Coalition to abolish the fur trade www.caft.org.uk www.rabbitfur.info mail:caft@caft.org.uk

The reality of commercial rabbit farming in Europe

It was vital to look into the rabbit farming industry as a whole:including farms which breed rabbits specifically for the furtrade, farms for rabbit meat production, slaughterhouses,dressing companies, and companies which explore the geneticbreeding of rabbits for both fur and meat.

SIZE OF INDUSTRY

There appears to be no reliable figures for commercial rabbitfarming today; the last figures are from 2003 when theEuropean Food Safety Authority commissioned a scientificreport into commercial rabbit farming and found that almost857 million rabbits were slaughtered for the meat industry1;this excludes any figures for Rex production. More than half ofthis figure comes from China.

A 1997 report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of theUnited Nations report states that rabbit fur production is “notcomparable with the production of other fur species. Mink,which tops the list of species bred essentially for its fur,supplies a world total of about 25 million to 35 million pelts ayear whereas rabbit pelts are estimated at one billion.” Thisreport states that France has the largest rabbit farming industryand its annual rabbit skin production is over 70 million.2 Othersources state that Spain, France and Italy are the maincountries for rabbit farming.

3It is important to bear in mind

that this figure is now more than likely bigger, since numbersof other furs have increased.

SpainRabbitfarmingbegan toincreasesubstantiallyin the 1970sin Spain; thisled to anotableincrease inoutput and

in the marketing of rabbit meat. The 2003 total was 114,000TEC (Tonnes Equivalent Carcass). The highest production regionis Catalonia, where one third of all rabbit meat in Spain isproduced. Other important producer regions are Aragon(14.5%), Galicia (13.8%) and Valencia (9.2%) but small localproduction is still present in Castilla-León, Castilla-La Manchaand Andalucia.

4

ItalyDuring the 1970s, the rabbit farming industry in Italy was verymuch a cottage industry. Due to the demand for rabbit meat,the industry grew steadily to reach almost twice its size in2003 (222,000 TEC); Italy consumes most of the meat itproduces and imports are low. The greatest concentration andthe largest farms are found in northern Italy (Veneto,Lombardia, Emilia-Romagna and Piemonte regions) wherefarms are large and intensive (500-1,000 does). Production is,nonetheless, substantial throughout the country: In central andsouthern Italy there are a large number of medium and smallsized farms (100-500 does).

5

FranceIn the mid 70’s,the rabbitfarmingindustry inFrance wasmore thandouble thepreviousdocumentedstatistics.According tothe EFSA

report, the production in 2003 was roughly 85,000 TEC; twothirds being produced on commercial farms, and the remainingproduction coming from smaller, family-run farms

6.

RABBIT BREEDS

There are two main breeds in the commercial rabbit farmingindustry: Rex and White rabbits (New Zealand White orCalifornia White; these will be referred to generically as Whiterabbits). The Rex is bred specifically for the fur and is a morevelvety fur with shorter, thicker hair than the White. Whiterabbits have traditionally been bred primarily for the meat, andthe fur was not always used; this is, however, changing due toincreased demand for the fur. There is also another breed, across-breed of the Rex, called the Orylag only in France.

RexThere are 2 breeds of Rex mainly bred for fur: Castor Rex (a browncolour) and Chin Rex (which is the same colour as chinchilla butwith white on the underbelly; this is purposeful as the fur ischeaper to produce than chinchilla fur but looks almost the same).

The rabbit fur trade is the fastest growing section of the industry, yet little is publicly

known about it. Many myths have been perpetuated about this industry, thus

allowing the fur trade to increase the popularity of rabbit fur. Because of this, the

Coalition to abolish the Fur Trade (CAFT) planned an investigation to conduct research

into the industry and obtain video and photographic evidence. CAFT investigators

travelled to four European countries – Denmark, Spain, Italy and France – to investigate

all aspects of the trade.

Coalition to abolish the fur trade www.caft.org.uk www.rabbitfur.info mail:caft@caft.org.uk

The Rex has shorthair; the under-hair is the samelength as theover-hair (unlikethe mink wherethe over-hair islonger) and thefur looks andfeels very velvety.

