Biggest peeve this time of year? “Pet breeders.”

People who refuse to cull properly and then shove the worst of their litters into the holiday pet market. Rabbits, puppies, small breeds — all dumped into an already overloaded system because someone wanted to cash in on Christmas.

If you’re going to breed anything, you’d better be capable of recognizing when an animal should not leave your barn. Full stop.

Rabbits get hit especially hard every holiday. Breeders selling whatever they produce, or slapping “show quality” on culls to sell to kids… that’s garbage behavior.

Let’s clear up a few points:

SHOWABLE

Any rabbit that meets the Standard of Perfection (SOP) for the breed can be shown as that breed. Outcrossing is allowed in rabbits. People do it all the time to improve type, balance, or color. If the end result conforms to the SOP, it’s showable. That’s how new lines are built—intentionally, carefully, and with an actual goal. If someone is advertising it as showable and picture isn't posed . Or you feel.something is off... ask another breeder or open your sop and compare .

REGISTERABLE / GRANDABLE

These require the proper pedigree, weights, and variety, once your outcross is behind you. But a rabbit doesn’t need registration to win legs. An unpedigreed animal—or one with outcross behind it—can win. Its legs can be noted on offspring pedigrees until you have enough generations to register and grand the descendants.

PUREBRED ≠ WELL-BRED

A “purebred” rabbit is simply one with three generations of the same breed listed on paper. That doesn’t mean it matches the standard. The table tells you the ancestry; the body tells you the truth. A rabbit can be purebred and still be awful.

SPORTS

Sports meet the standard in everything except color. They’re not showable but are used as brood animals in breeds that show only in specific patterns. A solid-black English Spot, a solid-colored Rhinelander—great type, wrong paint. This is where color genetics matters, and that’s a whole separate lesson that I do get into on my skool.

Now, here’s what actually matters:

HARD CULLS — NON-NEGOTIABLE

These faults impact both breeding and pet homes. A “pet home” is not a dumping ground for animals destined for long-term suffering.

• Malocclusion / bad teeth

Will worsen with age. Painful. Not ethical to sell for any purpose.

• Pinched hips

Extreme “V” shape in the hind legs is structural failure. Breeding risk, mobility risk, chronic strain.

• Hind feet too narrow to fit two fingers between

Serious structural weakness. Leads to pressure issues and long-term locomotion problems.

• Severely slipping under / sitting on the tail

For breeders: dramatically increases the risk of stuck kits, weak contractions, and birthing complications.

For pets: the same structural problem causes abnormal posture, incomplete voiding, chronic bladder sludge, recurring urinary issues, and long-term pain.

Just because the home isn’t breeding doesn’t mean the rabbit won’t suffer.

BREEDER RED FLAGS

• Sells the entire litter.

• Charges more for the same animal “with pedigree” — either you stand behind your name or you don’t. If its meant for meat stock with no ped it is what it is .

• Sells DQ’d or clearly off-standard rabbits as “show quality.”

• No selection knowledge. No culling. No goals.

BREEDER GREEN FLAGS

• Only sells animals they truly consider brood or show quality.

• Prices based on merit, not marketing.

• Culls hard and can explain every flaw and strength.

• Shows actively and can discuss herd goals.

• Doesn’t use “pet home” as a trash can for culls.

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