There are so many things to learn about the rabbit show world and the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) when starting out. One of those things to which I did not pay much attention at first was registrations and that was because I did not understand them as having any purpose beyond being an ARBA requirement for a rabbit to earn its Grand Champion certificate along with its three qualifying legs. There are quite a few breeders that only register their rabbits when they also can be "granded," as some of us would say. I used to be one of them. However, there are several reasons why I have decided that registrations are important for every senior rabbit in my rabbitry.
How one gets a rabbit registered is to bring the rabbit to an ARBA-licensed registrar, which every ARBA-sanctioned rabbit show is required to have present with the exception of fairs. A good registrar thoroughly inspects the rabbit, even more closely than many judges. The registrar is not going to judge the quality of the rabbit as a judge does, but rather the registrar looks for any disqualifications and to be sure the rabbit fits the ARBA description for the breed, including its senior weight. In compliance with this weight requirement, a rabbit cannot be registered until it has reached the senior weight standard and is at least six months old, however, I feel it is better to wait until the rabbit reaches its senior age, which is eight months old for Silver Foxes because most are still developing and gaining weight until around that age.
Other requirements for registration are that the rabbit is an ARBA-accepted breed and variety with a pedigree of three generations showing that all the rabbits are the same breed as the rabbit being registered and a permanent qualified tattoo in the left ear that has only letters and/or numbers matching ear number on the pedigree. The pedigree also must have the ear numbers, weights, and varieties of the parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. After weighing and examining the rabbit, a licensed registrar will accept the fee and fill out an application for registration that needs to be signed. One copy is kept by the registrar, one is given to the owner registering the rabbit, and another is sent to the ARBA office by the registrar. The ARBA has all registered rabbits in a database and verifies the registered rabbits on the pedigree to determent the seal. Then the certificate of registration is created, which is sent directly to the owner.
So, why is registration important? There are several reasons and there may be more than I will list but these are the reasons registrations are important to me and they are not in any particular order.
- Pedigrees are only as reliable as the breeders who provided the information on them. We all like to think that rabbit people are ethical but not every breeder on the pedigree may have been. I have had a pedigree where a breeder changed the name of the rabbit to their own rabbitry when it clearly was tattooed with an identifier of another rabbitry—maybe they had a deal to do it that way or maybe not. Sometimes weights are just a guess. I am not going to go into details here but, yes, questionable practices can happen.
- Registration is also proof of ownership and the certificate should be signed by the seller so that it can be transferred to the buyer, which is done for a fee by the ARBA.
- Also, the registration seal can change also if a descendent is registered after the rabbit on the pedigree is registered. A replacement registration certificate can be requested for a fee if lost or one with updated information is desired.
- Sometimes a rabbit incurs an injury that disqualifies it from showing or being registered, but if it was registered before the injury, it is verification that the rabbit did not have the disqualification previously.
- Every registered rabbit on a pedigree is an assurance that its pedigree, breed, variety, ear number, and weight were verified by a registrar. Having just watched several senior does disqualify for being under the standard weight requirements in the Silver Fox judging at the 2022 ARBA Convention, I feel even more strongly that knowing the weights of predecessors with certainty is quite helpful.
- The number of registered rabbits listed on the pedigree is also a testament to the intention of the breeding program. It not only is about breeding the rabbits to meet the desired criteria but having proof of consistency in working towards that goal.
- Embossed Seal - one or both parents are not registered. One may be registered, but both must be for the next level. Other predecessors on the pedigree may be registered but the registration seal level begins building at this lowest level if one parent is not registered.
- Red Seal - both parents are registered.
- Red and White Seal - both parents and all four grandparents are registered.
- Red, White, and Blue Seal - both parents, all four grandparents, and all eight great-grandparents are registered, which is to say all the fourteen rabbits listed on a pedigree with three generations are registered.
- Gold Seal - both parents, all four grandparents, and all eight great-grandparents (fourteen rabbits) are Grand Champions on a pedigree with three generations.
