The Rabbit Slaughter Industry: Part One, History
Rabbits occupy a complex space in our society. They are beloved as companion animals, vilified in their wild free-roaming state, and experimented upon in laboratories. They are also killed and eaten. It’s a fact some people see no issue with. Others find it so upsetting that we’d prefer not to think about it. But it is their reality.
As a vegan sanctuary, we won’t shy away from this topic, regardless of how upsetting it may be. These innocent victims deserve to have their voices heard.
Cruelty doesn’t cease to exist when we choose to look away. In fact, this is what allows it to continue.
Warning: this article contains images and descriptions of animal abuse.
Rabbits first arrived in Australia by ship with the First Fleet’s colonial invasion in 1778. They were brought along for killing and eating, and by 1927, there was said to be a large wild population in Tasmania. These rabbits were likely released for the purpose of recreational hunting, which was a popular sport in Europe at the time. Releases for this purpose occurred in South Australia in 1836 and in Victoria in 1857, and continued in various locations unimpeded until the 1870’s. With few predators or capable competitors, the species quickly boomed in the Australian environment.
Portrait of a rabbit, between 1910-1950. Lindsay G. Cumming collection, State Library Victoria H2005.88/452.
Domestic rabbits were kept and killed for their flesh in Australia in the 1840-1850's, with rabbits being sold live for this purpose in Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide, and with rabbits also being reported stolen from family homes. However, the trapping of wild rabbits was more popular, as it was more profitable for a given investment. By 1877, one facility in South Australia was said to process the bodies of up to 6,000 rabbits per day (over 2 million per year), while another established 10 years later was said to purchase up to 4 million rabbits per year during peak periods.
The interior of the Rabbit Factory in Compton South Australia, 1898. State Library of South Australia, B 16874.
Rabbit products were popular in both the domestic and export market. Sophistication in freezing and transport operations later allowed for even further expansion across the industry, while the Great Depression made rabbit flesh a cheap (and thus attractive) alternative to that of other animals. By the 1920's, the hunting of wild rabbits was majorly established, responsible for the employment of tens of thousands of workers and the death of tens of millions of rabbits every year.
Lorry load of rabbits in Braidwood NSW, est. 1930. Paul C. Nomchong. National Museum of Australia.
Between 1904-1947, 4 billion rabbit skins were exported out of Australia, most commonly for use in hat making, with approximately another billion skins sold within the country. In 1946-1947, rabbit bodies were the 4th most profitable export product behind wool, flour, and butter. Domestic rabbit meat consumption also peaked at this time, with approximately 27 million rabbits per year being eaten by citizens in the South-East of Australia, where the majority of the industry was based. Rabbit flesh was being provided to patients and inmates at hospitals and jails, and was less commonly exported than skins.
Portable rabbit chiller, 1947. National Archives of Australia, A1200 L1681.
Following the second World War, the Australian rabbit meat and fur industry shrunk dramatically, likely due to a combination of factors; the increasing industrialisation of animal farming and a further shift away from rural employment for those who could afford otherwise, the view of rabbit meat as a cheap or dirty food (associations, perhaps, with its popularity during the Great Depression and the view of rabbits as dirty “feral” animals), the deregulation of rabbit meat sales in the United Kingdom, the competition of the Chinese and European rabbit industries, and the decimation of wild rabbit populations due to the Australian government's release of the deadly Myxomatosis virus in 1950.
Interior of William Angliss & Co. in Footscray Victoria, 1954. Laurie Richards collection, Museums Victoria.
By 1960, rabbit flesh was too expensive for most people to consider purchasing, the hat-making industry had largely collapsed (fashion evolving!), and chickens were unfortunate enough to become the next most popularly farmed and eaten land animal in Australia. Within the decade, rabbit farming was banned nationally as part of the government's plan to annihilate free-roaming rabbit populations within the country.
Rabbits experimentally infected with Myxomatosis at a testing site on Wardang Island, 1938. National Archives of Australia, A1200 L44186.
In 1987, however, Western Australia became the first state to lift the ban on the commercial farming of domesticated rabbits, and in the decade to follow, all other states excluding Queensland followed suit. The first farm to open post-ban was Baldivis Farms in Western Australia, a facility that is still open today.
A rabbit in a cage at Baldivis Farms in Baldivis WA, 2015. Animal Liberation.
In 1996, a year after the government’s next biological weapon in the war against wild rabbits, Calicivirus, accidentally spread from their testing island onto the mainland in 1995, it was officially released to devastating effect. Wild rabbit populations suffered large losses, and the number of wild rabbits being hunted for commercial purposes dropped from almost 3 million per year to around 100,000 per year.
