I'm sure you expect this letter to be ranting and raving about your choice to sell rabbit meat, and how I don't want you to eat my pets. On that expectation, you'll be disappointed. Well, kind of. I mean, please don't eat my pets - I don't know why you'd WANT to come to my home, all the way up here in Canada, and eat my pets, but if you get it into your mind that my dog would be tasty, please resist the urge!
Rabbits are, of course, a multi-use animal, with three main reasons for raising them - food, fur and fancy. People tend to want to phase out the "food, fur" portion of that statement, and make rabbits simply about "fancy" - rabbits because you like them, like how they look, and want one in your home.
Historically, fancy has been simply a part of the food and fur aspect. People didn't raise them exclusively for pets, they raised them because they liked them and wanted the meat, wanted the fur. If you read up on breed histories, you'll find that many of the smaller breed rabbits are only a relatively recent development. A hundred years ago, people wanted big beefy rabbits! They wanted thick, luxurious coats to make warm winter clothing from. They may have loved and cared about their rabbits, but the end result was the same - they were raised to feed and clothe the family, or to breed more that would feed and clothe the family. In fact, my mother has told me of her mother and grandmother's tales about rabbits being used for meat, and has even told me her own stories from her childhood. Even as late as the 60's, people were relying on rabbits to nourish their family! It is only in more recent years that rabbits have begun to shift from meat to pet, and even more recently still that the Radical Animal Rights Activists(RARA's) have started focusing on rabbits. These sorts not only want to stop rabbit meat consumption, but also prevent any educated, responsible breeding. They want to remove the "food, fur" portion completely, and reduce "fancy" from being pet and show to just being pet.
Rabbits raised because you like them can still fulfill the food and fur role. I know many breeders who adore their rabbits, who raise excellent show winning rabbits, who keep their rabbits in the taj mahal of rabbitries... Who will cull and butcher the lesser quality rabbits. I know some breeders who live quietly in their little bubbles with their bunnies, who only make themselves known via attending shows and selling stock to other breeders, never interacting with the public concerning their rabbits, never selling a rabbit to anyone they've not met personally or had referred to them through other breeder contacts. I raise 3 breeds, 2 of which are primarily "fancy" rabbits... But that doesn't mean I don't cull when required, and that I don't use those smaller rabbits for meat! The rabbits that don't make the cut(for breeding or showing) and don't find a pet home... Eventually I need that cage, and that rabbit takes the short bus to freezer camp. I can't keep them forever, and I am comfortable knowing that they had an excellent life, were well cared for and loved until their end came. An excellent, quality life with one really bad moment at the end(and even that moment isn't too bad, as they're stuffing their faces with greens and then quickly ended via pellet gun while they're distracted).
Now, the common cry of the RARA's is "don't eat my pet!!" Whole Foods, have you been naughty? Were you threatening to go to the anti-meat people's homes and use THEIR rabbits for food? What? You didn't? You obviously wouldn't because that's simply insanity and no rational person would look at rabbits raised as livestock for the sole purpose of meat and assume you intended to harvest your bloody offering from homes across the country, ripping pets from their families amid a wash of tears and threats of violence. No one would do that. There is a vast difference between an animal raised in a home, with a family, as a pet, and an animal raised with the intent of being harvested for meat.
Of course, the RARA's want to know what, exactly, the difference in those animals is. Why does little Fluffy get to live inside, while Snowy has to live outside?
Each rabbit, though cared for and cared about, lives a vastly different life. Each rabbit, though happy with their own life, is given a vastly different environment. Would Snowy have been happy to be raised into a pet life? Probably, but that was not her lot in life. She was raised as livestock. And because of that, she is happy with her lot in life. Her children, who are raised for meat, are happy with their lot in life. They are well cared for, handled with respect, and live the same life their mother enjoys, until that one bad moment at the end. They are not pets, they are livestock.
So, Whole Foods, I thank you for carrying rabbit meat, and for not bending to the threats and anger of the RARA's. I thank you for standing up for the freedom of choice, and the freedom to consume meat that is both healthy and has been being consumed for centuries. I thank you for your public stance on rabbit meat and for supporting it despite the minority being vocal against it.
But mostly, I thank you for not threatening to eat my pets, but for recognizing that there is a difference between pets and livestock.
HnH