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Ceil and Peter Herman as perhaps best known in Las Cruces as retired New Mexico State University biology professors and founders of Black Box Theatre. They also have been raising and showing guinea pigs (cavies) and rabbits for more than 50 years and are both life members of the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) and the American Cavy Breeders Association. Peter is also an ARBA-licensed rabbit and cavy judge.
The Hermans formed a rabbit and guinea pig club in Columbia, Missouri, in 1971 while attending graduate school. When they moved to New Mexico in 1979, there were already local clubs in Las Cruces and El Paso, with guinea pig and rabbit shows in both cities. Over time, both clubs grew smaller and disbanded, the Hermans said, so they have started a local club for the Mesilla Valley and west Texas: the Chihuahuan Desert Rabbit and Cavy Breeders Association (CDRCBA).
The ARBA charter for the new club was awarded last November, the Hermans said. New members were recruited from the El Paso Rabbit Hole Facebook group, along with a former El Paso club member, Alice Moses Panko, an ARBA rabbit and cavy judge.
The new club’s first ever event will be the Rabbit and Cavy Fun Show, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at Landmark Mercantile, 12000 Stern Drive in Mesquite, New Mexico (take exit 151 from Interstate 10 south of Las Cruces).
There will be divisions for both breeds of animals and pets as well as a costume contest at the show. The entry fee is $2 per animal. The judges will be Panko and Peter Herman, with Ceil Herman judging the pet and costume classes.
Anyone with an interest in guinea pigs and/or rabbits is welcome to exhibit in the show and does not need to be a CDRCBA member to exhibit.
For further information and a show catalog, send an email to cdr_cba@yahoo.com.
CDRCBA is hoping to increase its membership and plans to hold meetings on Zoom. The club will also appoint a board of directors. Membership in the ARBA is necessary for board positions but is not necessary not to join the local club.
Club dues are $10 for a single adult membership, $5 for a single youth membership (18 years old and younger) and $15 for a family membership (one or more adults and all related children under the age of 19 who live at the same address).
To join CDRCBA, make membership checks out to Chihuahuan Desert Rabbit and Cavy Breeders Association and mail them to Ceil and Peter Herman, CDRCBA, 430 N. Main St., Las Cruces, N.M. 88001.
For more information, call Ceil Herman at 575-650-7915.
