We just completed one of the roughest ruts in the path of our entire journey raising rabbits over the weekend. You've read in this space (or can read below) about the possibility of our selling-off of the Holland Lops in our rabbitry. Now that it is over, I'll attempt to explain why we considered such a possibility.

We've had an air-conditioned rabbitry for our entire 19+ year history. I've always believed that it is more humane to house the animals this way, especially during the Summer in Texas. It also allows for year-round breeding (with appropriate rest schedules for the does) and increases our comfort- ensuring that our rabbits get the same amount of attention and affection year-round.

This year, our air conditioner, active for over 15 years, decided to break down. It has broken before but has always been relatively inexpensive to repair. This time, not so much. We called a repair service in Waco which shall remain nameless (rhymes with Zampbell Zappliance, as in the zoup.)

They took part of the system, told us they'd look for a replacement, then proceeded to quote us an amount which was about $300 over our final bill. While attempting to negotiate, the owner held us (and our rabbits) hostage for over a month, telling us fairy tales about finding used parts on the internet.

Zoup is bad food.

We finally found a repairman willing to attempt the job who successfully repaired the system for a reasonable price. Our rabbits were well-taken care of during the interim, of course, but we had to rely on fans and a small window-unit AC to cool them. We also had limited cage space and had to rotate them between 18' x 24' units and show cages. They are glad to be back in their regular rabbitry now, with room to stretch.

MBT