During our investigation, we found that some farmers inDenmark were also breeding a white Rex. These have a densefur and are the same colour all round the pelt. These are,however, half the price of Castor Rex and thus not so common.

A main selling point for the Rex is the fact that the colouring ofthe fur is so unique; since it has white on the belly of therabbit, the skins are never identical and thus can produce aunique product. This, however, can have a downside for salesin that most auction houses want to sell a homogenous batchof skins.

The Rex rabbits arebred in intensiveconditions which aredescribed in moredetail below. They arekept with the motheruntil 4-5 weeks old,moved to a differentcage with the siblingsuntil 7-8 weeks oldand then separatedfrom siblings toendure a solitary short life in single cages until 8-9 months oldwhen killed. They are kept for this amount of time so that theyshed their first winter coat and thus the fur is much thicker,and hence better quality. They are kept in single cages toprevent fighting which will spoil the pelt.

The fur from the breeding stock is sometimes used dependingon quality, although the meat is not normally used. Breedinganimals are kept for between 2-3 years of breeding and themothers are re-bred from 1-3 weeks after giving birth. Themeat of rabbits killed at 8-9 months is often sold on for humanconsumption or pet food, but is most definitely a secondaryproduct. In Denmark it is actually illegal to sell the meat forhuman consumption if it has not gone through a specificbutchering process, so farms visited by CAFT that admittedselling the meat were doing so illegally.

One farmer interviewed by CAFT who bred Rex rabbits, alsobred rabbits for the pet trade as these fetched a higher price.He said he would not be able to continue with his businesswithout breeding for the pet trade and that there is a highdemand for pets.

Rabbit fur has never been particularly popular in the furindustry and those involved in the production of Rex fur aretrying to convince the rest of the industry that it is a highquality fur.

White RabbitsThe New Zealand (or California White) rabbit has traditionallybeen bred for the meat industry and as such is farmed slightlydifferent from the Rex. They are also farmed intensively: keptwith the mother to around 4-5 weeks old, then moved withsiblings to a fattening cage, where they will stay until 10-12weeks old when killed (they are usually 2 kg in weight by thistime). They can be housed in groups as they are killed beforethey reach sexual maturity when they would start fighting.

Whiterabbits arebred moreoften thanRex orOrylag; thefemales cangive birth upto 11 times ayear and thisis a rolling

process. The breeding doe is seen simply as a breeding machine,re-mated only a week after giving birth and often will be killedafter a year, as her useful life is then over. Reasons for killingthe breeding does are usually reproductive failure; sore hockscan be an indirect cause, as the pain from this will reduce herability to breed as successfully.

OrylagINRA (National Institute for Agricultural Research) is a Frenchgovernmental organisation which started the Orylag breedingprogramme in 1985. They cross-bred the Rex rabbit to come upwith a new breed of rabbit for commercial purposes: theOrylag. This particular breed of rabbit is considered to be ahigh quality fur rabbit as well as producing good quality meat.60% of the profit comes from the fur and 40% from the meat.

A co-operative was set up to deal with this breed and withinthis there are 20 breeders of the Orylag in France, from which100,000 Orylag rabbits are killed and pelted per annum.. Thereis no-one else breeding Orylag in the rest of the world. The co-operative has two patents covering Orylag: the fur (Orylag) andthe meat (called Rex du Poitu referring to the region where therabbits are bred). It produces an annual turnover of €3millionand deals with designers such as Fendi, Dior, Channel, Hermes,D&G, amongst others. The co-op was commended by the

InternationalFur TradeFederation inthe UK forbeing able tosell the meat aswell as the furto attempt tomake fur moreappealing toconsumers.

The co-operative oversees all stages of production, from supplyingthe semen to the farms for artificial insemination to accountingfor, and being able to trace, the destination of every single peltand piece of meat. Every action goes firstly through the co-op.

Coalition to abolish the fur trade www.caft.org.uk www.rabbitfur.info mail:caft@caft.org.uk

They liaise with the slaughterhouse and arrange collection ofthe rabbits. All rabbits are killed in batches of farms from whichthey originate; when killed a metal ID clip is put on the ear toidentify it. This has the breeder number on it and all details ofeach batch are recorded to identify which pelt/cut of meat isfrom which farm.

