ARBA FB page 'rant' about KY

[cathyd]

OMGosh, Got home late Sunday night from "Loserville" as my 12 year old grandaughter named it!
Absolutely chaotic and frustrating, but the breed clubs and volunteers stepped up and we all got through it. Spent 2 plus hours filling coops with pineshavings on Friday. Then searched up an down rows looking for ear number/names trying to coop dwarfs. Dwarf Nationals had close to 1900 entries! Sat around waiting for the extra cooping we had ordered for sale rabbits only to be told a 4:15 pm there would not be any! :evil: Came back later in evening and yeah!!!! the parking passes arrived.

Fern Valley Inn was a joke!! arrived Thursday night at 10:15. Air condintioner running, but not working; I thought I was having a hot flash until I realized my grandaughter was sweating! At 1:30 am the desk offered to send up a fan or two!!! :shock: I marched down in my pj's and demanded a new room...it worked... just had to pack up and move to a newer building at 1:30 am! New room was bigger, better, no mold, no smoke, elevator worked, no filthy carpet, ect. Heaven!!! Got to bed at 2:30 am Saturday evening brought a rock band in the conference center below us. Yep we got to rock and roll until 1:15 am...No sleeping allowed at the Fern Valley!

Thank Heavens for Mystang___ as he and his sweet wife helped me locate a Mejiers and Save-a-lot. Sooo we had lots of food, snackies and drinks. I would have offer'd Bunnie and her hubby lunch had I known! It was nice to meet ya' all!

Sunday was a joke, don't think we'll ever see any of those GC legs, nor breed points. :angry:

It really was a trying weekend, not a vacation as planned!

__________ Mon Apr 15, 2013 7:33 pm __________

Bunnie wrote: English Spot nationals ran extremely slow, the judge was cold and very rough with the rabbits. He almost dropped the doe that I had bought (she was entered in the show) and I was very frustrated with the way he was handling them.

Haaaa, I won't show to that judge in Ohio. If we get him, I pull our entry and leave. He no longer seems to enjoy the rabbits, people nor judging!<br /><br />__________ Mon Apr 15, 2013 7:37 pm __________<br /><br />

It was a fact the superintendent/secretary had a heart attack on Friday. What hasn't been confirmed 100% is how many people quit on the club that week. There was a lot of rumor floating around

.

On Thursday the secretaries husband had to go to ER and she went with him...that is why we had no parking passes, nor paperwork.

 

[Rexisbest]

I was there, the secretary's husband went to ER I was in office when she called and yes it was painful and he was released and I totally "get" her priorities but this was at rain wreck in every way. I pitched in and started helping at noon on Friday in an attempt to get my rabbits out of carriers into coops, I posted cards on over 400 coops and ended up building a row of 20 coops for our rabbits and friends rabbits....others moved in as well. NO SHAVINGS until 7 pm Friday night...barely any ordered and they went fast. The Sunday shows were a joke. The judges barely looked at B show rabbits as it was almost noon before we even got started so it was late afternoon and it was all about time at that point. A very nice man helped us find equipment for coops and he could not have been nice, I made sure to find him and thank him again and gave him some home made cookies, he was a thankless volunteer just trying to help his granddaughter and her hobby. The Fern Valley was a whole ' nother story...oy vey!!!!! Over sold 30 rooms???? Can you not count??? I will NEVER go back for that show.

 

[Bunnie]

I am so glad we stayed with family, and I am so glad now that we didn't stay for the Sunday shows!!!

I am extremely happy with the rabbits I picked up, my ES buck got 4/10 in Jr Chocolate Bucks at spot nationals.... And loved all the pretty ladies so much he has decided to be a big boy now and sprayed me in the face :/


If Spot Nationals are there again next year I will go IF there is a different judge. I don't like feeling like I want to sell out and run crying for the hills just from watching a judge give comments on a class.

Again, the MR specialty was very great and I truly enjoyed both of those judges. However it was very trying to be there with (1!!) spot and a few mini rex. Spot show went SO slow.

