Because in practice, farmed rabbits get sick, old or cannot be used for scientific testing (up to 1/3 of all farmed test animals cannot be used because they don’t fit the test profile), they have to be killed, either at the slaughterhouse (meat production) or on the farm facility. Up to January 1, 2013, using a high concentration of Co2 killed the rabbits. That process was declared illegal, after the introduction of EU Directive EU 1099/2009 that only allows the following techniques to kill rabbits: • Penetrative captive bolt device • Firearm with free projectile • Percussive blow to the head • Lethal injection All these techniques require an intensive contact between animals and operators. In case of an outbreak, using labor-intensive techniques need to be avoided, based on costs and the risks of spreading through human intervention. So what are the options: A new technique needs to be introduced to the European Food Safety Authority EFSA, the scientific committee of DG SANCO.

1. European rabbit production in deep trouble
Because in practice, farmed rabbits get sick, old or cannot be used for scientific
testing (up to 1/3 of all farmed test animals cannot be used because they don’t fit
the test profile), they have to be killed, either at the slaughterhouse (meat
production) or on the farm facility. Up to January 1, 2013, using a high concentration
of Co2 killed the rabbits.
That process was declared illegal, after the introduction of EU Directive EU 1099/2009
that only allows the following techniques to kill rabbits:
 Penetrative captive bolt device
 Firearm with free projectile
 Percussive blow to the head
 Lethal injection
All these techniques require an intensive contact between animals and operators. In
case of an outbreak, using labor-intensive techniques need to be avoided, based on
costs and the risks of spreading through human intervention. So what are the
options: A new technique needs to be introduced to the European Food Safety
Authority EFSA of the scientific committee of DG SANCO.
However sympathetic the scientific committee thinks about the need to develop a
new technique for large-scale killing of rabbits, the industry has to take the initiative
to present a complete science-based report, that is conducted according to Guidance
on the assessment criteria for studies evaluating the effectiveness of stunning
interventions regarding animal protection at the time of killing.
The Panel on Animal Health and Welfare was asked to deliver a scientific opinion on
the use of carbon dioxide for stunning rabbits. Specifically, EFSA was asked to give
its view on the findings of the study performed by the Polytechnic University of
Valencia (Spain) and the Animal Technology Centre CITA-ITAVIA “Estudio sobre la
valoración mediante parámetros técnicos y de manejo del sistema de aturdimiento con
gas CO2”. (red: "Study on the assessment by technical parameters and system
management with CO2 gas stunning.").
The answer was not at all satisfactory for the rabbit industry: As a first step, the type
of study, critical variables, experimental design, data collection and analysis and
reporting methods needed to supply scientific evidence that the use of CO2 is an
acceptable alternative for the stunning of rabbits were defined. These criteria were
then applied to the study. The submitted study was not adequate for a full welfare
assessment of the alternative method studied because it does not fulfill the
eligibility criteria and the reporting quality criteria defined, according to the opinion
of the committee. Follow this link to se the entire report. The rabbit industry has to
raise sufficient funds to bring forward a complete report, ticking all the boxes, to
enable EFSA to review the killing method proposed. First after EFSA is convinced
that the proposed method is an improvement, the technique is accepted, meaning

2. that in line with EU 1099/2009 all other criteria of training & certification described
in EU 1099/2009 need to be in place as well.
Why is this so significant? Let’s assume that the rabbit industry would like to use the
Anoxia method for killing rabbits. The method needs to go through the entire EFSA
procedure before it can be applied within the rabbit industry.
This makes it so hard to introduce better and more animal welfare friendly
techniques to be applied within the EU. The rabbit industry is relatively small, but
they have to fulfill the rules within the directive, if not, it will be the end of this
industry if they do not come up with a solution that is validated and approved bt
EFSA.