Junior rabbit breeders take center stage

MERCEDES - The 16-year-old girl picked up Bugs the bunny, who had just captured the Rio Grande Valley's Super Bowl of rabbit competitions.

Brecca Wheaton, of Rio Hondo, and Bugs won the grand championship Sunday afternoon at the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Fair's Jr. Breeding Rabbits competition.

Bugs, a Californian buck rabbit, sat his plump self on a stage and blinked his red eyes as a packed spectators section cheered for him and Brecca.

Rabbit breeding experts said this event outranks all others in the Valley in terms of size and prestige. Brecca had worked with Bugs for 20 minutes a day all year to prepare. And her hard work paid off.

In rabbit breeding competitions, one must do more than simply buy a pretty rabbit at the pet store and keep it well fed.

And the Valley is home to some of the world's top rabbit breeders.

Stiff competition

Susan Yeary, of Edinburg, runs a beauty salon in McAllen as her day job.

On the weekends, though, she travels the country competing in rabbit breeding competitions.

In 2007, Yeary captured the national title for Californian breeding rabbits. She is geared up to defend her title this April in Kansas.

As the junior breeders competed Sunday, Yeary pulled an American Rabbit Breeders Association book from her purse and explained the breeding point system.

Judges use a 100-point system. Rabbits score 20 based on fur, five for color and markings, 10 for condition and 65 for body. First, however, the rabbits must pass a disqualification test. The wrong color fur, ear mites or some sort of disease can bounce a rabbit right out of competition.

About 45 contestants entered the junior competition at the Sunday fair, and judges disqualified 13, leaving 32 total competitors. Bugs bested the bulk of the bunnies.

Creating a life

Rabbit breeders spend years preparing for these competitions. They must select the best males and females for fornicating. One set of weak genes can damage the whole process for years, sometimes forcing a breeder to start all over.

That's the hard part.

The easy part is caring for the rabbits.

Rabbit cages can comfortably fit in a city home's backyard, unlike the cows, goats and pigs also competing at the livestock fair. Their small size and low maintenance requirements make them perfect for children to breed and care for.

But for Brecca, the competitions have become more than just a weekend hobby.

Her involvement with animals has motivated her choice of jobs and schools.

She works part time at the San Benito Veterinarian Hospital and plans to become a veterinarian.

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Zack Quaintance covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4447.