Fact or fiction?

[SatinsRule]

Today at Anderson, MO, I was talking with another exhibitor and the following subject came up:

According to him, a certain judge (who shall remain nameless) was supposedly bitten by a rabbit while judging a show in the upper midwest. The judge subesquently dragged the exhibitor into court via a lawsuit.

Since lawsuits and legal actions are a matter of public record, I did a google search and found nothing, so I'm doubting the legitimacy of it.

Anyone else ever heard this, or was it just a tall tale?

 

[ottersatin]

One cannot be certain,
the story may be true in that particular case but then
I have been to shows where many a time a Judge gets bitten.
I suppose that the possibility comes along with the territory.
When you are handling a lot of Rabbits the opportunity
for a bite or two is bound to arise.
I remember a Neth Dwarf Buck that my daughter owned was being judged,
This rabbit never like to have it's head touched. You guessed it,
the judge got bit. When we saw that we figured he would be off the table.
The Rabbit still won it's class and got BOB.
You can just never know what will happen!
Ottersatin.
He just had such great type ldtimer:

 

[Random Rabbit]

I do believe that according to ARBA rules... a judge can DQ that rabbit for bitibg. Some will, some won't. Some expect 'unfriendly' behavors from certain breeds and work around those.

I could see maybe perhaps a situation where a judge had previous issues with a rabbit... and it occurred Again... it might go legal... don't know.

( also... we all know how a story can 'grow' as it is re-told.....)

 

[Brody]

google isn't the best way to find civil matters - especially if they kicked the case out ... anybody cna sue anybody for anything - winning a law suit is not quite that easy ... I wouldn't be at all shocked to find out it was true

 

[5dognightfarm]

I guess its possible but that seems WAY over the top. I can't believe that a judge would do that.

 

[SatinsRule]

google isn't the best way to find civil matters - especially if they kicked the case out ... anybody cna sue anybody for anything - winning a law suit is not quite that easy ... I wouldn't be at all shocked to find out it was true

According to this breeder, the rabbit judge won this case. That doesn't mean a whole heckuva lot, either, especially when one considers that our civil law system often leaves alot to be desired. Having sat as a juror in civil suits twice in my lifetime, I will tell you that it's far too often about how persuasive and charismatic 1-2 jurors on that panel are, and has little to nothing to do with right or wrong.

From where I'm sitting, there are hazzards associated with judging rabbits. One of them just happens to be the fact that you're going to be bitten sooner or later. Nobody likes it, I know I sure don't, but different rabbits have different temperments, and dragging somebody into court and putting them thru incredible financial duress over something you know is going to happen before you ever take the judges' test to begin with seems to be a bit idiotic. As it is, I will purposely not attend any shows when this judge's name is listed as judging the show. Whether or not it's true hardly outweighs the possibility that they would do the same thing again. I simply have better things to spend my hardearned money on than our civil courts.

 

[Brody]

I would certainly rule out thier shows too until I heard that it was a malicious rumour shame but I agree you can't be too careful ..

 

[MaggieJ]

Why not just ask the judge?

 

[pfaubush]

I haven't heard this either. I did hear of a judge that was attacked by a rabbit and had to go to the hospital. I can't remember if the rabbit had hit an artery or not. I didn't hear of any lawsuits arising out of it.

I agree with Maggie. Ask the judge.

 

[SatinsRule]

Why not just ask the judge?

I just sent an email. Will see if said judge answers it.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

really, any time anyone takes on a 'job' working with animals,the inherent risk of injury should be part of the decision process before taking on the assignment!

 

[Anntann]

If there indeed was a lawsuit, perhaps said rabbit was totally violent on the table. We had a mare who was a FANTASTIC hunter. Won every time she went in the show ring. However, she was violent in the stalls. She was okay at home, mostly because everyone knew to be careful, but when we went to a show, I had to padlock her stall so that no one would accidentally get hurt. Eventually we just stopped taking her to shows because she'd lash out at the judge as he walked down the line of horses. :roll: oh yah. THAT made me popular. sigh.

I would think, however, that a rabbit judge would be fully aware that he's picking up an animal who can move like lightening, and has razor sharp teeth.

 

[Jack]

I would see a problem with a rabbit judge first suing (who is going to hire him again??? he could have sued the club...)
and I would put him on the stand, and make him explain why he, a "ARBA Sanctioned Rabbit Judge, allowed a rabbit to bit him??"
After all, he is a rabbit handling professional, I would move to have the judge declare him a court admitted "Expert" and is at as much fault for laying hands on a rabbit he can't control, after all, I would have counter sued for damaged to the rabbit.

 

[DevonW]

Although it is plausible I highly doubt it. Shows like playgrounds are a breeding ground for rumours. Judges are aware of the risks they take handling strange rabbits most DQ rabbits that bite some just shrug it off and say it has been a long day for the rabbit. I've never seen a judge get that angry over a bite ever because it is just something that happens. Besides most judges like to brag about "battle wounds" I recently saw a picture a judge posted on Facebook they received 6 stitches from a Mini Satin bite. "This one time I was bit I needed 20 stiches !" "Oh yeah? Well a darn Checker took my entire pinky!"

As for exhibitors you go to a show and usually the first thing you hear is "Did you hear?"... followed by some strange story. Most of which are horror stories about something that happened at some unknown show in an unknown year to some unknown person. I've heard plenty over the years. People are constantly hearing stories and spreading them. Everyone has played broken telephone at least once in their lives.

 

[Jack]

Oh, you mean like the little girl who wanted to do 4H rabbits and came to the rabbit show and fed a bunny her finger and the parents threatened to sue the club, even though the cage was clearly labeled DO NOT TOUCH, RABBIT WILL BITE....

 

[DevonW]

lo!l I actually have a small metal sign that says "Please do not feed your fingers to my bunny." It's mainly to prevent random people from opening carriers and coops at shows.

There is a story here about a young boy who gathered up some poops off the judging table and said "look mom raisins!" before eating them.

 

[Jack]

Uh, at least my 3yo is smart enough to not eat them, but he was mad, cause they weren't raisins....

 

[SatinsRule]

Well, I heard back from the judge in question tonight. As I kind of suspected from the get-go, there was a lot more to the story than what was passed along to me at the Anderson show, and after hearing her side of the ordeal, I cannot say I blame or fault her for the course of action she took.

First off, she didn't go to court with the action. She merely hired an attorney to send some strongly worded correspondence in an attempt to recover the $1,500 in damages she received in the form of medical bills after the rabbit in question bit her hard enough that it hung from her arm for several seconds, resulting in the necessity for emergency medical care. While many of us (myself included) have stated that being bitten by rabbits is an understood hazard of handling the things, who among us has need to make a trip to the ER and get stitched up afterward? Certainly not me.

Second, the breeder in question knew the rabbit would do this, as it had done so to at least two other judges in showrooms, including once earlier that same day.

Thirdly, the exhibitor had stated they would allow their insurance to pay for medical bills, only to turn around and lie to their insurance later on, claiming the judge had been cut on the edge of a cage rather than torn open by their rabbit.

Lastly, I'm glad I kept my mind open long enough to hear both sides of the ordeal before making my mind up and drawing a hasty final conclusion.

 

[Miss M]

Wow. It certainly casts a different light on things when you have all the facts. :shock:

 

[Jack]

EWW, been there, taped my hand back together, didn't send him to freezer camp (my first, and at the time only grandchampiom)
But he doesn't come out to show, I need more GCs...
yeah, that story makes sense.