After slaughter, the back of each pelt is stamped, whichdocuments when the pelt was ‘produced’, tanned and at whattemperature it was stored. If there was ever a concern aboutthe authenticity of an Orylag pelt, one can simply check thestamp and contact the co-op. Since the Orylag co-op has thebacking of the INRA (in other words, the French government),if anyone were to try to illegally reproduce Orylag skins, theINRA have the legal and financial means to prevent this.

The breeding doe will have between 5-12 young, most willhave around 7. She is re-mated approximately 3-7 days later byartificial insemination. The young will stay with her until 4weeks old, then moved into cages with their siblings until 7weeks old (sexual maturity) then moved into single cages toprevent fighting.

The rabbits are killed at 20 weeks of age and this takes placeon a rolling timescale, rather than any one particular time ofyear. At a slaughterhouse CAFT visited in France, 25,000 rabbitsare killed each week; 4,000 of these are Orylag. The process isthe same as described below.

WELFARE CONCERNS

The bare wire mesh cage system was common through out allthe farms visited, apart from Denmark, and is a generallyaccepted form of housing for commercial rabbits. This,however, poses problems for the rabbits, both physically andpsychologically.

Rabbit farmsvisited by CAFTin Denmarkhad differentmethods ofhousingrabbits. Onewas the typicalcage systemseen in theothercountries, onewas an old foxfur farm and

two kept the rabbits in tiered wooden hutches. Apart from thefirst, these farms were not highly commercial and bred rabbitsnot only for fur but for meat and shows.

Rabbits bred primarily for their fur (i.e. Rex and Orylag) arecaged individually once they reach sexual maturity to avoiddamaging to the pelt. The accepted industry standard forthese cages is approximately 60cm by 40cm with only aheight of 30cm. This is roughly equivalent to the floor spaceof two large shoe boxes.

White rabbitsare housed ingroups, eachcage onlyaround 100cmby 60cm andthe sameheight as thesingle cages.

In bare wiremesh cages,rabbits areeither keptseparately topreventfighting orcrammedtogether, withlittle space tomove, nevermind stretchout, play, orhop. Thelocomotorbehaviour ofhopping is vitalto rabbits; incages, this isseriouslyimpaired whichcan lead toproblems withbone disorders.Rabbits like tobe able to sit

up with their ears erect; the very nature of the cage does notallow them this innate behaviour. In the worst scenario, cagedrabbits can develop deformations of the vertebral column. Aswell as the cages denying the rabbits natural instinct to hop,the cage system also prevents the innate behaviour of digging.

The housing of the rabbits both separately and as a groupboth cause problems. Since rabbits are social animals, beingseparated from another rabbit causes immense stress andthis social deprivation leads to stereotyped behaviour such asgnawing on cage bars (a common behaviour exhibited incaged animals) and over-grooming (excessively pluckingone’s own fur is a form of self-mutilation). Even housing the adolescent sibling rabbits together is not any better. The overcrowding of the cages leads to increased aggressionand fighting. Fur-plucking and ear-biting are behaviouralmanifestations attributed to overcrowding.

Bare cages means boredom, which again leads tostereotypical behaviour. Most research carried out onwhether rabbits benefit from cage enrichment proved thatany kind of enrichment, such as gnawing sticks or even justhay, was a positive step in reducing boredom, cagegnawing and fighting7. Even though this is widely acceptedwithin commercial rabbit producers, none of the farmsvisited during our investigation had any enrichment.

Rabbit farm in Denmark: Hutches are notused by commercial rabbit farmers

Battery-style cages are typical throughoutthe industry. From top - Rex, White, Orylag

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Most were entirely bare; those not bare simply had a bit ofstraw for nesting mothers. Even though this would be aslight improvement in terms of psychological well-being, thedownside is any cage enrichment is considered to bedetrimental for the hygiene of the rabbit.

The mesh flooring of thecages causes damage tothe feet of the rabbit andthis can result in sorehocks (ulcerativepododermatitis), leadingto infections andabscesses. In 2003,research was carried outthat found up to 15% ofdoes suffered from sorehocks

8and other

research showed up to40% of female rabbitshad paw injuries thatwere sufficiently seriousfor them to show signsof discomfort

9.

