CATS and dogs may be the popular choices for many pet owners in Malaysia, but for Petaling Jaya-based technical instructor Timothy Chan, it’s rabbits, particularly the Holland Lop breed.

Chan hopes his blog will help stop pet exploitations in any way.

“I have kept many pets throughout my life, and I still do, but somehow rabbits still turned out to be my favourite. I used to keep local rabbits, and when I started researching about the different breeds of rabbits, I stumbled across a very cute breed called Holland Lop,” he says.

According to Chan, the overall structure and appearance of a Holland Lop resembles the likes of a Bulldog, and this cute look is what captured his heart.

Another unique attribute of this rabbit breed is, their ears do not point upwards, but droop downwards.

Chan’s foundation Holland Lops were bought locally, but he felt that their overall appearance did not adhere to the breed standard laid down by international rabbit clubs and associations. So, he started venturing into the possibility of importing quality specimens to start a small-scale breeding programme.

After some misadventures, Chan found a breeder who was willing to send his first show rabbit out from United States, and the rest, as they say, is history.

As a natural extension of his hobby, Chan shares his passion for breeding Holland Lops in his blog, Tru-Luv Rabbitry (http://truluvrabbitry.wordpress.com). The blog kicked off in June last year.

“The word ‘rabbitry’ means a place where domestic rabbits are raised. Tru-Luv Rabbitry is the name I have given to my humble little ‘herd’ of rabbits that I keep and breed as part of my hobby.

“Tru-Luv should be pronounced as true love because when I started keeping rabbits, I felt that they are the most misunderstood pets among many Malaysians. There is so much more we need to learn about them.

“All breedings are planned, and to be frank, Holland Lops are difficult to breed, which is against the popular belief of the saying, ‘Breed like rabbits’. Due to this very reason, all my rabbits are very special to me and they are showered with lots of love and care. Hence, True Love,” he says.

To date, Chan has had 2,224 views on various postings with the best hit per day at 103 views. He has a circle of “bunny” friends who visit the blog on a daily basis.

“My blog features photos of my rabbits and all my favourite links. These links are mostly to the US rabbitry Web pages and blogs. I mostly blog about how I handle my rabbits, breed and raise them. Whenever there are kits in the nest box, I will post pictures of them growing up day by day, or as often as I can.

“I also blog about the problems I face in my journey of raising these rabbits. Sometimes I post very graphic photos of my rabbits when a problem arises. Basically, it is a mix of good and bad times thrown into one,” he elaborates.

Chan also discusses about rabbit care products and pet shops that carry them – the latest being a brand of rabbit products called Oxbow.

“I do hope people profit from my blog directly or indirectly because that would mean that people do care about their pet rabbits. Also, I believe that we have a small rabbit owners community here in Malaysia. I’m not too sure whether any of them visit my blog, but if they do, then it would be good for them to learn from my experiences,” he says, adding that he hopes that his blog can help Malaysians be aware of their pet rabbits’ needs.

“I would like to get rid of all the myths surrounding the way rabbits are raised. Most of all, I hope that my blog can help stop pet exploitations in any way. I am disturbed by how many pets in Malaysia have fallen into the hands of irresponsible breeders and used as breeding machines at the expense of profit making. Truly disgusting,” Chan says.

His future plans include putting up more ads (if wordpress.com allows it) to generate some income to work on some rabbit rescue projects.

“Last but not least, I would like this blog to be a stepping stone for me to raise awareness about raising rabbits seriously among young people, just like how it is being practised in the US, where they have something called the 4-H project (Head, Heart, Hands and Health), which is what I believe is an equivalent of our version of Rakan Muda, where young people are exposed to many activities, including raising and showing rabbits,” Chan concludes.