Monday, October 22, 2007
Convention Security
Sure, there were problems with checkout at Convention this year, but you have to give them credit for trying to enforce the usual security measures to help protect breeders and their rabbits. Of the four Conventions I've attended, this was probably the tightest security that I've seen. And I appreciate the effort..
It's too bad that all of that effort is really in vain. You see, the basic procedure is so flawed that a child could figure out how to get around it with no trouble.
A few years ago, a breeder I know took a rabbit to Convention. The new owner was supposed to pick it up upon arrival, so the animal was not entered into Convention and did not have a coop. As it turned out, the new buyer could not come and the breeder was stuck with a rabbit with no coop and a hotel room that did not allow rabbits. So, she searched around for someone who had a coop they weren't using and housed it there. When it came time to check out, she simply got a friend to write a sales slip for the bunny, and out the door she went with it.
In this case, she owned the rabbit. You might argue, no harm, no foul. But it pointed out to me how easy it would be to get a rabbit out if it weren't yours. In fact, a Holland breeder did have a rabbit stolen that year. Someone walked out with a rabbit not his.
This year, a couple had to get on the road immediately after Convention, which was a problem since the checkout packets were late. So he sold all of his rabbits to his wife, wrote out sales slips, and checked out with their rabbits. Again, these were their rabbits, but how easy it would be to fake the slips. No breed chair could know the name of every potential seller of rabbits at the Convention. And forget about them recognizing each signature on the fly.
When I checked out, my breed chair checked off the rabbits from my list of rabbits. Then she added the two rabbits I had sales slips for. She handed me my form, zipped my rabbits up, and I was done. Now just stop for a moment. What if she had crossed out the rabbits I didn't have, had me sign it, signed it herself, then kept the form and my sales receipts. Now we have a record of which rabbits I took out of the building. The breed chair could keep the forms for 6 months (or, heck, 6 weeks) and then toss them if no problem arises.
If someone were missing a Holland Lop senior buck with the ear number "CODY," then you'd know who had him.
One of the problems with our current system is that once you walk out the door, no one knows who took what.
Of course, even tightening up on this part of the security won't solve everything. I know a breeder who took a junior to the Convention because she believed she had a buyer. Things didn't work out and she was stuck with a rabbit inside that had not been entered. She just waited until Wednesday, put it into a small lunch box, and walked out.
To have real security, containers big enough to hide a junior Netherland Dwarf or cavy would have to be subject to search. Random searches would be less time-consuming and could still really help curtail rabbit sneaking. Sure, in this case, the rabbit belonged to the sneaker, but how easily could a rabbit be sneaked out that was not the owner's?
There is, unfortunately, another type of theft at Convention - breeding thieves. A breeder that I know had this happen to him this year. When he came in one morning, his feed and water dishes had been removed from the cage and thrown inside. The feeders had been attached on the outside in such a way that the rabbits could not have done this themselves. When he checked his buck, he showed very clear signs of having been bred. Had the sneak thief not left a calling card, he may not have noticed. I wonder how many bucks have been bred at Convention without permission. No one may ever know.
The only protection here is a padlock. Sure, it's possible to lift cages, but that does draw more attention than just opening a door or clipping a zip tie. I know they cost more and are heavy, but I think they are worth it.
To make the cage even more secure, use risers. Then you can zip the riser to the cage in the back and sides. When the row is lifted, the riser goes up and contains the rabbit. Sure, they can snip the ties while holding up the cages (unless you used another padlock), but they risk letting all of the rabbits on that row go and causing a bigger scene.
I teased our friend Roman for not having locks on his cages. I told him that valuable rabbits should be locked up. He replied quite humbly that he hadn't realized they were so valuable. He was second place for Best Display points this year, and bred and owned the BOG bunny! The moral is that any nice rabbit can be a target. Your rabbit may do better than you dreamed and become highly desirable. Don't take chances.