Underneaththe cagesare moundsof oldexcrementwhich fallthrough thecage floor.These pilesmay only becleanedonce ortwice a year! These pits of faeces are a breeding ground forviruses, bacteria and parasites. The stench of ammonia, fromthe urine soaked floors, which tends to overpower any otherodour in a commercial rabbit unit, can irritate the eyes of therabbits and lead to painful infections.

Most commercial rabbit farms have lights on for most of theday (16 hours is normal), which encourages productivity inrabbits as they think it is summer when they would naturally bemore active. Hence these animals will never experience fresh airor natural sunlight – until they are taken for slaughter!

BREEDING

It is common for farms to buy in breeding stock from other farmsto maximize the gene pool and avoid too much in-breeding.Cards are kept on each cage to document the parents, howmany young the doe gave birth to, the date of the birth andany adopted rabbits that are in with the litter (the adopted kitwill sometimes have a clip placed on the ear to help differentiate).

Natural mating is only used on a minority of farms because it isconsidered time-consuming, therefore artificial insemination ismore commonly used. The female rabbit is held on her back to

inseminate her; this can cause high levels of stress, vaginalperforations and genital bacterial infections.10

On mostfarms, themothers arekeptseparatedfrom theirkits andallowed intothe nursingarea once aday to feedthem.Whilst themothers

would nurse the kits infrequently in the wild, the fact that sheis not in control of when she can nurse her babies will causestress. When the mother is under stress she may also eat heryoung.

GENETIC MANIPULATION

One business CAFT visited in Spain concerned themselves withimproving the genetic breeding of Rex and White rabbits tomaximize fur and meat production. They have a closedpopulation of rabbits here: whilst no new rabbits are broughtin, they do sell onto other farms to provide a ‘quality stock’ ofrabbit. They also have other farms themselves where theywould send rabbits off for fattening before slaughter.

This farm use natural methods of breeding so they knowwhich the father is to be able to have a complete picture ofthe genes. The rabbits which are chosen for breeding aretattooed on the ear to identify them and they do this amonth after they have been weaned. The identity numberallows the farm to trace back 5 generations and this servesto avoid interbreeding.

MORTALITY

The mortality rate for both Rex and white rabbits is usuallybetween 10-15%

11and the farms account for this loss without

affecting their profit margin. This is the highest mortality ratedocumented amongst any commercial animal farming, withrecorded levels of 5% for ducks and 11% for pigs.

12At one

farm in Spain, CAFT investigators were told that the mortalityrate in Spanish rabbit farms can be up to 25%! It is commonfor kits to die during the lactation period; they also die fromrespiratory and enteric infections as well as other diseasesspecified below.

The Orylag has a higher mortality rate - 25-30% - thanrabbits bred traditionally for meat. The reason given to CAFTfor this was that the rabbits live longer so there is a greaterchance of them dying from illness. This is questionable,however, as the mortality rate for Rex rabbits is the same asfor White rabbits (10-15%) yet Rex are killed at a much olderage than Orylag.

A few days old, these kits are born to beturned into fur coats

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TRANSPORT TO SLAUGHTER

It is verycommonfor rabbitsto die enroute toslaughterand rates ashigh as 7 or8% havebeenreported

13.

This is oftendue to theway the

rabbits are tightly packed in; viruses can be easily spread andpoor ventilation causes respiratory failure. Broken bones andtraumatic lesions are also common, due to bad handling.

SLAUGHTER

Aside from the farms, in Spain, France and Italy there are specificrabbit slaughterhouses. These have been in business for manyyears as commercial rabbit farming has always been prevalent inthese countries. The farmer will get a set price (which fluctuatesaccording to market price) for each rabbit as a whole and extrarevenue is now created from the sale of the rabbit skins whichhave become a profitable part of the rabbit meat industry.

RexMost of theRex farmsvisited carriedout theslaughterthemselves,just twice ayear (earlywinter and theend of winter).The rabbits arekilled byhaving theirthroats slit and

the blood drained. They are stunned either by a heavy blow tothe back of the head with a stick (on smaller farms) or byelectrocution (on larger farms or at commercial slaughterhouses).The process from here is similar to that with fox and mink. Fatis scraped from the skin and the skins are then put into a drumfilled with sawdust to remove any excess fat from the skins andthen dried out on boards in ventilated rooms.

