This post is a revisit to my post regarding culling. I believe many people found it hard to digest and accept what was being introduced. Some may have also jumped into conclusion at some point.
Before I go in the details of my post, there was a question that goes “Why breed when culling is needed?” I believe many people would agree that if there is a need to cull, breeders should stop breeding. I hope this post can shed some light in an attempt to answer the above question.
I have given much thought to this topic but I have not take to killing any of my rabbits. Let’s talk about QUALITY. I am not sure about you but to a certain extend, the NO KILL mentality has caused overpopulation of pets. We are compassionate beings without a doubt but like the title of this post, let’s put everything into perspective.
Do you know that majority of us rabbit owners is keeping or has kept culled rabbits? The word cull can be use very loosely. A pet quality rabbit can also be considered as a cull. If you do not mind sub standard or the quality of rabbits than this post may not be relevant to you. But do keep in mind that we all deserve better things. Being a purebreed rabbit breeder, I emphasize and ensure that my rabbits reflect the standard of perfection laid down by ARBA. They may not be in perfect standard but we all do try as breeders to ensure the rabbits we produce get nearer each time we breed.
Alright, let’s first put ourselves in this NO KILL mentality. So none of the breeders are culling their rabbits. Just imagine how many low quality rabbit we would have around us. Maybe that’s what you want but that’s definitely not what I want.
Somehow, the general public is telling me that they love sub standard rabbits. I do not blame them because a rabbit is just a rabbit after all. They all look the same because many people do not know that there is such thing called BREED STANDARDS.
So with the NO KILLING mentality, I pass down some of my pet quality to some new owners. Some end up breeding their rabbits and inject more sub standard rabbits in the market. What do you think? Everyone’s happy with their sub standard rabbits. No issue. And then the entire market snowballs into a giant burrow with all sub standard rabbits. Well, isn’t that what you’re asking for? And that’s what you are going to get.
In case I have forgotten, many of us are self proclaimed animal rights activist. But as of late, I feel that there should be less of protests and more of actual work being done to save animals instead. A lot of these activist just can’t walk the talk if you know what I mean. If you are such a righteous person, why not take in all the rabbits that could not be sold in the pet stores or farm? I am sure it is not in your capacity to do that right? And of course, you would like to have that rabbit with certain color or features. See, that’s not that genuine and sincere isn’t it? We have to accept that we cannot have the best of both worlds. It is either quality or junk.
And now, let us switch our minds to breeders that cull their rabbits. Unless you are still living in the stone age, you should know that the world is all about the survival of the fittest. The weakest links are always eliminated. We so love the TV series Survivor because we love seeing who outlast others. The weakest Zebra in the Savannah will always be eaten by the Lions. That is the same with culling. We remove the weakest links in our herd. A good breeder will never ever pass something bad to another breeder or owner. He/she will ensure at his/her end that he/she will do anything it takes to get rid of the bad and weak. If he/she does not do that, just imagine rabbits with genetic problems being passed on to others and that trait will eventually replicate far and wide in the speed of light (it only takes below 5 seconds for a pair of rabbits to mate). Although I have not yet decided if to cull my rabbits or not, I believe it is the best thing to do if we want to ensure that only good stuff are being passed down.
Just to quote an article well written by a renown ARBA judge Chris Zemny, “The most important thing one must realize when breeding Holland Lops is that CULLING is a must” that could be found on the very first line of her article contributed for HLRSC official website. Click here for the article. Culling is not something created by TLR. It is a practice observed by many renown breeders in the world.
Let’s make this entire post simple. Just tell me if you want me to pass you junk or something of superior quality. Here’s a poll for you. Now we need to walk the talk. Just tell me if you like having junks or you think you deserve better.
Maybe you want to tell me that we could live with junks as long as there is no killings. But cull not necessary means kill. Let’s put everything into perspective.
Tru-Luv Rabbitry: Quality Holland Lops in Malaysia 
You dont have to kill a bunny just beacouse its not good enuf for you.
you can still cell it to someone looking for a pet and tell them that there not good for breading, or just take it to a humain sosioty so theyl get a little bit better of a chance.
and you are really hpocritical like you say ” al theese animal rights people just protest but never do anny thing” but thne you go off on this huge thing about how you should kill them if there not perfect but thene your like “but i dont”
i agree that we shoulent breed them, but just cuz you dont breed dosent mean it has to die.
Hi Emma,
Thanks for your constructive comments. Really appreciate it. The reason why I am finding it hard to pet out rabbits is because, although the buyers are made aware that the rabbits may not be good for breeding, they will still go ahead to breed them. I have many inquiries that has breeding as the top reason for acquiring the rabbit. Some may resort to lying through their teeth just to make you sell them your rabbit and breed them thereafter. To make matters worst, they breed purebred rabbits to mixed breeds. That is the worst in my opinion because not only they have intention to improve a breed, they tend to create a new breed! LOL.
Hi Tim!
Just checked out ur new policy! Looks really good! The well being of bunnies will be protected and the best of all is you are ensuring that no breeding can be done. Thus your rabbitry will not contribute to rabbit over population.
Since it make it a MUST to spay and neuter ur rabbit… would u pls consider to nvr cull your babies? Since all will be neutered and spayed, there is no chances of them producing low quality offspring.
Sorry to bring this up again. I know all of us are suppose to agree to disagree but I really find it hard to swallow that truluvrabbitry support culling practice. Yes.. I know it’s a common practice in other rabbitry but you don’t have to be like them.
Umm.. maybe u might wanna consider selling your “low” quality rabbits @ a slightly lower rate.
Your rabbitry is different. Your love for rabbits will definitely set u apart from the rest of the breeder. 🙂
Thanks June!
I really appreciate the compliments. As regards to your question about culling, although I support the practice, I would prefer it to be the last resort if I can ever do it. Come on, I am human too and it is not so easy to send your own rabbits for feeds. Let’s put it this way, I have put forth my proposals and we shall see how we move on from here. A little disappointed because the more I promote responsible pet ownership and ethical breeding, the more support swing elsewhere. Most of the time in the opposite direction.
We shall work on this arrangement with the new Sales Policy unless the general market is not yet ready for it. As you should know, a rabbit is still a rabbit here in Malaysia and even you could say “maybe u might wanna consider selling your “low” quality rabbits @ a slightly lower rate”. I am certainly do not run a charity and free stuff always go unappreciated. RM 200 for the rabbits I am offering and the time/effort spent does not reflect/justify.
I just hope that people will show me their LOVE and SUPPORT in this.
Yeah I understand. I’ve seen the nice and roomy homes u have for ur rabbits and how u feed them with quality food. I agree RM200 per rabbit does not justify the cost involve. Umm… From a customer point of view, why not u consider selling ur “low” quality rabbits @ normal rate because most of the ppl here in m’sia cannot really differentiate a show quality and a beautiful but a non-show quality rabbit anyway. We are very much willing to pay RM200 as long as it’s a pretty bunny .. 🙂 I’ve check out all of ur bunny boys and girls and they are really gorgeous so I really cannot imagine them producing ugly offspring (I’m talking from a non-show rabbit enthusiast point of view).
Hopefully in time, more and more ppl will learn abt the difference between an ethical and non-ethical breeder and more and more ppl will come support your rabbitry. I also hope the demand will be much higher than the supply and you will nvr have to make a difficult decision to cull.
Thanks June. I will consider your good suggestions. I really want to get the awareness out more than selling my rabbits. Over the years, I have seen Dogs improved and Cats improved. It’s time for RABBITS to improve…..