The new CIWF research published today, November 4, and distributed in Spain by the End the Cage Age coalition, shows that immense suffering to which more than 70 million rabbits are exposeds living in cages in European farms. This sad reality is a wake-up call for the European Commission, which must strictly ban cages and fulfill the promise it has made and postponed so many times.
The footage, filmed on rabbit farms in Italy and Poland, shows rabbits in spaces so small they can’t even stretch out. Some desperately chew on the wires out of frustration, and others are even locked in cages next to already dead rabbits.
The images, that is representative of caged rabbit farming throughout Europeshow that the conditions in which these animals are kept do not meet even their most basic behavioral needs.
However, because of The Commission’s delay in banning the keeping of animals in cages In the EU and in the absence of species-specific legislation, i.e. a law protecting the welfare of farmed rabbits, these conditions remain legal.
The disastrous ‘life’ of caged rabbits
The images are very explicit and It is not recommended that they be viewed by sensitive people.because they show that rabbits lack the minimum quality of life because they:
- Crammed into cages so small that they are not allowed to stretch, jump or stand on their hind legs, all highly motivated natural behavior;
- Locked in individual cages, despite being very social animals;
- Living rabbits next to other sick rabbits, unable to lift their heads or even dead, lying lifeless with their ears gnawed off;
- Without something to gnaw on to sharpen their constantly growing teeth, which leads them to chew on the wires of their cages or the ears of their peers;
- Lying on slatted floors causing cuts, pressure ulcers or skin lesions;
- Overheated due to high temperatures, causing excessive panting;
- On one of the farms, they were missing hair on much of their body, which likely indicated the presence of parasites or infections.
Very alarming data
In Europe, approximately 76.8 million rabbits are slaughtered every year. It is estimated that the 94% of them are locked in cages their entire lives.including almost all breeding females.
In Spain, 33.3 million rabbits were slaughtered for meat in 2022, most of which were raised in cages. In 2021, in response to the successful citizen initiative #EndTheCageAgeSigned by more than 1.4 million EU citizens, the European Commission had committed to presenting a legislative proposal to ban cage farming in 2023. However, this was never fulfilled.
Just a few weeks ago, CIWF launched a new report showing how leading European food companies are successfully transitioning to cage-free production; and countries such as Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands have already implemented these types of systems, demonstrating their viability.l,0
An overwhelming majority of nine in ten EU citizens demand an end to the use of individual cages. In turn, the “Strategic Dialogue on the Future of Agriculture in the EU” reflects in its final report a broad consensus across the EU. agricultural sector on the need to phase out cages and calls for a proposed revision of animal welfare legislation by 2026.
In this sense, the Spanish Coalition has declared (1) End the Cage Age; “This research shows the systemic cruelty present in cage farming across Europe. It’s not one a few farms that abuse animals in certain countriesbut is representative of cage rabbit farming across the EU, in the absence of specific welfare requirements for this species in European legislation.”
And he added: “The cages are normal do not meet the natural physiological and behavioral needs of animals on farmsand its use is unnecessary. Viable ethical alternatives already exist and have been successfully adopted by many of Europe’s leading food companies.”
Finally, he assured: “Now more than ever, the European Commission must take action and fulfill its promise to submit a proposal ban on the use of cages for rabbits and all other animals on farmsas soon as possible and no later than 2026, as recommended in the Strategic Dialogue report.”
The coalition associations urge their supporters to ask the European Commission to present the proposals as a priority and to explicitly include them in the Commission’s work programme. For For more information about the campaign, visit https://www.endthecageage.eu/en/
Comments
- The Spanish End the Cage Age Coalition consists of: Anima Naturalis, ANDA, CIWF Spain, Animal Equality and Animal Welfare Observatory
- The Limited information is available on the extent of rabbit farming in the EU.But according to a 2017 European Commission report, around 119 million rabbits were commercially bred and slaughtered annually in 2016. The EU has not published data on the number of rabbits since then, but data published through CIRCABC dashboards on the amount of rabbit meat produced suggests this number will fall to between 70 and 80 million per year by 2022. This coincides with data published by the FAO, which estimates that the European Union produced 72,196,700 rabbits in 2022.
- In 2020, EFSA reported that one of the main consequences of the lack of suitable materials to satisfy gnawing behavior in rabbits is a diversion of the behavior towards the cage or even towards its conspecifics. Regarding the problem of insufficient space, EFSA suggests that the length of a jump should be 70 cm depending on the size of the rabbit, and that the Council of Europe recommends that rabbits kept for experimental purposes can make three consecutive jumps.
- All around Across the EU, 300 million farm animals live in cagesincluding 40% of laying hens (almost 152 million chickens), 94% of farm rabbits (about 70 million rabbits) and 96% of breeding sows (10 million sows). Animals kept in cages are often confined to sterile, overcrowded environments or completely deprived of social contact, unable to turn around or express even their most basic behaviors.
- According to Eurobarometer 2023, 94% of European Union citizens consider this important animals on farms have enough space to move, lie down and get upand 89% believe it is essential that they are not kept in individual cages.
It is urgent that the European Commission listens to the calls of Europeans, who have made it very clear both in the Eurobarometer and when signing the #EndTheCageAge Citizen Initiative that They don’t want EU farm animals living in cages. This suffering must end NOW.