Surely they're not real. They look like the kind of faux stuffed
creature that belongs in the plushy toy section of a department store,
but they're not. They are real and they are rabbit... Angora Rabbit to
be precise. Without going too David Attenborough on you, there are four
different ARBA ( American Rabbit Breeders' Association) recognized
breeds of Angora all of which are bred for their luxurious wool which
happens to be the third largest animal fibre industry in the world but
this has come at a cost.
The farmed Angoras are treated terribly and is why animal rights
organisations like PETA and Beauty Without Cruelty have a ban on all
Angora products. The poor rabbits can spend their entire life in small
wire cages without being able to move and rather than shearing,
plucking their fur is the preferred method of removal, which is as you
could imagine incredibly painful for the rabbit. To make things worse,
these little (could have been) fluffy bundles of joy, which apparently
make fantastic (but slightly high maintenance) domestic pets, are
slaughtered for their expensive pelt when their wool growing ability
slows. Not cool... I actually started writing about these fellas as a
Feel Good Friday piece but the more I found out about the way the
treated the sadder the story....
Not all of them are farmed though, and there are a small portion that
are bred for pets. Pictured to the right are some for you to look at.
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