Actress and model Danielle Lineker spearheads Four Paws campaign to ban battery cages for farmed rabbits in the UK
Up to 1 million rabbits are often confined in tiny cages before being slaughtered
Danielle Lineker is spearheading a Four Paws animal charity campaign to ban battery cages for farmed rabbits in the UK.
Many people in Britain are completely unaware that so many rabbits are suffering in terrible conditions before they end up in a pet food tin or on a dinner plate. Farmed rabbits are being kept in barren cages in similar conditions to factory farmed battery hens. Hundreds of rabbits may be housed in rows of tiny wire cages in windowless sheds. They have little room to move, no daylight and usually nothing to chew or gnaw on except the bars of the cage. The boredom and stress can lead to the development of abnormal repetitive behaviours and the wire flooring can cause painful sores on the rabbits’ feet. This is the everyday life for some rabbits kept in battery cages across Britain. Barren cages for hens will be illegal from 2012 but there are currently no such plans to end their use for rabbits.
A FOUR PAWS investigation has exposed the hidden truth behind farmed rabbit battery cages in the UK. Investigators visited several UK farms and were shocked by what they found – cramped, dark, inadequate housing systems where animals are kept hidden away.
It’s estimated that between 250 000 and one million rabbits are reared for meat in the UK each year. However, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) does not publish any statistics on rabbit farming, and there is no commercial body representing the UK rabbit farming industry, so accurate data is currently not available.
Danielle Lineker and Four Paws are calling on the Government to phase out the keeping of farmed rabbits in cages and to lift the veil of secrecy that surrounds the UK rabbit farming industry. Four Paws wants key statistics and information made publicly available. Four Paws is very concerned that rabbit factory farming is continuing to grow in the UK.
Actress and model Danielle Lineker says: “It’s Rabbit Awareness Week so let’s do all we can to help these beautiful and intelligent creatures by supporting a campaign that helps to protect them from suffering. It’s appalling that rabbits on UK farms are imprisoned in these barren wire cages that fail to meet even their most basic welfare needs. Rabbits need freedom of movement and opportunities to express natural behaviours such as foraging for food and digging in the earth. Rabbits are popular companion animals and most people would be horrified to learn that these gentle creatures are being kept in these conditions. I support a call to ban all battery cages for UK farmed rabbits.”
Angelique Davies, Head of Programs at Four Paws, said: “Many people would be shocked to learn that rabbits can legally be kept in tiny barren cages that severely restrict their movement and natural behaviour. Legal protection for farmed rabbits is woefully inadequate. British people feel strongly about animal welfare and we believe the majority of people would agree that keeping rabbits in cramped barren cages can no longer be tolerated. We must join together in calling on the Government to end the keeping of farmed rabbits in cages.”
There are no harmful repetitive behaviors evidenced in caged rabbits, similar to horses who are stalled for long periods of time. Colony raised rabbits often have illness, disease, and wounds from scrapping and fighting with each other, and the poor females get re-bred immediately upon delivery of their litter. Just because a rabbit is kept in a wire cage does not mean it’s uncomfortable. Often people say “How would you like to lay on a wire floor?” To which I reply, “I would love to lay on a wire floor that kept me well-ventilated and cool in the summer, especially if I had a nice coat of fur or wool to cushion me.” This article just smacks of Animal Rights Activism disguised as a humanity campaign. Let’s interview these rabbit raisers and allow them to tell their side of the story.
I re-read this again and some of the points and it comes across even more silly the second time. Is it cruel to confine people to their warm house and automobiles, instead of their “natural behavior” like being exposed to the elements? Is it cruel to have a frige with food and a store or market to easily obtain food? Has this “expert” actress/activist even seen a rabbit in the wild? Or how about rabbits raised in colonies in the dirt? There are far more issues to deal with when you allow a rabbit to follow it’s instinct and burrow in the ground. Disease, parasites, and predation are just a few off the top of my head. And where is the objectiveness in this article and an interview with an opposing point of view? What, they didn’t bother to ask one of the widespread and prolific outfits (if the number quoted in this article are to be belived) yet ultra-secret and ellusive breeders to get their version? Slander and lible them to death yet don’t give them a forum to speak up in their own defense. As to Rabbit Awareness Week, I’d be more than happy to discuss any questions about rabbits, their habits, and anything involved with the husbandry of this amazing livestock.
Where is the proof that these rabbits are being cared for in a cruel and unfit manner? Just because this person says so? Rabbits do just fine in small cages (but it should be the appropriate size for their breed). It is extremely rare for a rabbit to get “bored” in a cage and show repetative behavior. Even in the wild, rabbits are semi-social and have their own indivdual burrow. Also, sore hocks is also rather rare and wire bottom cages are fine for almost every breed of rabbit (if it has been properly bred). This sounds like more propaganda and spreading falsehoods. I am not for cruelty to animals. However, I can tell when someone has an agenda and wants to paint with a broad stroking brush and imply that if a rabbit is kept in a cage it is cruel. This is simply not true and is an obvious attempt to chip away at breeder’s rights. Rabbits spend the vast majority of their time in small, cramped, damp, underground burrows and warrens. They re-breed monthly, and fight constantly. They eek out a very haggard and meager existance. Is that cruel? Of course punish someone if they are harming or endangering their animals. However, don’t go after everyone and act like it is a large-scale industry-wide standard.