Rabbit farming and slaughter

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Our latest investigation reveals the brutal and cruel practices of commercial rabbit slaughter, for the first time ever in Australia.

We investigated Gippsland Meats in Bairnsdale, VIC and Summerland Poultry in Kellyville, NSW. These multi-species slaughterhouses, between them, kill and process rabbits, goats, sheep, chickens, ducks and kangaroos.

At these slaughterhouses, our cameras captured Australian-first footage of rabbits being slaughtered for meat, which is sold across the country.

At Gippsland Meats, rabbits are brought to the facility in large numbers, packed together into tiny crates. They are grabbed roughly by the ears and pinned to the worker’s torso. They instinctively struggle to get out of the worker’s grasp, but the hold on their sensitive ears keeps them stuck, no matter how much they fight.

Their heads are jabbed upwards into electrified prongs, and a painful jolt of electricity shocks their body, paralysing them before their heads are removed.

In many cases, the stunner is ineffective. Sometimes it takes multiple attempts for the worker to properly immobilise the rabbit, increasing their panic and stress as they try to avoid the pain of the electricity.

At Summerland Poultry, rabbits struggle and scream as they are placed onto a shackle line which pulls them through an electrified stun bath. Rabbits who touch the water before their heads are submerged experience painful electric shocks. Workers then cut their throats before skinning them.

Learn more about Australia's rabbit farming industry via Animal Liberation or Voiceless.

View all 10 videos for this campaign in the video gallery

We are calling for a complete ban on the commercial breeding, confinement and slaughter of rabbits across Australia. Like all animals, rabbits deserve legal protection from harm. We must shut down slaughterhouses, which prioritise profit and product and have no regard for compassion or empathy.

Rabbits do not deserve to be farmed and slaughtered for their meat or fur. Sign the petition calling on Ros Spence, Minister for Agriculture, to ban the farming of rabbits in Victoria.

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