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Farmers being duped
Rabbit institutes are luring them by promising high returns
Neha Madaan
Along with those dead, 22 rabbits were found alive moving about in the area last week.
According to people, who are in the know of things, rabbit farming has ended up becoming a trade only for “those who promote rabbit farming among gullible farmers by showing the carrot.”
“These people claim that the breeding process is easy, and hence gives huge profits. The promoters end up making huge profits, but it is the breeders, who lose due to lack of demand for rabbit meat in India as well as high maintenance of rabbits,” they said.
Peta India’s senior campaign co-ordinator Dharmesh Solanki told DNA that Taljai incident was a typical case of non-practicality of rabbit breeding. “More often, ordinary farmers cannot afford the high maintenance, which makes rabbits sick and are abandoned, more so when the demand for rabbit meat across India is negligible,” Solanki said, adding there have also been instances where promoters have claimed that rabbit-meat consumption enhances one’s beauty, which in fact, is a trading gimmick and has no scientific basis.
Stating that wrong breeding techniques can create severe health hazards, even for human beings, Solanki said the authorities should take cognisance of the matter. Amruta Ubale, the education officer of Beauty Without Cruelty (BWC), said, “Rabbit breeding institutes try to entice people into this cruel business by exaggerating its benefits and profitability, and by claiming that it will cater to the demands in the European market.”
“Not only are these institutes abusing the rights of these beautiful, innocent creatures but also fly-by-night conmen are taking advantage of villagers’ simplicity,” Ubale said. Ubale had in the past undertaken an undercover investigation at one of the institutes promoting rabbit farming in Pune. “Rabbit breeding has been glamorised and portrayed as a profit-making business. Promoters portray that rabbits need less maintenance and little vet care, which is not true. The institute that we visited, as part of the investigation, had kept the animals on the terrace without adequate roofing in hot weather conditions. They were living in the most unhygienic state, while a rabbit with a fractured leg was kept on Glucon D, which, it was claimed, would have taken care of the fractured leg,” Ubale said.
“Most villagers claimed that the promoters had promised them that they would buy the rabbits but had disappeared. Though breeding and selling rabbit meat is legal, doing so without a licence is certainly against the law,” she said. Plants and Animals Welfare Society (Paws) Founder Nilesh Bhanage said that he had sent a letter to NGOs across India and the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), asking them to stop rabbit breeding after having spotted the van of a Pune-based rabbit breeding institute that was promoting rabbit breeding.
“Such promoters say that a 2×2 cage is enough to raise a rabbit, which is far from truth,” he said. Manoj Oswal, animal welfare officer nominated by the central government, said, “Farmers never end up making money because rabbit meat has a low demand and needs high maintenance that ordinary farmers cannot provide.”
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