C.A.R.E.
Compassion and Respect for Rabbits Everywhere
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to understand the issues
TAKE ACTION NOW!
To Ensure Compassion and Respect for
Rabbits Everywhere (C.A.R.E)
Now is the time for you to make a
difference for rabbits raised for food in Canada! Just a few minutes
of your time will ensure that enough awareness of this issue will be
raised. Then, there will be enough proof of public support for
Rabbit Rescue to request a meeting with the Minister of Agriculture.
But first we need 300 letters!
Write to the Federal and Provincial
Ministers of Agriculture and your local MP to ask them to change the
Humane Slaughter Act and to revise the Codes of Practice to include
rabbits.
Here's how:
Write a letter to Gerry Ritz, the Federal
Minister of Agriculture and send a copy to Leona Dombrowsky, the
Provincial Minister of Agriculture in Ontario and a copy to your
local Member of Parliament.
The Honourable Minister Leona Dombrowsky
(postage required) Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs
77 Grenville St. Toronto, ON M5S 1B3
The Honourable Minister Gerry Ritz (no
postage required) Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food and Minister
for the Canadian Wheat Board Sir John Carling Building 930 Carling
Ave. Ottawa, ON K1A OC5
Go to this
link to find your local
Member of Parliament (MP) and their address:
When you input your postal code, two
addresses will pop up for your MP: an Ottawa address and a
Constituency Address. Please mail one letter to both offices. The
Ottawa address requires no postage.
Here are the critical points to make in
your letter:
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I am concerned that there
are no Codes of Practice for rabbits being farmed for food in
Canada |
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I am concerned because the
Humane Slaughter Act does not require that rabbits be rendered
unconscious prior to being suspended for slaughter |
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I believe that rabbits
should be included in the Codes of Practice and ideally
Recommended Best Practices during the farming process |
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Please write back and let
me know that you will support the inclusion of rabbits into
the Codes of Practice |
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Please let me know that
you will support changes to the Humane Slaughter Act so that
all animals, including rabbits, are rendered unconscious prior
to being suspended for slaughter |
It is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL that your letter
be written in your own words, that it be sent by regular letter mail
(not email). You must include your address in the letter. A
paragraph is all that is needed. Polite and articulate letters that
people took the time to write make ALL THE DIFFERENCE. See the
sample letter for an example of what looks good.
Download
a sample letter in .doc (MS Word) format.
Please send a copy of your letter via email
to care@rabbitrescue.ca so that we can keep track of the letters.
When we are certain that we have a critical mass, we will request a
meeting with Gerry Ritz, Federal Minister of Agriculture in Ottawa.
UPDATE:C
Many of you who have written letters to the Minister of Agriculture
and your local Member of Parliament (MP) regarding the humane
treatment of rabbits raised for food. Some of you have received
responses. This is great news because it means that the Minister and
the MP's are aware of our concerns! However, it seems that the core
message is still not getting through.
The central issue regarding slaughter of food rabbits in Canada is
that rabbits are suspended, stunned, then slaughtered (Note that
this information comes from Canada's Meat Inspection Regulations).
The order of this process is what is inhumane: it would be just as
easy for the rabbits to be stunned, then suspended, then
slaughtered. Minister Ritz claims in his replies to us that there
are laws to ensure that rabbits are treated humanely during the
slaughter process. I'm sure you would agree that the stringing up of
rabbits by their hind legs before stunning them is not humane.
Interestingly, this sequence of events during slaughter is unique to
rabbits and birds. Other animals such as pigs and cows are afforded
the humanity of being rendered unconscious before being strung up.
The other issue that Minister Ritz has failed to address is the lack
of Code of Practice for rabbits. As of yet we have not received a
satisfactory reply to the question of when rabbits will be included
in the Codes of Practice.
We encourage you to send a polite reply to Minister Ritz requesting
a response to your concerns about
1.) the more humane slaughter of rabbits, and
2.) a timeline for including rabbits in the Codes of Practice.
Thank you. Together we can make a difference!
In
Canada, there are no laws that require that livestock rabbits
receive minimum amounts of food, water, space, air regular
supervision, sensible handling or effective health care.
NOW is the time for you to make a difference for rabbits raised for
food in Canada! Just a few minutes of your time will ensure that
enough awareness of this issue will be raised for Rabbit Rescue Inc.
to be granted a meeting with the Minister of Agriculture. But first
we need 300 letters!
Please go to
www.rabbitrescue.ca/care.html
for all of the details that you need to write an effective letter to
the right people. Remember to send a copy of your letter to
care@rabbitrescue.ca
so that we can
track the number of letters being sent.
Together we can make a difference for livestock rabbits everywhere!
If you have any questions at all please don’t hesitate to ask. To
learn more about the issue, please read our brochure:
http://www.rabbitrescue.ca/images/care.pdf
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