REW (Ruby-eyes White) is an albino gene that can just mysteriously pop up without even breeding a REW to another rabbit. (I talk about REW's more on my Color/Genetics page).
REW can be a good gene to have dependng on what breed of rabbit you have. For Giant and German Angora's, most of the babies born in litters will be REW. German and Giant Angoras were bred to be albino because they produce white wool, and with white wool, you can dye it any color you want without it being tinted. Giant and German Angoras also produce wool by the pound, so this is another reason why most of them are REW's.
However, I don't breed Giant's and Germans (not yet, anyways. I'm hoping to ge ta litter of German x Satin Hybrids), I breed Satin Angora's, which have shiny coats and don't produce much wool at all per shearing. So, in my opinion, there really don't need to be albino Satin Angora's. My main argument is not about white rabbits, though. There are several Satin Angora colors that include white, such as the Pointed colors and rare cases such as blue-eyed or brown-eyed whites. My main argument is that REW is a pesky gene.
Most rabbits have REW is their genes, so it's probably going to come up in litters once in a while, but the reason I'm trying to take it out of my rabbitry is because, well, as I said before, it doesn't belong with Satin Angoras. The REW gene belongs to rabbits that are only accepted by ARBA-standards if they are REW, to pet rabbits, of fiber rabbits that need to produce bright-white wool.
I am also not saying I don't like REW's (I have a REW German Angora doe), I just feel that for the breeding standards of Satin Angoras, it just does not belong. It is a hard gene to get rid of since it can just kind of...well, pop up...and like I said before, most rabbits have the REW gene, now.
The other main problem with the REW gene is that it does not carry most colors of recognized Satin Angora colors; such as Sable, Pointed White, Pearl, Seal, or Chinchilla. In my opinion I feel that this can cause problems if you are trying out for color. If you are a Satin Angora breeder that has REW's, you probably know that you won't expect a lot of color out of those litters. Everybody has different opinions when it comes to breeding for color and quality, but, just as my personal opinion, I wouldn't have them as a breeding rabbit in my rabbitry. This is only because I raise Satin Angoras. If I was breeding any other kind of bunny, REW would not affect me much at all.
Now, when I say I'm "getting rid of that pesky REW gene", I mean "trying my best to eliminate it", because REW is a gene that is very hard to get rid of out of your litters unless you sell off the dam and sire of the litter and purchase rabbits that don't carry the gene. Trust me, I'm not going to do that, because even if I did do that, and got a doe and buck that was guarenteed to not carry the gene, you can still have a litter with a few REW's in it. It's kind of like the lop incident. Some baby Angora rabbits can be born with upright ears yet when they reach a certain age (usually 5 weeks), one or both their ears can hang downward on the side of his head (that's what lop is). It can occur out of nowhere, although this does also have to do with the shape of the crown of the head and not a gene.
The reason I breed is to improve the Satin Angora. Satin Angoras were introduced just recently and there are many roads for improvement. Another reason I'm trying to take the gene out of my herd is because it is said that REW rabbits have very poor vision. I believe this is true, because my German Angora doe, Ruby, who is REW (she's pictured down below), demonstrates very poor vision and she at times seems very confused by where she's going.
I breed for showmanship, and Satin Angora's are great rabbits in that matter, so I don't want to contribute blindness to them. They're a great breed that still need improvements in some areas. If I want to breed high-quality show Satin Angora's, then REW should stay out of my way.