Rabbit Laws in India

Humans only began domesticating rabbits about 300 to 400 years ago. It is therefore a domesticated species at a very young age. Its meat is also not as popular in India, although it is considered a delicacy in some regions, such as Kerala, Goa, and J&K. In fact, it is widely speculated that the FSSAI changed the law under pressure from the “rabbit farm” lobby in these states. In addition to these primary laws, there are also a variety of subordinate laws such as rules, regulations and ordinances promulgated by central/state governments and local authorities such as municipal bodies and gram panchayats (local village bodies). Given the separation of powers in India between the legislative, executive and judicial branches, the three branches have different functions. Although the primary responsibility for drafting laws rests with the legislature, the responsibility is sometimes delegated to the executive branch to draft laws known as delegated legislation. By Baishali Adak: The chairman of the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) is protesting plans to add “rabbits” to the list of “hygienic and legal meats” and has written a strong letter to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). Article 245 of the Constitution of India provides that, subject to the Constitution, the Parliament of India may enact laws in respect of all or part of the territory of India.

The territory of India includes states, union territories and other territories such as enclaves in India. If so, some of the most popular animal species that humans want to breed as pets are rabbits, parrots, hamsters, etc. But unlike dogs and cats, many of these species may be illegal to be kept as pets in your country. Therefore, it is always a good idea to explore the legal status of the country and state in which you live before adopting or purchasing such non-traditional animals. The Government of India (see Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, FSSAI) recently included leporids (domestic rabbits) as the fifth category of meat that can be consumed in India. The other four categories are sheep (sheep), goats (goats), suillines (pigs) and cattle (the cattle family including buffalo and bison). Although there may be government restrictions on the consumption of certain meats. So you should also check the laws of your respective state. The rabbit was the first animal to be bred in India for its fur – a new variety developed in the United States was used. At the Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute (CSWRI) in Garsa, Kulu district, Himachal Pradesh (an ICAR facility), immediately after the rabbits are decapitated, their fur is removed, as if they were removing a shirt, by holding the hind legs and pulling the skin down. (This was filmed by BWC and can be seen in our film “Beauty Without Cruelty” on this site.) The carcasses are also advertised as rabbit meat in the region.

Shortly after our investigation and rabbit filming at CSWRI, a humane beauty budding rabbit breeder was convinced to grow mushrooms instead. Compared to huge surgeries, this is a small advantage for rabbits. Rabbits, which can be kept as pets, can also be eaten. So you will find a lot of people who have rabbit farms. But wild Indian rabbits can not be bred for fur or meat. It is absolutely illegal. However, you cannot keep a wild Indian rabbit (i.e. a wild hare) as a pet in India. It is illegal.

Magic shows often include animals such as white doves, white rabbits, dogs, birds, and goldfish. It should not be forgotten that these creatures must be trained and are housed like circus animals, whether the magician is world-class or a man in the street. Traditional symbols of fertility, vitality, rebirth and happiness, September 25 is International Rabbit Day, where special attention is paid to the exploitation of rabbits for their fur, meat, wool and fertilizer. According to various laws, there is a certain list of pets and they cannot be kept as pets or at home. They may well domesticate other animals. Animal shows are often organized without thinking. For example, the animal-human fashion show organized long ago by the Bombay Veterinary College, where dogs, cats, rabbits, goats, sheep, calves and birds were forced to walk on the ramp so that some of them were afraid of vomiting on stage. You can only have certain breeds of rabbits as pets in India, for example: The White Rabbit. That`s because white albino rabbits can`t survive in the wild anyway.

