Rabbit fur farming must be prohibited

Dear Editor. While the upcoming ban on fur farming in Ireland is welcome, the Campaign for the Abolition of Cruel Sports (CACS) and other animal protection groups are calling upon the Agriculture Minister to add the rabbit to the list of animals that cannot be farmed for their fur.

The Animal Health and Welfare (Fur farming) Bill 2020 as drafted applies to cats, chinchillas, dogs, foxes, mink and weasels. But the rabbit is missing from the list of protected animals.

It is vital that this animal be included in the legislation because, although there is presently no rabbit fur farming in Ireland there would be nothing to prevent somebody from starting it, as with mink farming, in the absence of a specific prohibition on the practice.

Rabbit fur farming would subject these animals to immense suffering. They would be crammed into cages and killed by throat-cutting after enduring months of unnatural confinement and light deprivation. All so that their fur could be used in boots, hats, gloves, or as trim for jackets.

There‘s another reason to outlaw rabbit fur farming: The animal is susceptible to the highly contagious Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease (RHD2) which inflicts agonizing death. In the past two years the disease has been confirmed in the Irish countryside. Infected rabbits have been found partially paralysed, with swollen eyelids, bleeding from the eyes and mouth. The disease can spread easily in conditions where the animals are bunched together, as would occur in a farm or factory setting.

We hope Minister Conalogue will see fit to protect the humble rabbit from the horrors of fur farming.

Thanking you, John Fitzgerald (Campaign for the Abolition of Cruel Sports),

Callan, Co Kilkenny.