Rabbits Hit, Hung Up and Skinned Alive in the Chinese Fur Trade

Every single fur farm that PETA Asia has visited in China – the world’s top fur exporter – has been beyond cruel: investigators have witnessed and documented that foxes were electrocuted, dogs were bludgeoned to death and raccoon dogs were skinned alive. Now, a look into three massive rabbit fur farms and an abattoir in China shows that rabbits are forced to live in cramped, filthy cages before finally being strung up and skinned – sometimes while still alive.

PETA Asia’s investigator found that terrified rabbits lived in urine-encrusted cages with faeces piled beneath them. One farm housed at least a thousand animals, and the other two had several thousand each.

Rabbits are usually killed for their fur when they’re just 6 months old. Some – like this one below – are kept for breeding, but their babies will be killed.

Most of the rabbits were kept outside in all weather extremes.

The investigator didn’t see any rabbits receive veterinary care for skin problems or leg injuries, neglect that is common on fur farms in China and around the world. This rabbit had a hind leg injury and was limping.

Rabbits arrived at the abattoir in cramped wire cages stacked on flat-bed trucks. As seen in the video below, workers left them to struggle and thrash wildly after smacking them on the head with the back of a knife, hanging them upside down and slitting their throats. They weren’t checked for signs of life before being skinned, and some were still kicking and twitching as the skin was torn off their bodies.

Help Stop Fur-Farm Cruelty
This case is hardly an anomaly: a previous PETA Asia investigation into a Chinese fur farm revealed that rabbits were shocked with electrical devices, causing them to scream in pain. No matter where it comes from – China, Sweden, the US or anywhere else in the world – fur is always the product of a cruel industry. Please refuse to wear or buy fur, and urge your family members and friends to do the same.