| MIDWEST VELVETEEN LOP BREEDERS HISTORY OF THE VELVETEEN LOP |
| The history of the Velveteen Lop begins like any other new breed. Before it can be accepted into the American Rabbit Breeders Association as a recognized breed for show, it must begin the process with an animal of unique qualities that can identify itself distinctly from any other. |
| Once a breeder has produced a new and distinct breed, the breeder/sponsor must apply for a Certificate of Development with the American Rabbit Breeders Association. The holder of this Certificate of Development, or COD, will be the sole person responsible for maintaining the working standard for the breed, breeding and presenting the animals to the Standards Committee at the annual ARBA Convention and Show. |
| For the Velveteen Lop, this process began around 1994, when the first COD was issued to Virginia Menden of California. At that time, Ms Menden passed on her rights to make presentation, and the next in line with a COD for the breed was Paul Lewis of New Mexico. In 1998, Mr. Lewis was to make his first attempt for presentation at the Portland, Oregon ARBA Convention when due to the weather castastrophe of El Nino that year, Paul was not able to produce animals for presentation, thus giving the Velveteen Lops a failure. When the Louisville, Kentucky ARBA Convention and Show came about in 1999, Paul was not yet prepared again to present animals and decided that he would withdraw from his COD. This passed the presentation rights on to the next COD holder, Mary Crawford of Texas. And this is where the true story of trial and tribulation begins for the Velveteen Lop. |
| The rabbit world heard the rumors, the Velveteen Lop admirers heard the speculation. And the moment had arrived!! It was at that 1999 ARBA Convention in Louisville, Kentucky that the Velveteen Lop made it's debut appearance under the presentation of Mary Crawford. The Velveteen Lop had arrived. And they arrived and left in style with their first passing of three needed. Unfortunately, the next two year's of presentations did not fair well, and the struggles of the Velveteen Lop continued as these years were assessed as failures. Two consecutive failures caused the COD to be passed onto the next person in line, David Kabela of Texas. |
| Starting anew in 2002, Mr. Kabela made his first attempt at presentation in Peoria, Illinois. Here, the broken variety was given it's first pass, while the solid variety had failed. In 2003, the solids received their first passing, while the brokens were given the failure. Ten years later, with one pass and one fail for each variety, the saddness prevailed once again with the failure of both varieties in 2004. David's animals were ready to present in 2005, but due to an untimely death in the family, Mr. Kabela would not make the convention for presentation. Mary Crawford was given the authority to represent him and his animals at the Indianapolis, Indiana convention where the solid's acheived their second passing. With one more needed passing for breed approval status, 2006 in Fort Worth, Texas, home state of the COD holder, surely would be the place for this breed to finally achieve ARBA's approval for recognition. No stranger to hardship, the Velveteen Lop suffered yet again, another set back, as current COD holder David Kabela withdrew his rights as COD holder due to personal reasons, sending the Velveteen Lop world into an uproar. |
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| The story doesn't end there for the Velveteen Lop. With the COD open once again, presentation rights fall yet again to the next in line. Unconfirmed reports led to two people who were in line for the next COD rights and both had passed on their rights which shifted then back to Mary Crawford of Texas to present again in 2006. Under short notice of David's withdrawl, Mary was not prepared for presentation this year and did not then present animals, assessing a first failure for her now second attempt. Bringing us up to date, Grand Rapids, Michigan in 2007 brought disaster and relief. The animals were ready, the presenter was ready, the supporters were standing by in anticipation as the moment for presentation approached. Literally hours before the presentation was to happen, one of the prime animals up for presentation had become a "snack" for a neighboring cooped rabbit, causing a devastating chunk of ear to be taken from the presenting Velveteen Lop. With heavy heart, a thought to be not as equal substitution animal was put in place to go on for presentation. With much deliberation, many onlookers waiting for the verdict, the passing vote was announced!! The Velveteen Lop will continue on for another year, coming full circle to present in 2008 at the very place they first made their grand appearance at back in 1999 - Louisville, Kentucky |
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| The attempt for the second of three needed passings to be made at the 2008 ARBA Convention Louisville, Kentucky |
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