If you were a rabbit guardian, would you keep your companion locked in a tiny cage for her entire life, never allowing her to take a single hop, and neglecting her to the point that she developed painful lesions on her feet from the cage wire? 

Most would consider this blatant animal cruelty, but what I just described is the reality for the vast majority of rabbits raised for meat in Canada.

In nature, rabbits are sociable, active, and playful. Their extremely strong hind limbs allow them to leap great distances—up to one metre high and three metres long.

Though physically quite similar to wild rabbits, rabbits bred for food live in extreme confinement, fear, and suffering—all to end up in rabbit stew.

Most rabbits raised for meat in Canada are housed in cages so small the animals are unable to take a single hop, let alone a three-metre jump. The cages are so tiny, in fact, that rabbits can’t even extend their ears when sitting upright. Rabbits often develop excruciating lesions on their feet due to a lifetime spent standing on uncomfortable bare wire. For an animal who is built for speed and agility, this unnecessary imprisonment is indisputably cruel and needs to end.

The National Farm Animal Care Council (NFACC) has drafted a code of practice that will allow rabbit factory farmers to continue cramming these sensitive and intelligent animals into tiny, barren wire cages.

Please sign our petition calling on NFACC to prohibit such blatant animal abuse and require rabbits to be, at a minimum, housed in enriched cages or park systems that:

• allow all rabbits to lie down, groom, adjust their posture, turn around, move about within the enclosure, and sit upright with ears fully erect without touching the top of the enclosure;
• provide growing rabbits with social opportunities and additional space to hop, run, crawl, and change direction quickly, with no restriction on how high they can jump; and
• are equipped with platforms, gnawing objects, slatted plastic mats, nesting materials, and long fibre.

Now is the time to act! Make your voice heard by speaking out against this horrific animal abuse. Please take action today and tell NFACC that the time is now to protect animals from needless suffering.

Sincerely,
Krista Hiddema
Mercy For Animals
Vice President, Canada