Among many things for new Rabbit and Cavy exhibitors is understanding sanctions.

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“Sanction” can mean a few different things:

 The Show Sanction

An American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) chartered club of whatever type (Be it Local All-Breed, Specialty, Show Circuit, State Association, etc) obtains a “show sanction” from ARBA  There are several rules regarding where and when sanctioned shows are allowed (See ARBA Show Rules. Sect 17-22) This makes the show or shows on that date “Official ARBA shows”, locks the date and prevents multiple shows in the same area.

All breeds can be shown in an All Breed show. . The ARBA show sanction is the ONLY sanction needed to make an “official” show. At an all-breed show any recognized breed or unrecognized breed / varieties with a working standard may be shown, unrecognized breeds / varieties cannot compete for Best in Show, Grand Champion legs etc, but can receive judges comments and may be eligible for display awards depending on the host club policies.

The specific point to remember is that ANY OTHER SANCTION (or lack thereof) will be in regards to a sweepstakes regarding national or regional exhibitor standing only and DOES NOT PROHIBIT an exhibitor from showing a animal in a All-Breed show.

Specialty Shows and Open or Youth

It does bear to remember that a ARBA Breed Specialty Show sanction only allows that named breed to be shown. Also Shows are designated “Open” or “Youth”. When a club obtains an ARBA combined Open/Youth sanction they are dealt with as two separate shows for sanction numbers, paperwork etc.

National Breed Sanctions

 The most often referenced and misunderstood type of sanction is the Breed sanction. Each one of the Recognized ARBA Rabbit and Cavy Breeds  has a National Specialty Club  which upon payment of a fee will issue a sanction number to the host ARBA club and the host club will send a report of “Points” back to the National Specialty Club  which will rank those exhibitors nationally and provide other benefits depending on the club. In  some cases the National Specialty require the host club to pay a “special” prize to breed winners, few still do this.

Some host clubs will change awards given for nationally sanctioned breeds vs unsanctioned breeds. This is a host club policy which exhibitors need to take into consideration and should be noted in the show catalog.

About other “Sanctions”:

Rabbit and Cavy Shows may also be “sanctioned” by a State Associations such as NYRCBA (New York),PaSRBA (Penn), OSRBA(Ohio) or Regional show circuits such as MARCS (Mid-Alantic Rab & Cavy) and NESC (New England Show Cicuit). These sanctions or memberships provide “sweepstakes” or competition points for shows within that state or circuit and other benefits that vary by association. NY, PA, OH state clubs currently offer state sweepstakes. I find it’s much better to say “It’s part of the XXX sweepstakes / show circuit” to avoid confusion.

The overall ARBA structure does not have a hierarchy of leadership. Chartered ARBA clubs, associations, circuits etc. cannot issue a secondary charter (ARBA Constitution Article II, Section K)  Therefore another member entity of ARBA cannot dictate where and when shows are held, breeds shown, etc for another club. Host clubs may choose to conform to sweepstakes rules of an association or circuit but that is at their own discretion as long as the rules don’t conflict with ARBA Show Rules

Again I’d like to say that it’s important to note that the national breed sanction IS NOT REQUIRED in order to show a particular breed at an ARBA show. This does lead to confusion often among new exhibitors and even some experienced breeders forget this, sometimes causing people that want to attend not coming because they didn’t think they could show their rabbit because it wasn’t sanctioned.

The national sanction does tends to get more animals to be brought to a particular show, primarily because exhibitors recognize that the club or exhibitors are interested enough in the breed to obtain the national sanction. This often will become more important for the less numerous breeds.
If the host club can’t or does not wish to pay the sanction fees, exhibitors are encouraged to contact the club and offer to pay the sanctioning fee.

I hope this helps explain some things about Rabbit & Cavy Sanctions.

Jamie Damoth