However, their stomachs are not built to digest hair, and unlike cats, rabbits are unable to vomit or regurgitate the hair. This leads to severe intestinal problems. Additionally, their ears are bred to be short, which prevents proper body thermoregulation and together with the thick fur can lead to severe heat stress of the animals. This criteria fall within the scope of breeding of defects i. The process by which wool is collected from Angora rabbits causes immense suffering and stress — they are sheared around every three months using sharp cutting tools, or their fur is torn off by hand, with no pain relief provided.
Shearing is a painful and stressful experience for the rabbits, as they naturally fear being handled and pinned down which is a common process in the industry, this can even lead to heart attacks due to stress. Although the average lifespan of a rabbit in the wild is between years, at just two years old, angora rabbits are already starting to be deemed no longer profitable, because they begin to produce less wool, and therefore, after a lifetime of misery, they are slaughtered and sold for meat.
The keeping of Angora rabbits is inherently cruel and therefore any Angora welfare standard is unacceptable. Even PETA agrees! The complexity of global supply chains makes it tricky for consumers to verify whether the angora wool that our sweater is made from comes from ethical or unethical sources. Luckily, corporations are starting to recognise this too, with a number of major brands including ASOS discontinuing sourcing products made from angora wool until the industry steps up its ethical standards.
You can ensure your winter warmers are ethical by checking the tags of your sweaters and choosing knitwear made from natural fibres with lower impacts on the planet, people, and animals. Feature image via Unsplash. Use our Directory to search more than 3, brands. We may earn a commission on sales made using our offer codes or affiliate links.
Wear the change you want to see. Download our app to discover ethical brands and see how your favourites measure up. Join the Good On You community to discover even more ethical and sustainable fashion. Search Ratings. Domestic breeders usually raise rabbits to show or for their wool, which they use themselves or sell to hand spinners or small manufacturers.
English, French, Giant and Satin are the four angora breeds most commonly raised in the U. Jennifer Turley is a breeder from California who has about 70 rabbits and harvests their wool to spin herself and sell to hand spinners. Her rabbits, she says, live in temperature-controlled barns outfitted with misters and fans, and kept in roomy hanging cages to cut down on fleas and prevent the animals from sitting in their own waste.
It takes about 6 ounces to make a lightweight shawl. If they ingest the fur they can die from intestinal blockage, so this is for their health too.
Taken from their mothers at 4 weeks old, the rabbits are then caged with siblings for another 3 - 4 weeks before spending the next 6 - 7 months in solitary cages to prevent fighting and damaging the pelt. They are killed after shedding their first winter coat, when the fur is much thicker. Breeding animals are kept for up to 3 years and the mothers are re-bred from weeks after giving birth and will usually give birth twice a year.
White rabbits. The New Zealand or California White rabbit has traditionally been bred for their meat. They are kept with their mothers to around 4 - 5 weeks old, then moved with siblings to a fattening cage, where they will stay until 10 - 12 weeks old when killed.
The primary focus of farming this breed has always been for meat and slaughterhouses often threw the fur away. In recent years an increase in the demand for cheap rabbit fur has led to more slaughterhouses selling the pelts. The mother will usually have around seven young, but as many as She is re-mated a few days later by artificial insemination.
Her babies will stay with her until 4 weeks old, then moved into cages with their siblings until 7 weeks old then moved into single cages to prevent fighting. The rabbits are killed at 20 weeks of age and this takes place throughout the year rather than at one set time. The farms account for this loss without affecting their profit margin. This is a far higher mortality rate than in other commercial animal farming. The rabbits mostly die from respiratory disease.
Transport to slaughter. This is often due to the way the rabbits are tightly packed in; viruses can be easily spread and poor ventilation causes respiratory failure. Broken bones and traumatic lesions are also common, due to bad handling. Some animals were killed on the farm by being hit over the back of the head with a heavy stick before having their throats slit.
0コメント