Editing Fancy rat (section)

=== Ethics of selective breeding ===
There is controversy among rat fanciers in regard to [[selective breeding]].<ref name="nfrs-breeding">{{cite web|url=http://www.nfrs.org/geninfo.html|title=General Information – Advice for the Novice Breeder|date=3 May 2008|publisher=National Fancy Rat Society|access-date=14 November 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160909021538/http://www.nfrs.org/geninfo.html|archive-date=9 September 2016}}</ref><ref name="rmca-breeding">{{cite web|url=http://www.rmca.org/Articles/breeding.htm|title=Breeding: Can YOU Live With It?|last=Isaksen|first=Mary Ann|date=January 1999|work=Rat & Mouse Gazette|publisher=Rat & Mouse Club of America|access-date=14 November 2008}}</ref> On one hand, breeding rats to "conform" to a specific standard or to develop a new one is a large part of [[#History|what the fancy was founded on]]. On the other hand, the process results in many rats who do not "conform", and are then either given away, sold as food, or killed—the latter referred to as [[culling]].{{Citation needed|date=March 2024}}

There are concerns as to whether breeding hairless and tailless rats is ethical. The tail is vital for rats' balance and for adjusting [[Thermoregulation|body temperature]]. Tailless rats have greater risk of [[Hyperthermia|heat exhaustion]], poor bowel and bladder control, falling from heights, and can be at risk for life-threatening deformities in the pelvic region, like hind leg [[paralysis]] and [[megacolon]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afrma.org/taillessrats.htm|title=Tailless Rats|last=Royer|first=Nichole|year=1998|work=AFRMA Rat & Mouse Tales|publisher=American Fancy Rat and Mouse Association|access-date=14 November 2008}}</ref> Similarly, hairless rats are less protected from scratches and the cold without their coat. Groups such as the [[National Fancy Rat Society|NFRS]] prohibit the showing of these varieties at their events and forbid advertisement through affiliated services.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nfrs.org/banned.html|title=Banned varieties|publisher=The National Fancy Rat Society|access-date=11 November 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081018171106/http://www.nfrs.org/banned.html|archive-date=18 October 2008}}</ref>
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