Some farmers, where there was more of a rabbit farminginfrastructure, would send the rabbits to specific rabbitslaughterhouses. The slaughterhouses would be paid more tohandle the pelts with more care as they as worth more thanwhite rabbit skins. The Rex rabbit can be up to 4 kg in weightwhen slaughtered; this is heavier that the white rabbits (approx2 kg in weight) so this factor must also be taken intoconsideration when killed at a slaughterhouse.

White RabbitsWhite rabbits are normally sent to a slaughterhouse, where theanimals are stunned, hung up on hooks and have their throatsslit. They are carried on a conveyor belt system (not unlike anyother slaughterhouse set up); they are bled, have their skinsremoved and have their innards removed and thendismembered and packaged for meat consumption. The peltsare then either frozen and shipped to the customer or deliveredfresh and salted to the dressers.

One rabbit farm in Italy visited by CAFT had its ownslaughterhouse on site, which the farmer claimed operated inline with EU standards as the meat was sold commercially.There was no other slaughterhouse close by so in order toavoid paying higher prices to send the rabbits further to aslaughterhouse, the farmer decided to set up his own. Fivepeople worked on this assembly line and it resembled otherslaughterhouses CAFT visited. They sold the pelts fresh to adresser company in the locality and these were picked updirectly after slaughtering.

At a slaughterhouse in Spain infiltrated by CAFT, at which9,000 rabbitswere killedeach day,hundreds ofanimals wereheld in cratespiled eighthigh in viewof thosebeingslaughtered.All these animals could see, smell and hear the killing of theirfellow creatures. Most rabbits were covered in the urine andfaeces of those rabbits stacked above them in the crate. Theefficient production line was the primary concern there; therabbit’s welfare was hardly considered.

The rabbitswere stunnedwith anelectricaldevice beforehaving theirthroats slit.Some wereclearly stillalive as they

bled to death, raising their heads and squealing as they passedalong the production line.

“Rabbits arerelatively silentcreatures, andwill hardly everuse audiblevocalisations. Such vocalisationsare uttered underconditions ofextreme distress only.

Rabbits are crated and sent by lorry to theslaughterhouse

A farmer demonstrates how he stuns Rexrabbits with a blow to the head

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The rabbitswhosethroatswere/hadbeing/beenslit wereextremelyvocal andone couldclearly heartheir squealsof distress.This further

confirms that they were absolutely alive, conscious and awarewhilst they were being killed.”

14

Whenworkers hada break, onerabbit whohad beenstunned wasleft hangingfor tenminutes untilworkresumed andonly then didshe have herthroat slit.Live rabbitswere left next to the stunning machine literally centimetresfrom their hanging counterparts.

European legislation regarding the slaughter of animals is clearthat “stunning must not be carried out unless it is possible tobleed the animals immediately afterwards”

15. The Directive,

applicable to all European countries states:

“For animals which have been stunned, bleeding must bestarted as soon as possible after stunning and be carried out insuch a way as to bring about rapid, profuse and completebleeding. In any event, the bleeding must be carried out beforethe animal regains consciousness.”

16

In 2003 the Farm Animal Welfare Council, an independentadvisory body established by the UK government, published its‘Report on the Welfare of Farmed Animals at Slaughter orKilling’. Although specifically relating to ‘red meat animals’ (i.e.not rabbits), it includes the following:

“Electrical head only stunning of animals is reversible and anydelay in bleeding the animal has serious welfare implications.The scientific evidence supports the recommendation that stunto bleed intervals should not exceed 15 seconds.”

17

DRESSERS

An important part of the rabbit fur industry is the dressingprocess. CAFT visited several dressers and these companiesmake money from taking the raw skins (frozen or salted)from slaughterhouses and making them sellable.

The dressing plants usually work with thousands of skins atany one time. Even though furs from rabbits under 6 monthsof age are generally not classed as good quality pelts from afurrier’s point of view, the work that the dressers do makesfur from juvenile rabbits acceptable to use. The better thework done by the dressers, the better quality end product offur the customer will have.