The slack created in the rabbit trapping industry caused a surge of interest in rabbit farming, and by 1997, The Australian Standard for Hygienic Production of Rabbit Meat for Human Consumption and the Codes of Practice for rabbit farming were in effect in all states that permitted the farming of rabbits. The Codes are issued on a state-wide basis, but are almost exactly the same in each state that employs them. They are non-binding guides for farmers, not welfare law. The Meat Standard exists to regulate hygiene compliance and refers only briefly to slaughter stunning method, yet the Code of Practice refers back to it in this area.
Section 10 of the Code of Practice for The Intensive Husbandry of Rabbits, Agriculture Victoria. The Code is the same as the ones used in other states, and refers only vaguely to stunning/slaughter method.
In 1999, the government organisation CSIRO began conducting a research and selective breeding program that was intended to identify genetic properties within individual rabbits and within breeds to maximise meat farm profits. The goal was to establish a line of "superior" animals that would reach the highest possible slaughter weight as quickly as possible. The program, called “Crusader,” sent many rabbits to slaughter as part of the experimentation, and sold hundreds of others to meat farmers.
A rabbit at CSIRO laboratory in Armidale NSW 1999-2004. CSIRO Meat Rabbit Project.
Earlier, CSIRO had been the ones to conduct testing on the effectiveness of Myxomatosis (in the 1930’s-1940’s) and Calicivirus (in the 1990’s, just a few years before the Crusader program began) as biological population control agents against rabbits. Today, they are still developing new ways to kill rabbits with support from the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions and Meat & Livestock Australia.
Rabbits at a CSIRO laboratory in Canberra ACT, 1953. National archives of Australia, A1200 L16132.
By 2002, there were over 550 intensive rabbit farms and 21 rabbit slaughterhouses operating across Australia, primarily in New South Wales. Today, there are less than 10 farms and just a handful of small slaughter facilities still exploiting rabbits. The decline has nothing to do with enforcement of the cruelty towards rabbits associated with the industry. Each year, Australian animal welfare law continues to facilitate the mistreatment of thousands of rabbits trapped in industrial systems.
The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1986 (Victoria) specifically excludes animals from its protection if they are being harmed for commercial gain.
Instead, the closure of the majority of rabbit factory farms can be largely attributed to the high cost of operation, including shed construction, marketing of their niche product, and rabbit feeding and vaccination. The consequences of infectious disease outbreak along with the generally poor survivability of farmed rabbits, has also contributed to the shift. Slaughter operations exist based on supply, and few are needed to meet the present scale of killing. Those that remain kill infrequently, and are generally mixed-species or on-site operations rather than large-scale, for-purpose facilities.
Shackles hanging in a rabbit slaughterhouse at Gippsland Meats in Bairnsdale Victoria, 2023. Farm Transparency Project.
In 2015-2016, Animal Liberation investigated Baldivis Rabbits in WA, the oldest rabbit farm in the country, and Glencroft Farm, the then-largest rabbit farm in Tasmania (now closed). Both had on-site slaughterhouses and supplied independent butchers or restaurants in their nearest city. At each, routine cruelty and neglect were clear.
Rabbits in cages at Glencroft Farm in Penguin Tasmania, 2016. Animal Liberation.
In 2021, Animal Liberation went on to release a ground-breaking exposé of Southern Farmed Rabbits in Victoria. The footage showed many rabbit suffering horrific injury and disease, and made mainstream media, This prompted an Agriculture Victoria investigation, the verdict of which was that “living conditions met code of practice requirements.” No further action taken by authorities, despite the damning footage.
A rabbit with a head tilt in a cage at Southern Farmed Rabbits in Kardella Victoria, 2021. Animal Liberation.
In 2024, Farm Transparency Project released Australia-first footage of rabbits being commercially slaughtered. The footage came from inside two different slaughterhouses in two different states: Summerland Poultry in New South Wales and Gippsland Meats in Victoria, with the latter killing rabbits from Southern Farmed Rabbits (previously exposed by Animal Liberation in 2021) and the former killing rabbits from Kellyville Farm Fresh. Footage from inside the Kellyville rabbit farm was also released by Farm Transparency Project as part of the exposé.
A rabbit on a shackle line about to be electrocuted at Summerland Poultry in Kellyville NSW, between 2021-2024. Farm Transparency Project.
At both slaughterhouses, many rabbits were documented dying frightening, painful deaths. At the time of writing of this article, Southern Farmed Rabbits, Gippsland Meats and Baldivis Rabbits are still operating and exploiting rabbits, while Glencroft Farm and Kellyville Farm Fresh no longer farm rabbits (the latter meaning that Summerland Poultry likely does not kill rabbits anymore).