We all show at our own risk. There's no way to make showing rabbits risk-free. But I think we can take certain steps, both individually and as a national club, to limit the risks as much as possible.
Laurie
¶ 10:16 PM
It's too bad that all of that effort is really in vain. You see, the basic procedure is so flawed that a child could figure out how to get around it with no trouble.
A few years ago, a breeder I know took a rabbit to Convention. The new owner was supposed to pick it up upon arrival, so the animal was not entered into Convention and did not have a coop. As it turned out, the new buyer could not come and the breeder was stuck with a rabbit with no coop and a hotel room that did not allow rabbits. So, she searched around for someone who had a coop they weren't using and housed it there. When it came time to check out, she simply got a friend to write a sales slip for the bunny, and out the door she went with it.
In this case, she owned the rabbit. You might argue, no harm, no foul. But it pointed out to me how easy it would be to get a rabbit out if it weren't yours. In fact, a Holland breeder did have a rabbit stolen that year. Someone walked out with a rabbit not his.
This year, a couple had to get on the road immediately after Convention, which was a problem since the checkout packets were late. So he sold all of his rabbits to his wife, wrote out sales slips, and checked out with their rabbits. Again, these were their rabbits, but how easy it would be to fake the slips. No breed chair could know the name of every potential seller of rabbits at the Convention. And forget about them recognizing each signature on the fly.
When I checked out, my breed chair checked off the rabbits from my list of rabbits. Then she added the two rabbits I had sales slips for. She handed me my form, zipped my rabbits up, and I was done. Now just stop for a moment. What if she had crossed out the rabbits I didn't have, had me sign it, signed it herself, then kept the form and my sales receipts. Now we have a record of which rabbits I took out of the building. The breed chair could keep the forms for 6 months (or, heck, 6 weeks) and then toss them if no problem arises.
If someone were missing a Holland Lop senior buck with the ear number "CODY," then you'd know who had him.
One of the problems with our current system is that once you walk out the door, no one knows who took what.
Of course, even tightening up on this part of the security won't solve everything. I know a breeder who took a junior to the Convention because she believed she had a buyer. Things didn't work out and she was stuck with a rabbit inside that had not been entered. She just waited until Wednesday, put it into a small lunch box, and walked out.
To have real security, containers big enough to hide a junior Netherland Dwarf or cavy would have to be subject to search. Random searches would be less time-consuming and could still really help curtail rabbit sneaking. Sure, in this case, the rabbit belonged to the sneaker, but how easily could a rabbit be sneaked out that was not the owner's?
There is, unfortunately, another type of theft at Convention - breeding thieves. A breeder that I know had this happen to him this year. When he came in one morning, his feed and water dishes had been removed from the cage and thrown inside. The feeders had been attached on the outside in such a way that the rabbits could not have done this themselves. When he checked his buck, he showed very clear signs of having been bred. Had the sneak thief not left a calling card, he may not have noticed. I wonder how many bucks have been bred at Convention without permission. No one may ever know.
The only protection here is a padlock. Sure, it's possible to lift cages, but that does draw more attention than just opening a door or clipping a zip tie. I know they cost more and are heavy, but I think they are worth it.
To make the cage even more secure, use risers. Then you can zip the riser to the cage in the back and sides. When the row is lifted, the riser goes up and contains the rabbit. Sure, they can snip the ties while holding up the cages (unless you used another padlock), but they risk letting all of the rabbits on that row go and causing a bigger scene.
I teased our friend Roman for not having locks on his cages. I told him that valuable rabbits should be locked up. He replied quite humbly that he hadn't realized they were so valuable. He was second place for Best Display points this year, and bred and owned the BOG bunny! The moral is that any nice rabbit can be a target. Your rabbit may do better than you dreamed and become highly desirable. Don't take chances.
We all show at our own risk. There's no way to make showing rabbits risk-free. But I think we can take certain steps, both individually and as a national club, to limit the risks as much as possible.
Laurie
¶ 10:16 PM
