go down as the breeder due to a name change. The biggest problem in dealing with "registered rabbits" that have had a name change occurs when a buck that was previously registered is used for a litter. If I use a young buck that I have named "Heintz Good Lookin" and then sell him to Joe Snow...on my future pedigrees he will known by the name I gave him, But what if Joe Snow changes his name to "Snow's Good Looking" and registers him as such? He will then carry a name for the rest of his life different than the one on my pedigree. If he should go on to win much acclaim as a show rabbit his name change will confuse many generations of pedigrees to come. Lets give credit where credit is due and through the understanding of how and why a rabbit carries an identifying breeder's name when we buy it, let us leave it alone and promote our own rabbits through our own breeding programs. I encourage all new rabbit breeders to use the ARBA program for registering animals to upgrade their stock to rabbits that meet the requirements for registration.

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