The dressersbuy inskins

18,

usuallysalted orfrozen toprevent theskins rotting,and start theprocess: theskins are putinto amachine (or

done by hand) to have all the fat taken from them, driedout, soaked and stretched out on boards to increase theirsize and dried out again. Then they will be coloured,patterned or shaven depending on customer requests; thepelts can be put through many processes to achieve thedesired effect, thus increasing the price to the customer. Oneexample shown to investigators were skins that had beentreated with acid to produce a ridged effect, similar to thatof karakul lamb.

Quite often the skins are sewn into plates (an average platewill be 60cm x 120cm?) for sale. If the customer desiresthough, they will be sold as individual skins; the emphasis isvery much on what the customer wants.

One dresser in Spain, visited by CAFT, had 100,000 skins inthe factory at any one time and there would be 30,000 skinsgoing through the drying process at all times. This factoryhad approximately 30 workers, most of whom on the shopfloor were immigrant workers. Parts of the factory wereparticularly noisy and the air was full of dust from theprocesses undertaken, but none of the workers were seen tobe wearing masks or ear protection.

CAFT alsovisited adresser’s inItaly duringspring 2007which waspreparingfor the nextseason andat that timewereworkingwith 10,000skins aweek. This

particular dresser supplied designers such as Cavalli andGucci and had been printing a boot design on the actual furfor Gucci.

Fur being used for Gucci boots

Here’s the rest of your fur coat: The skinnedbodies of Orylag rabbits

Orylag rabbits having their furs ripped off

Coalition to abolish the fur trade www.caft.org.uk www.rabbitfur.info mail:caft@caft.org.uk

In Italyinvestigatorsvisited acompany whoseonly work withrabbit fur wasto collect rabbitskins fromslaughterhousesin the regionand exportthem to China.They woulddeal with 70-80,000 pelts aweek on average,

but this number can be between 60,000 and 200,000 a week,depending on the slaughterhouses. The slaughterhouse paysthe farmer for the whole rabbit and then sells different partsonto different businesses. The slaughterhouse charges 10-15cents per pelt; this was the acknowledged market price atthe time. It will fluctuate between these boundariesaccording to the rabbit fur market. When customers arepaying the lower price this company pays the lowest price itcan to the slaughterhouse. At the time of the investigation,the price was low and the company was getting 25 centsper pelt. All of the rabbit pelts were being sold on to buyersin China; they are totally unworked and have only beencollected from slaughterhouses and frozen to preserve thepelt. They are then shipped to China in refrigerated lorries.This companyhas beencollectingrabbit peltsforapproximately50 years.Before therewas a largedemand forthe fur, thepelts would beshaved andthe fur soldseparately (seebelow).

FUR AS WASTE PRODUCT?

There is a myth perpetuated by the fur industry that rabbit furwould simply be thrown away if they did not use it forclothing, etc. Whilst some farmers have reported throwing thefur away in the past, it was not always the case. Like all animalfarming industries, they will often utilise every last piece of theanimal to maximise profits and rabbit farming is no different.

Where fur from rabbits has not been thrown away, historicallyit has been used as fertiliser, glue or for felting in hats. Francehas always exported (and imported, though on a smaller scale)hundreds of tonnes annually of rabbit hair for such purposes,in the 1990s this was priced in the region of just under €20per kilo.?

One farmer in Italy told CAFT how he used to sell the rabbitskins to a company who dealt in angora. They would shave thefur from the skins and then mix the white rabbit fur withangora fur to sell as pure angora fur.

FINANCIAL

The price ofrabbit meatvaries in eachcountry butcan costbetween €4-8(price paid perrabbit). InSpain, oneworker toldCAFT that theprice of rabbitmeat has not increased over the last 5 years, but the costsassociated with producing the meat has. This means thatwithout the profit now to be found in the sale of the fur,many farms would have had to close down.

In Italy, the pelts from the White rabbits cost between 10-15cents undressed but when dressed they can be sold fordouble that. In Spain, however, the price of the skins werebetween 50 cents and €1. If additional work (such ascolouring, printing, cutting in patterns, etc) is done with thepelts, they can be sold for up to €3 each. Most dressingcompanies will deal with tens of thousands of skins eachweek. In Italy, there are a handful of very large companieswho import raw pelts and these companies basically set theprice and the smaller companies have to go along with this.