On the other hand, the white domestic rabbit breed has an average lifespan of 8-10 years. It`s the same as a small dog or cat. So it is not only legal, but also logical to keep only white rabbits as pets. Leave the brown wild hares alone! It may be surprising that the treatment of rabbits is not much different from that of chickens. The India Development Portal provides project reports and promotes rabbit farming for additional income in agriculture. It is also promoted by several other ministries such as the Council of Technology Information, Forecasting and Assessment, Department of Science and Technology, Government of India as a rural technology activity. And then there is the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), whose mission is to support, teach and provide loans for animal husbandry and killing for profit. In fact, the Indian government has encouraged rabbit farming by introducing Integrated Small Ruminant Development (IDSR), entrepreneurship development and job creation for livestock under the National Livestock Mission.

Intensive rabbit farming (deep bedding and cage systems) is not yet as common in India, but could become more widespread given the efforts of the government and stakeholders to label rabbit meat as “food of the future”. Many more rabbits are therefore ready to become living machines, forced to produce eight to eleven litters per year, an average of seven hares per litter – specially bred and bred for slaughter. The breeding, breeding and killing of rabbits for meat, fur and wool is kuniculture. In Kerala, however, hundreds of rabbit farms are working with the help of NABARD. The state`s agriculture and livestock departments also promote rabbit breeding through a number of programs, and people even raise rabbits at home, even if it doesn`t pay. Until September 2017, it was illegal to slaughter rabbits under the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI). However, in 2016, following statements to the Prime Minister`s Office that the livelihoods of thousands of families in Kerala depended on rabbit farming, domestic rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) were included among the animals that could be slaughtered for meat. Many people have learned the hard way that rabbit breeding is not a lucrative business. It may not be possible for the Biological Weapons Convention to stop rabbit farming altogether, but we are trying to curb its growth by condemning their breeding to kill and highlighting the fact that people are being deceived. In 2009, shortly after our revelation about rabbit breeding in Compassionate Friend, 24 dead rabbits and 23 very sick rabbits were found abandoned by a breeder near Taljai Hillock, Pune. Beauty Without Cruelty immediately wrote to the Pune Municipal Commissioner (PMC) calling for an immediate ban on the importation, breeding, killing and sale of live rabbits and their meat. Information on rabbit breeding was presented to the PMC and the State Department of Livestock, which intervened out of fear of the spread of disease among humans to document information on unorganized rabbit and other animal husbandry.

The legal situation of rabbits is similar to that of pigeons in India. Even with pigeons, you can have white pigeons as pets, but it is not legal to keep wild gray pigeons as pets. Broiler production (cage and barn systems) in Tripura is particularly encouraged by ICAR, which has identified the area as a meat consumption area with a significant gap between meat demand and availability due to the high cost of food that must be purchased out of state. In fact, many state governments have been encouraging farmers to get into rabbit farming as a business for years, knowing that rabbits reproduce quickly. For example, some independent farmers in Punjab mistakenly believe that quick and easy yields (but with lakh rupee investments) less space and less time is at the heart of rabbit farming. But the Punjab government`s own enterprise, a rabbit farm in Dhar Kalan block in Pathankot district, founded in 1996 with the aim of producing angora wool from 100 German rabbits, failed miserably. There are no specific laws in India that establish laws for pets. However, there is a negative list, which means that some animals cannot be used as pets in India. That must be taken into account first. Ten years later, the problem was still unsolved. In 2019, more than 60 rabbits were found kept in inhumane conditions, trapped in an endless breeding cycle to be sold at a housing association on Satara Road, Pune.

These laws are constantly changing and may vary from state to state. So, do your thorough research and also check local laws before getting a rabbit as a pet or for commercial purposes (e.g. fur, meat, etc.). In between, animal rights activists found 2 baby rabbits abandoned in a trash can in Vasai near Mumbai in 2011. The frail little ones were frightened and hungry. Many years ago, “unique” animal libraries were set up in some cities in India, supported without thinking – and with enthusiasm – by animal lovers. They were proud to lend living creatures such as dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, turtles, fish, snakes and birds, all of which were given chic names. The whole affair was only dealing with borrowing books from a library. The “pets” suffered enormous psychological stress, were constantly moved from one house to another and treated by dozens of people.