Tom Powell
HORRIFYING footage of the appalling conditions in rabbit farms throughout Spain has been revealed by an animal rights charity.
Igualdad Animal (IA) campaigners went undercover to investigate 70 farms including many in Andalucia and four slaughterhouses.
Their footage shows rabbits having their throats slit while conscious and dead animals left lying for days in cages beside live ones.
The film shows injured and sick animals being left untreated and others eating their own faeces.
Farmers were also observed killing sick animals by hitting them over the head with iron bars, smashing their skulls against concrete floors or punching them.
It has been revealed that top British restaurants have been using rabbits obtained from these same farms, including the National Theatre in London.
Spanish actor and animal rights campaigner Pablo Puyol appears in the hard-hitting video, which also exposes scenes of cannibalism and aggression due to stress and overcrowding.
“The public has a right to know what is happening in these places, something which the industry wants to hide,” said IA founder Javier Moreno.
The organisation has lodged 72 official complaints against the treatment of animals, which if proven could result in fines of up to €1.2million and year-long prison sentences.
However, Intercun – Spain’s rabbit farming industry association – has criticised the report, claiming it is far from a ‘rigorous study that can reflect the industry as a whole.”
Its director told Spanish newspaper El Pais that the industry is in the process of creating a new code of practice which goes ‘beyond what is required by law’.
End all animal exploitation
Boycott conejo ! Perhaps chicken farming is due for a seeing-to also. It’s hard enough to justify eating meat, but presented with this sort of evidence, it’s difficult for even a hardened carnivore (like me) to continue eating flesh.
I gave up eating meat some years back, and it’s difficult in a country where meat is so popular. Everyone should try it. Make it a 2015 resolution and eat more seafood!
“Intercun – Spain’s rabbit farming industry association – has criticised the report, claiming it is far from a ‘rigorous study that can reflect the industry as a whole.”
Its director told Spanish newspaper El Pais that the industry is in the process of creating a new code of practice which goes ‘beyond what is required by law’.
…instead of what they do now, which appears to be *way below* what is required by law (or any moral code.) Thank you for publishing this.
I thought you were going for some kind of righteous rant there Fred, until you said ‘eat more seafood!’.
After reading your posts, who in their right mind would ever take your advice anyhow. You really are right up yourself aren’t you!
I think it would be a good idea to create a quality brand to ensure that rabbits and other farm animals are not mistreated. Such accreditation should be granted by specialized companies to farms that wanted it, after of check that the conditions of life of the animals are satisfactory, and this accreditation would allow that the meat sold carries a label with a brand that would allow customers to know that the animals, whose meat they buy, have been treated humanely throughout their lifetime
Who would pay to police your scheme Anselmo ? Sounds like a juicy opportunity for a fiddle. You know, backhanders, bribes, tocar el violin….