The L214 association, with supporting images, denounces the conditions of rabbit breeding in three establishments in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. She announced that she filed a complaint on Wednesday for mistreatment. The images were recorded, at the end of September 2024, by “a whistleblower” according to L214 who does not give further details on the circumstances of the filming on two farms in Flanders and one farm in Béthunois. We see piles of excrement under the rabbit cages. “crammed into a living space equivalent to half of an A4 sheetdenounces Sébastien Arsac, spokesperson for the animal association. This is the density that we find in general, we are in the worst of what we can find in intensive breeding methods”.
In the other northern farm, we discover a building in which dust, straw and rabbit hair mix. Medicines, sometimes expired without knowing whether the breeder still uses them, are stored in “a place in total disordersays Sébastien Arsac: the conditions are disastrous with an extremely dirty, poorly maintained building. Excrement accumulates under the cages, releasing ammonia that is toxic to the animals.. You should know that rabbits are fragile animals, subject to respiratory and digestive diseases. These conditions are terrible for the animals with levels of unsanitary conditions rarely seen.”. The spokesperson for L214 recalls that the rabbit industry is the one that uses the most antibioticsmore than the pig industry because rabbits are fragile animals with very short lives. It generally takes two months between the birth of the animal and its departure for the slaughterhouse.
Association L214
Video of rabbit farms in Hauts-de-France from the L214 association
Filing complaints
In a farm, we discovered injured rabbits in their cage, which seemed paralyzed from the back legs, others had an infected ear, some had died in their cage among other living rabbits. Finally, in another farm, corpses of dead rabbits appear to be decomposing in the middle of a mountain of excrement located under the raised cages. Excrement which then flows towards the outside of the building.
The L214 association therefore decided to file two complaints for mistreatment, Wednesday afternoon, with the public prosecutors of Dunkirk and Béthune. “There are general regulations on the protection of animals on farms which say that cages must not be a source of injury to animalsrecalls Sébastien Arsac. Here, the rabbits stay on a wire floor which hurts their paws. Normally, animals should be able to express their basic needs. Here a rabbit cannot gnaw, get up. These conditions absolutely do not meet normal physiological needs, this type of breeding is in violation of the regulations”.
Association L214
L214
“The damage is done” according to a breeder
France Bleu Nord was able to contact one of the three breeders involved who wishes to remain anonymous. “There are interpretations of photos, it’s abominable, it’s insidioushe explains. He touches farms to destroy an entire profession. They broke in at night, we are shocked”says the farmer even if no damage was noted. He claims to take care of animals : “I have nothing to reproach myself for. We are not breeders who deliberately let their animals get sick. When an animal has a problem, we take care of it”. He claims to respect the regulations: “18 rabbits per m² is the official standard. We use the same cage as elsewhere in Europe.” Visibly shaken by the broadcast of this video, the farmer concludes : “Mentally, it's a huge shock. People are trying to harm us at every level, it's going to eat us up until the end of the year.”
Formerly at “Saveurs en’Or”
L214 states that these three farms are labeled “Saveurs en’Or”, which is no longer the case. This label is actually granted to the slaughterhouse where the rabbits from these farms are transported. However, the slaughterhouse, located in Audomarrois, is no longer labeled. The association also requests to the prefecture to close these farms.
