People Were Hopping Into Richmond For Annual Show On Saturday

RICHMOND (WJON News) -- Easter is over, but there were still plenty of rabbits to be found in Richmond this weekend. The River Lakes Rabbit Club held its 4th annual show at the River Lakes Civic Arena on Saturday.

Paul Habstritt, WJON

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Paul Habstritt, WJON

The show had over 4,000 rabbits from 42 different breeds. The rabbits were judged by breed, and then the best in breed and opposite in breed advanced to the overall show finals, where the top three rabbits in the show are picked. Organizer Sally Larson says the rabbit breeding hobby continues to grow:

"The rabbit hobby is huge, a lot of people don't even know you show rabbits, but there is a national club called the American Rabbit Breeders Association, and then all the state clubs are under them and then the state has little clubs under them we're one of those that are chartered with our state."

Paul Habstritt, WJON

The show brought in 15 judges from all over the U.S. to make the difficult choice of top bunny. Larson says the show is a good place to learn more about the rabbit breeding hobby, and they also had something new this year:

"And a special thing about this show this year is we have a cavy show and a lot of people don't know them as cavies, they know them as guinea pigs, and so along with rabbits we we also show and breed guinea pigs."

Paul Habstritt, WJON

Larson says they had over 100 guinea pigs being judged, and some breeders were selling rabbits and guinea pigs for people looking for a new pet.

The River Lakes Rabbit Club has 28 members and is part of the Minnesota American Rabbit Breeders Association. The event ran from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and was free for the public to attend.

Paul Habstritt, WJON

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