The price of the Rex fur is considerably higher; in the regionof €30. These will often be sold through auction houses,such as Copenhagen Fur Centre and Finnish Fur Sales(Helsinki), although they can be sold locally if theinfrastructure of the area allows for this.

The Orylag co-op never sell via the auction houses as theyprefer to set the price themselves and they want to be ableto control the destination of the pelts, through dealingdirectly with designers and furriers. Each pelt is worthbetween €25-€70, depending on grade and approximately20-25 skins are needed for an average sized jacket.

CHINESE INDUSTRY

All of the countries visited made mention of the fact of theChinese industry is growing enormously and is now dwarfingrabbit production in any other country. As a result manyEuropean businesses are closing down or relocating to Chinawhere production costs are much cheaper. There is verymuch a feeling that the quality of rabbit fur coming fromChina is lower than European-produced fur, but the costdifference is the predominant factor in keeping the industrygoing. Many companies who just want to use fur on trim arenot too concerned about having high quality fur and willtherefore use Chinese rabbit fur.

This lorry, packed with frozen pelts, wassent straight to China from Italy

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There are few environmental laws in China, which means thatcosts of processing and production are so much cheaper. It iscommon for raw pelts to be shipped to China for processingthen back to the source country for ongoing production andthere are businesses that exist just to do exactly this! Chinesecompanies are buying the pelts at their cheapest, i.e. raw andunprocessed, and making use of the cheap labour costs to dressthe furs and sell them on. They will even take damaged peltsand repair them rather than throwing them away as the labourcosts can allow for this. It is, in part, due to the demand fromChina for the furs that has pushed the price of the pelt up.

One Italian company visited by CAFT talked about Benetton andhow it now uses Chinese fur for its products as it wants to paylow prices. It wants to sell at the lowest price possible so willpay as little as possible for materials. Investigators were toldthat Benetton is such a big customer in Italy that using Chineseproducts is taking a significant amount of business away fromItaly.

INCREASED POPULARITY OF RABBIT FUR

It was acknowledged by most people CAFTinvestigators spoke to that the increasedpopularity of rabbit fur is due to the cheapproduction and the resulting ability toexperiment more with it. As other animalfurs are more expensive companies are lesswilling to experiment with shaving, cutting,dying etc. Being able to experiment withrabbit furs has meant that designers feelmore confident to do this now with otherfurs. Some dressers were evenmanipulating the White skins to try toemulate Rex skins in order to fetch ahigher price. So much can be done toalter the appearance of White rabbit furthat it can actually be passed off asanother fur, for example, Karakul lamb.

A shop selling fur will not always know theorigin of that fur, whether it comes fromWhite rabbits, Rex rabbits or a totallydifferent animal. It was once the case that rabbit fur was alwayscheap but nowadays price is no indicator; the more work adresser carries out with rabbit pelts, the more expensive the endproduct will be.

It is due to the dressing part ofthe industry that has enabled

rabbit fur to become aprofitable element of thecommercial rabbitfarming industry. Whilstrabbit fur has alwaysbeen marketed as a by-product of the rabbit

meat trade, due to thedressing industry making

rabbit fur profitable, the furcan no longer be consideredsimply a waste product.

CONCLUSION

Our investigation has revealed that the breeding and killingof rabbits for their fur is just as cruel as other parts of thefur trade. The natural habits and welfare needs of therabbits are not taken into consideration by the farmer, whois only concerned about maximising profits. As a result,rabbits are confined to the same kind of factory farmingsystem as egg-laying hens, pigs, mink and other animals.

What has been surprising about rabbit farming is that veryfew investigations have been carried out into it by animalprotection organisations. Notable exceptions are the 2006investigation into rabbit farms in Portugal by ANIMAL

20and

the 2007 Vier Pfoten exposé of the rabbit meat industry inAustria, Czech Republic, Slovakia and other countries

21. The

lack of investigations has meant that there have been fewcalls for a ban on the factory farming of rabbits. There havealso been fewer scientific studies into the welfare problemsof rabbit farming compared to other intensive farmingsystems.

