Rabbits
via Compassion in world farming - Rabbits are the fourth most farmed animal in the world and most are kept in barren environments, often in cages. In the EU the majority are housed in sheds containing 500 to 1000 breeding females (does) and 10,000 to 20,000 growing rabbits. The domesticated rabbit has kept most of their wild rabbit’s natural behaviour and intensive farming systems have severe negative implications for welfare.
Currently there is no species-specific legislation protecting the welfare of farmed rabbits in the EU. A few countries within the EU have species specific requirements for rabbit farming but they produce only a very small percentage of rabbit meat farmed in the EU.
Inadequate space and height
Young rabbits reared for meat (growers) in the EU are typically caged in groups with 450 to 600cm² space each; this is less than the area of an ordinary A4 sheet of typing paper. The functional space available to growing rabbits housed in small groups in cages is insufficient to allow many normal activities, such as sequences of hops, running and play behaviour.
A typical cage for an adult doe in the EU is 60 to 65cm long, 40 to 48cm wide and 30 to 35cm high. This means that rabbits cannot move normally or adopt normal postures such as stretching out, sitting and standing with their ears erect (species typical “look out” posture), rearing up, turning around comfortably and hopping. Lack of exercise can also lead to weakened bones.
Barren environment
Rabbits are reared in a barren environment except for a drinker and feeder and are fed on pellets. The barren environment does not allow natural behaviours such as: digging, hiding and foraging which leads to abnormal behaviours such as over grooming and repetitive gnawing or nibbling of the cage. Females that are reared for breeding and not nursing may also suffer from hunger as they are often kept on a restricted diet.
Lack of social interaction
Rabbits are social animals living in stable groups. Serious aggression is rare once a stable hierarchy has been established.
Growers are often housed in pairs or groups, but breeding does and bucks are usually kept in individual cages, denying them the opportunity for social interaction. Rabbits caged singly may show more abnormal stereotypical behaviour such as over grooming and gnawing at the bars of their cage. Research has demonstrated that breeding rabbits can be housed successfully in groups if they are given sufficient space and adequate nesting facilities to avoid possible aggression problems.
Injuries and disease
The cages are made of wire and sometimes have metal sheet sides. Often the floor is entirely bare wire. Breeding male and females kept on bare wire often develop sores on their footpads and hocks. The sores can cause chronic pain and are a common reason for culling. By having a plastic platform or slatted footrest ulcerative lesions on the hock can be prevented and can help cure those affected.
Does are commonly given hormone treatment to get them ready to breed at the same time and then are artificially inseminated on average within 11 days after giving birth. Their bodies are put under huge strain from the constant reproduction cycle and this can lead to loss of body condition and metabolic disease.
Mortality of commercially farmed rabbits is very high, with commonly 100 - 120% of breeding does dying or being culled and replaced each year and losses of 15 to 30% of growers from birth to slaughter. Respiratory and intestinal diseases are the main reason for such high mortalities and cause acute pain. Rabbits are so susceptible to disease when kept in intensive conditions that in France in 2010 rabbit farming used over 7 times more antibiotics per kilogram of meat compared to poultry and over 5 times more than used in pig meat.
Slaughter
In the EU commercially slaughtered rabbits are usually electrically stunned before slaughter. Research has shown that rabbits may be frequently incorrectly stunned. Rabbits are hung individually upside down for the electrical stunning which is stressful and may cause pain and/or injury if their weight is not supported properly. This is a particular problem for larger rabbits.
There are alternatives to barren-cage farming of rabbits, which can improve the welfare of farmed rabbits.
Currently there is no species-specific legislation protecting the welfare of farmed rabbits in the EU. A few countries within the EU have species specific requirements for rabbit farming but they produce only a very small percentage of rabbit meat farmed in the EU.
Inadequate space and height
Young rabbits reared for meat (growers) in the EU are typically caged in groups with 450 to 600cm² space each; this is less than the area of an ordinary A4 sheet of typing paper. The functional space available to growing rabbits housed in small groups in cages is insufficient to allow many normal activities, such as sequences of hops, running and play behaviour.
A typical cage for an adult doe in the EU is 60 to 65cm long, 40 to 48cm wide and 30 to 35cm high. This means that rabbits cannot move normally or adopt normal postures such as stretching out, sitting and standing with their ears erect (species typical “look out” posture), rearing up, turning around comfortably and hopping. Lack of exercise can also lead to weakened bones.
Barren environment
Rabbits are reared in a barren environment except for a drinker and feeder and are fed on pellets. The barren environment does not allow natural behaviours such as: digging, hiding and foraging which leads to abnormal behaviours such as over grooming and repetitive gnawing or nibbling of the cage. Females that are reared for breeding and not nursing may also suffer from hunger as they are often kept on a restricted diet.
