I, personally, do not distinguish much between "pet" and "livestock" rabbits. I've probably said it half a hundred times - all rabbits are made of meat. That being said, I'm not going to break into anyone's home to steal their pet rabbit to eat(I might be fat, but I'm not psychotic!!). I have favourites that I wouldn't want to eat, rabbits that are special to me for one reason or another, that, if it came down to it, I would do my best to place in a home before butchering. The sweet natured ones always get to me, but that's okay... Even though I adore these rabbits, I am aware that ultimately, they are meat, and can be used as such. I would butcher a favourite rabbit before sending it to a home I wasn't sure of, or sending it to a rescue where I was not in control of the ultimate placement of that rabbit. And that is my choice.
But the fact of the matter is that rabbits were domesticated for meat. Many people do not realize that rabbits were domesticated from European Wild Hares, and then selectively bred into the many forms you see now. While domestic rabbit breeding is not as popular as dog breeding, and not as widely publicized, those that breed rabbits are aware that they were domesticated to be raised for meat, and that there are many many people who raise rabbits for that purpose, even if they personally prefer not to. There is generally not a lot of shaming going on between show rabbit breeders and meat rabbit breeders, because each side accepts the other's use of a very versatile animal.
Now, we could get into the clinical definition of livestock vs pets, and touch on what the governments consider livestock, but that's kind of boring. Let's instead look at the fact that many many slaughterhouses will butcher rabbits - it's usually around $5 a rabbit, with discounts for larger quantities. On small farms, even sometimes in back yards, rabbits are being raised for meat. Call a local meat plant and ask if they butcher rabbits. Seven times out of 10, they will say yes. They may not release the statistics to you, but the numbers would shock those that see rabbit meat as a fringe meat. The rabbit meat industry is alive and well.
Looking at rabbit meat in the grocery store, one might be willing to believe that the meat is only for the elite, for those that don't mind spending $30 on a single meal. Of course those rich snobs want to eat weird things! they have the money to do it, don't they?? But, really, that's not the case. Many producers do not sell through stores, they operate in farmers' markets, or have farm gate stores. They sell it through local classifieds, or simply produce for their own families. Personally, I have 2 devout customers beyond my immediate family. I've never advertised the meat for sale, I've never had the need to.
But I am just a small producer, I don't really count, right? So some freaks eat rabbit meat, that doesn't mean they're not psychotics eating pets....
Fair enough... You see rabbits as pets. I see them as pets and meat, and Joe Blow down the road sees them only as meat. How does that make you moral, me a moral hypocrite, and Joe Blow the devil incarnate?
You know what I enjoy eating? Bacon. Love bacon, and most people I know do as well. You know who's a pet? Eli, and Esther, and Bobby, and many other countless pigs out there. How about chickens, they can be pets as well. Enjoy the occasional hamburger? Well these cows are certainly used as pets. Turkeys, ducks, fish, lobsters, shrimp... Pick an animal used as meat, and you're alternately picking an animal loved as pets. Now, the most devout of the raras will tell us the only answer is to go vegan, of course! But... these people against rabbit meat? Most of them aren't devout rara's, most of them aren't vegan, or vegetarian. Most of them don't even mind rabbit meat being used in pet food... They just don't want rabbit meat available in grocery stores.
Perhaps things are different way up here in Canada - we don't have Whole Foods(if we did, I'd totally shop there to show my support). However, of the 6 local-to-me stores that sell groceries, 5 of them carry rabbit meat regularly. The only one that doesn't is the Walmart Superstore. The rest have it, though it is pricey(and frozen, I prefer mine fresh). No one pickets these stores, or calls for boycotts against them. How about my American readers, how many grocery stores in your area carry rabbit meat? Is it fresh, or frozen? If it's not Whole Foods, do people picket them?
When it comes right down to it, I don't feel like a moral hypocrite because I am not. I am not wishy washy on a subject. It is not moral hypocrisy to say that these animals are meat, while accepting that others do not see them that way, nor state that I am perfectly fine eating a bacon sandwich while Eli the pig lives happily in his home. It is not moral hypocrisy to accept that others have different opinions and are entitled to them, and to their own choices.
What is moral hypocrisy is to say that HUMANS should not eat rabbit meat, but it is perfectly okay to feed rabbit meat to your dog/cat/snake/whatever. What is moral hypocrisy is to say that because YOU enjoy a specific animal as a pet, no one should be allowed to use that animal for its traditional purpose. What is moral hypocrisy is to say that YOUR lifestyle choices should be forced on everyone else. My choice to eat rabbit meat does not hurt you, nor your pet rabbits. Oh, you'll say that my choice to eat rabbit meat is hurting the rabbits that I eat, however I like to think of it this way - eating rabbit, I am eating meat that I know how it was raised, that I know it had a good life with one bad day at the end that may have come a little sooner than natural, but was as quick and painless as possible.
I have a pet tomato plant... does that mean everyone should stop eating tomatoes, or make me a monster for eating her "babies"??