To whom it may concern,
I am writing to you because [I had planned to shop at your grocery store recently/ I used to regularly shop at your grocery store] until I found out that you sell rabbit meat.
I live with [one/two/three] house rabbits as companion animals in my home, and was so saddened to see that you are selling the meat of these loving animals as meals for your customers.
My rabbit is one of the most loving, funny, smart and amazing animals I have ever known. He plays with his toys, watches television on the couch with me, begs for treats in the kitchen, comes when he is called (sometimes!), and loves to be petted behind his ears and down his back. He is a cherished member of my family.
I don’t know if you know this, but my rabbit is the exact species of rabbit as those that you sell in your store. But whereas my rabbit enjoys all of the comforts of a life that most beloved dogs or cats in America enjoy, the rabbits you sell as meat lived a short 8 weeks in a factory farm, until they were shipped to a “processor” where their necks were broken (if they were lucky) and their throats were slit until they were bled out, all while their littermates were watching. Many of the rabbits died brutally during the trip to slaughter from the stresses of the journey, and many others died while waiting, in their overcrowded cages, while waiting to be slaughtered. You also may not realize that rabbits do not enjoy any protection from the federal government as “livestock,” so that means that there are no requirements for them to be transported safely or slaughtered humanely. Their suffering is immense.
Please reconsider selling rabbit meat—America’s third most popular furry pet—in your store.
Sincerely,