Lack of social interaction
Rabbits are social animals living in stable groups. Serious aggression is rare once a stable hierarchy has been established.
Growers are often housed in pairs or groups, but breeding does and bucks are usually kept in individual cages, denying them the opportunity for social interaction. Rabbits caged singly may show more abnormal stereotypical behaviour such as over grooming and gnawing at the bars of their cage. Research has demonstrated that breeding rabbits can be housed successfully in groups if they are given sufficient space and adequate nesting facilities to avoid possible aggression problems.
Injuries and disease
The cages are made of wire and sometimes have metal sheet sides. Often the floor is entirely bare wire. Breeding male and females kept on bare wire often develop sores on their footpads and hocks. The sores can cause chronic pain and are a common reason for culling. By having a plastic platform or slatted footrest ulcerative lesions on the hock can be prevented and can help cure those affected.
Does are commonly given hormone treatment to get them ready to breed at the same time and then are artificially inseminated on average within 11 days after giving birth. Their bodies are put under huge strain from the constant reproduction cycle and this can lead to loss of body condition and metabolic disease.
Mortality of commercially farmed rabbits is very high, with commonly 100 - 120% of breeding does dying or being culled and replaced each year and losses of 15 to 30% of growers from birth to slaughter. Respiratory and intestinal diseases are the main reason for such high mortalities and cause acute pain. Rabbits are so susceptible to disease when kept in intensive conditions that in France in 2010 rabbit farming used over 7 times more antibiotics per kilogram of meat compared to poultry and over 5 times more than used in pig meat.
Slaughter
In the EU commercially slaughtered rabbits are usually electrically stunned before slaughter. Research has shown that rabbits may be frequently incorrectly stunned. Rabbits are hung individually upside down for the electrical stunning which is stressful and may cause pain and/or injury if their weight is not supported properly. This is a particular problem for larger rabbits.
There are alternatives to barren-cage farming of rabbits, which can improve the welfare of farmed rabbits.
During the summer of 2014, Compassion in World Farming’s Investigation Unit went undercover to visit 16 rabbit factory farms in 5 countries – Italy, Greece, Czech Republic, Poland and Cyprus.
What they found is the unknown face of factory farming: millions of animals stuck in the Cage Age… they found animals covered in sores and in such distress that they chewed off each other's ears.
The rabbits are treated with such appalling cruelty that many simply die in their cages. The bodies of these dead animals are then often simply left to rot, with the other rabbits forced to walked across the carcasses simply to make their way around the cramped cage.
Like most battery-reared animals, the rabbits never see daylight, instead spending their entire lives locked in cramped cages.
At one farm 16 rabbits were found locked in a cage just one metre square, according to the Mirror.
The treatment of the rabbits depends on whether they are male, female or newborn. When the male rabbits are crammed in tiny cages, the females are often kept in solitary confinement where they are artificially inseminated and forced to deliver litter after litter.
The fact of newborns deemed too small to be used for meat is even worse, with the tiny rabbits' heads smashed against the wire to kill them or otherwise left to fall through the sharp metal bars on the floor of their cramped hutches, where they will starve to death in the squalid sewage pit below.
On average the rabbits rarely live longer than 80 days at which point they are slaughtered, with many of them turned into pet food.
What they found is the unknown face of factory farming: millions of animals stuck in the Cage Age… they found animals covered in sores and in such distress that they chewed off each other's ears.
The rabbits are treated with such appalling cruelty that many simply die in their cages. The bodies of these dead animals are then often simply left to rot, with the other rabbits forced to walked across the carcasses simply to make their way around the cramped cage.
Like most battery-reared animals, the rabbits never see daylight, instead spending their entire lives locked in cramped cages.
At one farm 16 rabbits were found locked in a cage just one metre square, according to the Mirror.
The treatment of the rabbits depends on whether they are male, female or newborn. When the male rabbits are crammed in tiny cages, the females are often kept in solitary confinement where they are artificially inseminated and forced to deliver litter after litter.
The fact of newborns deemed too small to be used for meat is even worse, with the tiny rabbits' heads smashed against the wire to kill them or otherwise left to fall through the sharp metal bars on the floor of their cramped hutches, where they will starve to death in the squalid sewage pit below.
On average the rabbits rarely live longer than 80 days at which point they are slaughtered, with many of them turned into pet food.
According to Compassion in World Farming, about 330 million rabbits "live" and die like this in Europe each year.
CIWF has petitioned the EU to make farming rabbits in cages illegal! All rabbits should be able to roam, hop, and to express all their natural behaviours. Please sign this important petition by clicking on the big button below.
Thank you!
CIWF has petitioned the EU to make farming rabbits in cages illegal! All rabbits should be able to roam, hop, and to express all their natural behaviours. Please sign this important petition by clicking on the big button below.
Thank you!