The screams of angora rabbits in France must not be drowned out by music!
We reveal the screams of angora rabbits plucked alive and lodge a complaint with the European Court of Justice.
Once again we are forced to publish stomach-churning images in order to denounce the violence inherent in the breeding and farming of angora rabbits. In 2020 the usual method of collecting their ‘wool’ is still to fasten them by their paws to a board, stretch them out so that they cannot move and pull out almost all their fur by the handful. As a result of the decision of the Council of State to allow this method to continue we have submitted a complaint to the European Court of Justice.
Having heard the strident cries of rabbits having their fur pulled out the first time we infiltrated this sordid business in 2016, followed by the images published in 2018 and those taken this year, once again it is impossible not to be appalled that the authorities in France are continuing to turn a blind eye to the abuse. When we complained to the Council of State, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food insisted that the plucking process was non-invasive. They maintained that it was legal, basing their assertion on the conclusions of a report by INRA (Institut national de la recherche agronomique – National Institute of Agricultural Research) that turned out never to have existed!
A complaint to Europe
In parallel with numerous joint actions with our partner PETA France to raise public awareness, we decided to bring a complaint to Europe (link article 2), because this simply cannot go on. The chilling cries of these rabbits, whose fur is pulled out without anaesthetic several times a year, sometimes shreds of their skin coming off with it – that must end!
Our latest investigation strengthens our determination to save these rabbits.
The rabbits struggle wildly, attempting with all their strength to break free. And when the breeder resumes plucking, which is tantamount to torture, they scream in terror and pain. In the wild rabbits use their voices only in very exceptional circumstances: when there is great danger.
Most on these premises are does. The bucks are killed shortly after they are born because their fur is not as dense. Only those that have the densest fur and are therefore the most profitable are kept for breeding. Approximately one hundred and seventy does spend their entire lives shut up in the hutches of this well-known breeder, plucked in this way several times a year, often in the presence of the breeder’s dog and sometimes other rabbits. During our infiltration we even discovered that he sold sick animals to vivisection laboratories – the ultimate horror for these poor creatures.
Please support our complaint to the European Court of Justice by signing our petition!
translated by Patricia Fairey