Mistreated rabbits become Swedish cat food

Cat on ladder.Photo: Frank May / NTB scanpix

Rabbits from rabbit farms where the rabbits are mistreated,  are used as raw material in dog and cat food sold in Swedish stores, according to a new report from the animal welfare organization CIWF.
The rabbit meat in many common animal food products is, according to the report, imported from countries where mistreatment is widespread and where there is a heavy overuse of antibiotics, writes Svenska Dagbladet.
The organization Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) has documented through photographs and film how rabbits are being mistreated at 16 facilities in five major producing countries: Italy, Greece, Czech Republic, Poland and Cyprus.
– The minimum of standards required are at a very low level and lags far behind those for  other animal species. For example,  cages which several years ago was banned for laying hens are still in use at rabbit farms,  Katarina Ekholm Lingehag at Swedish CIWF says.
The survey reveals major flaws in the labeling and traceability of raw materials.
– Many of the vendors we contacted had no idea where the meat in their own products came from,  Lingehag Ekholm says.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today