 

[Rexisbest]

Bunnie, I agree with your comment about MR judges...they were awesome!!! Doug King and Jeremy Watmuff were really great with the Youth, very encouraging and positive. My daughter was thrilled when Doug handed her back her jr otter doe that he said, this is a NICE doe, do NOT let go of her, she lacks in maturity or she would win her variety. I think he would have cracked up had he know one of his bucks was the father!!

 

[mystang89]

Thank Heavens for Mystang___ as he and his sweet wife helped me locate a Mejiers and Save-a-lot. Sooo we had lots of food, snackies and drinks. I would have offer'd Bunnie and her hubby lunch had I known! It was nice to meet ya' all!

It was GREAT to get to meet you as well CathyD. Thanks so much for the beautiful NZW and Cali. The kids love em. The Cali was a bit nervous being in a new area and all but after a few handfuls of Dandelions she is starting to come around and look for us!

As far as Louisville, we tried to find the best donut place and the best pizza place in town. We found Nord's Bakery and I think that one would be hard to beat. For pizza we went to Hometown Pizza. That one was debatable. Any pizza place better down there mystang?
Phil, I am appalled at you. How in the world can you go to Louisville, KY and eat pizza anywhere but Papa John's? That town is their world HQ's, ya know!! LOL!!!

LoL, I'm not a big fan of Papa John's pizza. I'd actually have to say the best place is Papa Murphy's lol. I guess a spin off of Papa Johns but at Murphy's you can make your own pizza, see the ingredients they use and how fresh it is and take it home to back for however long you want. Have them put on as much or as little as you want. Of course, if you don't live here and don't have a handle oven to bring the pizza home to that might not be the best of choices for you haha. In that case I would go to Domino's.

You're such a giver, Mystang!

Now we know the true reason you bought homing pigeons... "Organic GPS Systems"- never leave home without a pigeon in your pocket.

:rotfl: Shhhhhh, don't give away all my secrets. :shutup:

 

[rittert3]

I see where they just posted on facebook, KY cup for next year is canceled.

 

[phillinley]

I see where they just posted on facebook, KY cup for next year is canceled.

Well really who would have showed up from outside of the area? It does suck though because I'd like to see more big shows like this (well run ones), but now we have one less.

 

[DumansArk]

Wow, this makes me glad we didn't go!

The way this is run reminds me of our 4H days. But the hotel problems too? And at different hotels? Talk about crazy...

It is good to hear that some good came of it tho

 

[Rexisbest]

The hotel has still not even charged my credit card????? I am not even sure I want to contact them after the stay from hell. Sorry to hear they cancelled...I would not have come back. Maybe a larger club in nearby state could take it over, looks like a ton of people showed up, could be lucrative.

 

[phillinley]

The hotel has still not even charged my credit card????? I am not even sure I want to contact them after the stay from hell. Sorry to hear they cancelled...I would not have come back. Maybe a larger club in nearby state could take it over, looks like a ton of people showed up, could be lucrative.

You too? Was it Fern Valley? They took off the credit hold but never put through the final charge on our room. I guess if they're going to screw up in a bad way last weekend, I'll gladly take a positive screw up from them as well.

 

[Rexisbest]

Yes, it was Fern Valley....not sure why charge has not been applied and after everything they put us all thru I am not even sure I want to tell them!

 

[SatinsRule]

Man, oh man, listening to ya'll talking about that hotel makes me glad I stayed at Motel 6 across the river in Indiana. I didn't have the first issue in the world with that place.

 

[skysthelimit]

Anyone have any sick rabbits? There is some kind of mention of this on The FB SF page.

 

[Rexisbest]

It is all over FB but I did not see any sick rabbits other than a broken Mini Rex with vent disease that was DQ'd.
I am praying that it is being blown out of proportion and am watching mine like a hawk.

 

[Prisma]

There's another page on FB with mentioning of ONE being a SF blowing snot. Wonder what others? I wasn't there, but considering the size of the show :/

 

[phillinley]

Anyone have any sick rabbits? There is some kind of mention of this on The FB SF page.

There was a silver fox breeder who said that but I didn't see any sick rabbits cooped near ours. Thankfully bunnyrabbit.com was at the show and I purchased some bottles of dilute and concentrated vanodine and gave them some once overs with it.


