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Presentation IS Everything
by Joy Kretzer

  I decided to write about an ongoing problem I keep seeing at shows.

The cleanliness of carriers.

I cannot tell you how many times I have been at a show and find myself looking around for the source of a disgusting smell, and find the smell is coming from someone’s carrier!

I see carriers with bare pans and just a pool of urine and poop swirling around underneath the rabbits! No shavings, no hay, or even newspapers. Just nothing!

Not only is the smell very overpowering to the people standing around the carriers, but if the odor is that strong to us…… can you imagine how it must be to the rabbits!

Sometimes I am in a position to move away from the nasty smelling carriers, but at time’s I found myself not being able to. At times they were right next to where I was showing my rabbits, so I was unable to move.

The poor rabbits in the carriers must have had their nostrils burning from the smell and talk about rabbits getting lung infections!

I have also seen along with bare “soupy” pans, carriers covered in dirty old hair, cobwebs, and filthy coup cups or sometimes none at all.

There is no excuse for treating your rabbits like this and having your carriers that way. I know I personally spend at least 1 hour before every show cleaning and washing my carriers and cups, and stocking the pans with bedding and the right amount of food and water, for the time appropriate I will be away from home. I actually hate doing my carriers. It is the one thing I dislike most about showing, but I DO IT. If you are not willing to fully clean and prepare your carriers for the show, than you should not go. I would rather stay home than go to a show with dirty carriers. I love my rabbits and would never put my rabbits, myself, or anybody else through that kind of filth and smell. I personally feel that no matter how good the rabbits look in the carrier, I will COMPLETELY JUDGE the owner as a horrible rabbit owner by how their carriers look. Most people do. Not only is health everything… but presentation is also everything.

Oh, one more thing……. You can be asked to leave a show if it is found that your rabbits are being mistreated or neglected. Cleanliness in Carriers fall under those rules.  It would be very embarrassing if the Superintendent of a show had to ask you to leave.

So, -- CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN and use proper bedding in your pans!

Thank you – Joy Kretzer
The Holland Hut
hollandhut@indian-creek.net

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