A rabbit held by a worker about to be electrocuted at Gippsland Meats in Bairnsdale Victoria, 2023. Farm Transparency Project.
While domestic demand for rabbit meat intended for human consumption is low comparative to that of other farmed animal species, it's thought to far outstrip the supply. In opposition to the history of the industry, Australian rabbit flesh and fur exports are no longer profitable given the high production costs. Other countries still pose far more competitive industries, just as they did back in the 1950’s. In fact, Australia imports rabbit products to meet demand. Australian company Akubra, for example, uses around 3 million rabbit skins per year for their hats (with 10-16 rabbits killed per hat), and in 2017, announced that domestic supply could no longer accomodate this scale of production.
A rabbit with conjunctivitis in a cage at Kellyville Farm Fresh, Kellyville NSW, 2021. Farm Transparency Project.
The government’s attitude towards rabbits remains as negative, with a new strain of Calicivirus being released in 2017. While Australian rabbits are being killed and eaten in fewer numbers than they were 100 years ago, tens of thousands languish in confined farming systems and suffer brutal deaths inside slaughterhouses. Countless many wild rabbits die agonising deaths due to cruel lethal population control.
Regardless of the type or scale, any cruelty being inflicted upon rabbits is unacceptable and should not be permitted. Yet it is. By cruelty exemptions that differentiate between those rabbits kept as “pets,” and those who are wild, or who are to be killed for their fur or flesh. By Codes of Practice that are largely meaningless, vague, and unremarkable. By regulators and authorities which rarely have the power or will to act in defence of animals.
By decision-makers, who look away instead of changing these facts. And by the public, who allow the decision-makers to look away, and who themselves chow down on or wear the skin of animals whose lives they do not care to think of.
It doesn’t have to be this way. We can start by leaving rabbit slaughter where it belongs: in history.
Today, help to break the cycle. Sign the Animal Justice Party’s petition to ban rabbit factory farming in Victoria, and pledge to never eat or wear rabbits.
How a rabbit deserves to be treated. Our beloved Casper, 2023. He was the same breed as those in the meat industry.
Stay tuned for our next article, which will cover modern day rabbit farming practices in Australia, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram to see a condensed version of the article sooner.
Sources and further reading:
Compassionate links
Unless otherwise specified, these links will contain images of injured and/or deceased rabbits, which may be extremely graphic and distressing. These links are to vegan sources, where photos and information are provided for the purpose of ending animal abuse — a message we are in full support of.
Rabbit Farming and Slaughter (also has rabbit industry photos and a farm/slaughterhouse map). Farm Transparency Project.
Rabbit Farming Exposed. Animal Liberation.
Factory Farming of Domestic Rabbits for Meat in Australia. Voiceless Institute. No distressing imagery.
Rabbits Used for Their Flesh. Vegan Rising.
Rabbit industry photos. We Animals Media.
Historical links
Unless otherwise specified, these links will contain images of deceased rabbits, which may be distressing. Articles should be expected to provide a historical account of abusive or callous treatment towards rabbits. Conclusions may be drawn by the authors that lethal control, rabbit slaughter, fur-wearing or animal testing are moral and necessary actions. We disagree, but the insights are valuable nonetheless.
The Rabbit Industry in South-Eastern Australia, 1788-2000. University of Sydney. PDF, no distressing imagery.
The Rabbit Industry in South-East Australia 1870-1970. Labour History Melbourne. No distressing imagery.
Canned rabbit, once a dinnertime delicacy, now consigned to the burrows of history. ABC News.
Crusader Meat Rabbit Project Which Breed and How to Use Different Breeds. CSIRO. PDF.
‘Round The Traps. The People & Environment blog.
On The Land: The Rabbit Conquers Victoria. Old Treasury Building.
Snapshots From The Early History of Rabbits in South Australia. Rabbit-Free Australia. PDF, no distressing imagery.
The Wild Rabbit Industry in South Australia. Department of Primary Industries and Regions. PDF.
History of Agriculture in South Australia period history articles, particuarly “The introductions begin: 1836-1880” and “The impact is felt: 1881-1920.” No distressing imagery.
Key facts about rabbit biocontrol in Australia. PestSmart. No distressing imagery.
How Australia Controls Its Wild Rabbits. The Wildlife Society.
Historical rabbit industry photos. National Archives of Australia.
Historical rabbit industry photos. Museums Victoria.
Historical rabbit industry photos. State Library Victoria.
Historical rabbit industry photos. State Library of South Australia.