I heard about it later, but the possibility of disease and how bad the show was going was one reason I didn't show our Flemish Giants on Sunday. There was hardly any competition in our variety so it wasn't worth risking something for nothing to gain.



Also, Fern Valley finally sent the charge through today oh well. I guess that saves me the moral dilemna.

 

[AnnClaire]

OK, since it was mentioned here, I will say what I know about the situation. Evidently a couple of SF breeders loaded in the dark, drove 8 hours or so, and when they got to the show, ONE rabbit was blowing and DQd off the table. Since then, a large reaction boardering on hysteria has broken out on the FB SF page which is ruining reputations and generating a lot of bad feelings all around. I was not there, did not see any of the rabbits in question, so cannot speak to the veracity of the degree of danger/neglect/etc that is being basically screamed all over that page by 2 people in particular. Allegations of emaciated rabbits, sore hocks, bad health, etc are being stated by one (of those 2) who has admitted to only being a rabbit owner for the past year and to showing their rabbits locally with no thought to or knowledge of Pastuerella, Bordatella, vent disease, etc, of how it is spread, nor the incubation period. It is very ugly on the SF FB page right now. But, someone at that show called Animal Control in the breeder's home town and reported neglect/abuse and then got several other someone's at the show to do the same thing BEFORE the breeder had a chance to determine what was going on with the rabbits (the breeder immediately removed them from the building) or to even leave the show.

So, along with the FUBAR of running the show, there is now a lot of nastiness over an illness that was never proven to be more than a stress reaction to the drive, and never proven to be pastuerella. Yes, we all shudder at the mention of that disease, but Bordatella and extreme allergies can result in white snot ... both of which are curable with appropriate medications, and are not a mortal infection.

Also, the breeder in question had a bout of pastuerella last year that was picked up at a local show, and spent much time and effort to cull it out of his herd and for the past couple of months has thought it was resolved.

Like they say, there is "his side", "your side" and "the truth" somewhere in the middle. So, while we will probably never know the whole truth about the situation, I know that a lot of harshness is associated with the KY Cup both as a show venue and among the breeds which is a total shame.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Considering all of this hoopla over one rabbit supposedly blowing snot, how is it that the Show Secretary of a local club puts snotty nosed Rex (we're talking MULTIPLE animals! :angry: )on the table, gets DQ'd for it, and then does it again in show B???

Kind of fftopic: I know, but I am frustrated beyond belief with this individual. I skipped the last show, but it is very disappointing because this is one of the most local shows for me, and they put on two shows per year.

 

[AnnClaire]

MSD, I think you have a BIG point here ... and unless the reputable/ethical breeders start to work together to get this issue addressed from the local level on up, it won't be resolved. One comment made a big impact on me ... many small/dwarf breed breeders regularly use ABX on their show stock, basically bringing sick/infected animals to shows (YMMV)

 

[phillinley]

Like they say, there is "his side", "your side" and "the truth" somewhere in the middle. So, while we will probably never know the whole truth about the situation, I know that a lot of harshness is associated with the KY Cup both as a show venue and among the breeds which is a total shame.

I didn't want to get into it on here, but since you aired it.
It was more than one rabbit. I'll stick with the other side since other rabbits cooped next to his have come down with the same symptoms 7 days after the show. I was there and multiple people with 10 years plus show experience said they had never seen anything so blatantly bad. The club and it's members were absolutely welcoming to all of us new people, and I don't blame them if some of them are getting upset because they are having to put down some of their herd or put their show rabbits off the shelf for the next month entirely because of someone else's obvious carelessness.

When it is so bad that members of the club wish to change the by laws of the club so that they can prevent something like that before it even gets to the table, I got no sympathy for that guy. We're not taking our rabbits anywhere for a while because of it and it's not paranoia to pull back our rabbits from shows for the next three weeks it's just common sense courtesy to the rest of the community.

We had a new family showing Silver Fox at a show earlier in the spring and they had a rabbit brought up to the table that was exhibiting snot and it was DQ'ed and a judge told them how to handle their business. They showed up to the nationals and they had their herd culled back and under control. That is the difference between a responsible breeder and that guy.