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code of conduct-- re culling

bunnymad

Warren Scout
Hi everyone.

I was wondering if your countries rabbit councils have a "code of conduct" on what is and Is Not accepted in culling sick or unwonted buns.

Just had a debate on this in new zealand on one website. Some ppl were great and others were shocking in the treatment of there buns.

Horror stories I have many!! But not going to repeat. Hence the Question.

bronie
 
There is not as such but it is a law that if an animal is to be put to sleep then it has to be done humainly. This is of course very hard to enforce when it comes down to members of the public.No one knows about what may go on in peoples homes but if found out they they were letting animals suffer they could be taken to court. On the whole most rabbit breeders are very loath to have to put an animal down and would take care to do it humainly. There are off course many people out there that do not care what happens to animals.That is why we have organizations like the rspca.But as i say its very hard to inforce and there will always be cruel people. val
 
Hi Bronie,

As Val says, there is no offical code of conduct in the UK as far as i know.
The only real regulations i know about are the ones imposed on vets & euthanasia which is more often carried out by sodium pentobarbitone injection these days.

Breeders, etc choose their own methods of culling & what goes on behind closed doors i suppose is hard for others to regulate. :roll:

Yes, i have heard of many methods too...some more humane than others, i must add! :shock:

It is quite widespread, but i personally only feel that the only rabbit that should be PTS are the ones that are ill/suffering, however many breeders keep certain breeds whereby they have to reduce numbers as the breed is not every easy to rehome, etc & so by doing so they feel that they are not passing off a situation onto someone else or letting the rabbit go to a forgotten hutch at the bottom of the garden somewhere along the line.

I am speaking generally here of course.
 
I`m debating if I should ring the SPCA here and ask them the acceptable ways of PTS buns. As I`m sure (and others who have posted on this site) some of the ways these registered breeders cull doesn`t fall with in the boundaries. The 3 that I have a problem with are.

1) a hammer

2) the car exhaust pipe

3) ether and not checking for a heart beat or touching the eye and no movement.

bronie
 
I imagine they will tell you it should only be done by a qualified vet as they will want to cover their own backs. Doesn't hurt to phone and see what they say though.

Tam
 
I dont think any one would like the three u have mentioned they dont sound good to me. The ways i know that are acceptable, would be necking or shooting,val
 
Hi Bronie,

No i would say that those 3 methods are not the kindest especially the first two.

I would say however as a qualified vet nurse i was trained to use inhalation euthanasia (chloroform) or PTS by injecting sodium pentobarbitone, under the supervision of a veterinary surgeon in a well-known animal charity i worked for. I believe that the first method is a little dated now though.

With ether (same as chloroform), they must wait to see if the eye blink reflex is gone before they dispose of them. They must also wait for rigor mortis to set in.

I once had a vet nurse friend who had a little albino guinea pig that her boyfriend (who worked part time in a pet shop) brought home to her after finding him alive in a sack of dead guinea pigs that had been gassed with ether for snake food. She had him checked at work & the vet could find no subsequent problem with his health & she kept him & called him 'Ether'. :roll: :)

I would report to the SPCA if you know that this is going on, but I am guessing it would be hard to prove though as they will need evidence or to witness the event.

I know it goes on all the time, the worst i heard of in the UK (although i know people do different things) was drowning & freezing alive. :shock: No excuse for that either! :x
 
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