It is also important to highlight the world-wide publicoutrage at the killing of cats and dogs in Asian

countries. These animals are killed for their fur,but also their meat; the issue of whether the furor the meat is the primary product is never anissue here. Considering rabbits are very popularcompanion animals in the UK and many othercountries worldwide, it is strange that rabbitsare not considered in the same light as cats anddogs!

Accurate figures regarding the number ofrabbits killed for their fur are still hard tocome by. This is being made increasinglydifficult by the huge growth of rabbit farmingin China and the increase in the use of fursfrom White rabbits, traditionally bredprimarily for meat. The number is certainlyin the tens, if not hundreds, of millions.

CAFT works to end the fur trade, a tradewhere animals are slaughtered to satisfy the

whims of the fashion industry. The results of our investigationwill hopefully ensure that those companies that haveswallowed the myths of the fur trade and continue to sellrabbit fur will cease to do so and that consumers will alsoshun rabbit fur products as so many have with the furs ofmink, fox, etc.

We also hope that our findings will encourage people tothink about the cruelties of the meat industry, where animalsare caged in the same intensive conditions and slaughteredto satisfy a desire for their flesh. We do not need the furs ofother animals to keep warm; neither do we need their fleshfor a healthy and satisfying diet.

Coalition to abolish the fur trade www.caft.org.uk www.rabbitfur.info mail:caft@caft.org.uk Tel.0845 330 7955

It can take up to 25 or morerabbits to make a jacket

Orylag fur is also usedto make toys

Coalition to abolish the fur trade www.caft.org.uk www.rabbitfur.info mail:caft@caft.org.uk

REFERENCES

1 European Food Safety Authority – AHAW Panel (2005) “TheImpact of the Current Housing and Husbandry Systems on theHealth and Welfare of Farmed Domestic Rabbits” chapter 4.http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/Scientific_Opinion/ahaw_rabbits_report2.pdf

2 FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations)Report (1997): The Rabbit - Husbandry, Health and Productionhttp://www.fao.org/docrep/t1690E/t1690e00.htm#Contents

3 see 1

4 see 1

5 see 1

6 See 1

7 Princz, Z, et al. (2006). Application of gnawing sticks in rabbithousing. World Rabbit Sci. 14:275.

8 Rosell J M (2004) The Suckling Rabbit: Health, Care and Survival.A Field Study in Spain and Portugal in 2003-2004.http://www.nanta.es/pdf/area_tecnica/Egypt.JR.IAMZ.1106.pdf

9 Drescher and Schlender-Bobbis (1996) Pathologic Study ofPododermatitis among Heavy Breeders on Wire Floors (EnglishSummary) World Rabbit Science 4:143-148.

10 Scientific Panel on Animal Health and Welfare (2005): “TheImpact of the Current Housing and Husbandry Systems on theHealth and Welfare of Farmed Domestic Rabbits”http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/Scientific_Opinion/ahaw_op_ej267_rabbits_en2.pdf

11 This is the figure given by many farmers interviewed but anindustry report (see note 5) gives the figure to be as high as 30%!

12 Viva www.viva.org.uk

13 Leoni et al., (2000) Trasporto e Qualità della Carne. Rivista diConiglicoltura, 3: 40-47.

14 ‘Comments on Photographs and Footage Submitted by CAFT’Colleen McDuling, BSc (Med)(Hons), MSc (Med. Sc.), AnimalBehaviourist, Specialist in the Biology and Behaviour ofLagomorpha and Rodentia

15 Council Directive 93/119/EC of 22 December 1993 on theprotection of animals at thetime of slaughter or killing. Annex C

16 ibid; Annex D

17 Report on the Welfare of Farmed Animals at Slaughter orKilling. Part 1: Red Meat Animals. Farm Animal Welfare Council,2003, page 37

18 The dressers do not necessarily buy from the same country; inItaly one dresser’s was buying pelts from Spain and Poland as theycould get a cheaper price.

19 see 2, chapter 8.

20 www.animal.org.pt

21 www.vierpfoten.org

Coalition to abolish the fur trade www.caft.org.uk www.rabbitfur.info mail:caft@caft.org.uk

Coalition to abolish the fur trade www.caft.org.uk www.rabbitfur.info mail:caft@caft.org.uk