As sad as I find the subject- I’m glad someone said it. Rabbits should have the same rights and respects that dogs and cats get. Now we just need Reeves to start moving laws to make certain unmentionable things illegal or stricter laws regarding that subject (if she is not already).

Wow, there are some psycho comments on that article. =\

I’m glad the author decided to write this article.

Good article. The exploitation of rabbits has been ignored for far too long.

I didn’t really like it. The author kept claiming rabbits are very different and separate from the various farm animals commonly raised for their meat and skin, and saying that rabbits should be categorized with cats and dogs instead.

In reality, rabbits really do have much more in common with farm animals than with cats and dogs. One must remember till fairly recently in human history, no animal was kept and domesticated unless it served practical function for humans. Up until Victorian times, only the extremely wealthy could afford to feed an animal that wasn’t going to contribute to the families ability to survive in a very tangible way.

Dogs as predatory pack animals were perfect for bonding to a human pack and contributing by providing protection, help hunting and extermination of vermin that destroyed food. Cats being more independent and forming only loose pride were perfect for keeping places the food was stored, such as barns, silos and pantries free of vermin that robbed and ruined food. These functions depend on the natural predatory instincts of cats and dogs. These are not the functions of a domestic rabbit. A rabbit is a prey animal not a predator. Rabbits have extremely different instincts. A rabbit would be more likely to eat grain in a silo than chase away mice from the grain. Rabbits were not domesticate for the same reasons dogs and cats were, and have very little in common.

In comparison, most of the herbivore animals that humans have domesticated, serve the main function of providing meat and skins. Cattle provide meat, milk, leather, horn, manure and can be used to pull plows and carts. Goats provide meat, hair (cashmere and mohair for example,) parchment (made from skin,) milk and manure. Pigs provide meat, leather and manure. Theses animals are all quite similar to rabbits.

Rabbits were domesticated for meat and fur. It is the reason that domestic rabbits exist as such.

If one wants to stop the slaughter of rabbits, it isn’t logical to try to simply recategorize them with cats and dogs. It makes more sense to look at the way we treat domestic animals in general. Is there a reason that cows, sheep, pigs, goats, and the chicken that the author repeatedly mentioned are not as deserving of care as a rabbit is? Is it just because people keep pet rabbits? Some people keep pet chickens too, but the author seemed to not think that it was wrong to slaughter those at all.

I think the author was trying to make the point that rabbits are the most exploited of all animals. What other animal is used for experimentation, killed for their fur, slaughtered for their meat and bought on impulse and then discarded? That’s very upsetting to people who love rabbits as part of the family.

From my POV, I think the writer just wants rabbits to be thought of on the same level as cats and dogs are. Respect.

I talk to my customers all the time about my Chacha bun. I have gotten a few comments of: “Did you eat her for dinner?” only a few times, and I said to them “That isn’t nice,” and they stop. More and more rabbits are becoming companion animals to people, and thus are being thought of as part of the family.

I have conflicting feelings about it.

On one side, ALL animals deserve respect and we should not try to put one above the other. Dogs and cats are loved as pets, but in other places in the world, they are food. I don’t see this as any more wrong than that a cow should be considered food – personally I don’t eat ANY meat, but, I can’t tell one person “your choice of meat is wrong”. All of the animals that are eaten make GREAT, loving companions if treated properly. I have had a pig, a turkey, chickens, geese.. they all had the funniest personalities, each unique and I love them all as my pets and grieved their losses. The turkey would ask me for kisses and come running to the fence every time I came out wanting attention. The chickens would perch on my arm and eat out of my hands. The goose followed me around like a puppy dog and always was looking for treats in my clothes, if I didn’t have any he’d settle for nibbling my fingers instead and getting pets. The pig would run like an excited dog to greet me when I came home and ADORED caramels, even though they were bad for him, he wanted to steal them out of our pockets. He was always happiest when we were playing with him and petting him on his great big head and rubbing his ears. So there is nothing “special” about rabbits, or dogs, or cats, or horses that is not also special about every other “farm animal”. And I really dislike the way we as a society try to justify eating animals by classifying them as “not worthy” of respect and love, because they are just “dumb farm animals”.

Now that being said, if you are going to eat meat I don’t mind – your personal choice and none of my business at all. The way we (society) pick and choose based on personal preference of the animals just irks me.

On the other side, I know that society on a whole would be more likely to accept cute little bunny rabbits are great pets as a reason to stop mistreating them. It may annoy me that this is the truth, but I know it is. So, anything furthering that goal is good, even if I find it hypocritical.

And LPT, we exploit so many animals, many as badly as we do rabbits.

(Never mind, I don’t want to get involved in something that might get a tad sensitive, heh).