Mark Hawthorne writes in the November issue of Satya magazine:
Despite being one of the most popular companion animals in the country, rabbits are among the most exploited. Domestic rabbits — cherished for their playful, gentle natures — are skinned for their fur, blinded to test cosmetics, bred for show, drugged in the name of science, clipped for wool products, pulled out of magicians’ hats, killed in vivisection labs, sold as food for pet snakes, and raised and shipped by breeders motivated only by profit. To add insult to all this injury, we chop off their paws and tout the rabbit’s foot as a “good luck” charm....

By grouping rabbits with poultry, the USDA avoids including them in the 1958 Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (HMSA), which the USDA interprets as excluding poultry.

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