Animal fancy Animal fancy Animal fancy is a hobby involving the appreciation, promotion, or breeding of pet or domestic animals. Fancy may include ownership, showing, animal sports and other competitions, and breeding. Hobbyists may simply collect specimens of the animal in appropriate enclosures (vivaria), such as an aquarium, terrarium, or aviary. Some fanciers keep hobby farms, or menageries (private zoos). There are many animal fancy clubs and associations in the world catering to everything from pigeons to Irish Wolfhounds. Fanciers and fancierdom may collectively be referred to as "the fancy" for that kind of animal, e.g. the cat fancy. Animal-fancy hobbies include
Fancy rat Fancy rat The fancy rat ("Rattus norvegicus domestica") is the domesticated form of "Rattus norvegicus"; it is a subspecies of the brown rat. The name "fancy rat" derives from the idea of animal "fancy" (the promotion of domesticated animals) or the phrase "to fancy" (meaning to like or appreciate). Wild-caught specimens that become docile and are bred for many generations still fall under the "fancy" type. Fancy rats were originally targets for blood sport in 18th- and 19th-century Europe. Later bred as pets, they now come in a wide variety of coat colors and patterns, and are bred and raised