Your monthly gift is matched for a year - multiply your impact today.  DONATE NOW
News
Get the latest news and updates from Animal Equality

Help ban battery-cage farming of rabbits in Europe!

Next week, on January 25th, members of the European Parliament’s Agriculture Committee will vote on a report that could pave the way for legislation to ban battery cage farming of rabbits.
20/01/2017 Updated: 20th January, 2017

Every year, 320 million rabbits are slaughtered for meat in the European Union – and there are currently no legal provisions to protect them. This means that 99% of farmed rabbits are kept in small wire cages with little more space than an A4 sheet of paper.

Animal Equality has repeatedly documented the terrible suffering of rabbits in battery cages in Spain and Italy – where 60% of all rabbit farms in the EU are located. In Spain alone we have investigated 70 rabbit farms and 4 slaughterhouses and in each and every single one we have found evidence of extreme cruelty. Our investigators have seen rabbits with open wounds, painful eye infections and even rabbits whose ears have been bitten off by their stressed companions. Due to the crowded and unnatural conditions, up to 30% of farmed rabbits die or are killed even before arriving at the slaughterhouse – that percentage is higher than with any other farmed animal.

You can help end this cruel treatment of rabbits! In June 2016 we presented the evidence from our investigations in the European Parliament, along with Compassion in World Farming, and now members of the Agriculture Committee are discussing a proposal for a Europe-wide ban on battery cages for rabbits. If they approve the report it will be voted on by all Members of the European Parliament later in the year. Take action! The Agriculture Committee will be voting on the proposal on January 25th, and we need to let our key country representatives know that we want them to support the ban. Please take a few moments to email these UK representatives and urge them to approve the report and support a ban on cages for rabbits: Richard Ashworth MEPDianne Dodds MEPJim Nicholson MEPPlease don’t miss this opportunity to speak out against the factory farming of rabbits!


Latest News
9th July, 2026

Animal activists have unchained themselves from Sodexo’s headquarters in Paris after the company agreed to meet within the next month to discuss its global animal welfare policies, including in India.  The protest, organised by Animal Equality, began earlier today as activists demanded that Sodexo take action to end the use…
8th July, 2026

The European Commission’s new roadmap for the livestock sector,it includes plans to phase-out cages for hens and chickens, crates for mother pigs, and the killing of male chicks. Animal Equality welcomes the announcement but stresses that real progress will only come if these commitments are turned into ambitious laws…
2nd July, 2026

One of Scotland’s largest salmon farming companies twice provided false information to regulators after abandoning live fish on a farm it had officially declared empty, according to newly released Freedom of Information documents, private correspondence and undercover footage published by Animal Equality UK. The investigation centred on Bakkafrost’s Loch Aird…