The artificial insemination of rabbits in a French farm

What is the link between the rabbits we eat and horses in South America? A hormone and farming conditions that are both equally controversial... New footage by the association L214 Ethique et Animaux

The truth about “blood farms”


It is a form of animal cruelty…that hides another one: the artificial insemination of rabbits. New footage broadcasted by the association L214 in a French rabbit farm show many familiar images: filthy cages, overcrowding, dead animals…But this footage also brings to light the usage of a controversial hormone. Among the products found on the farm, the PMSG hormon, also known as eCG, can be seen. Injected into animals prior to insemination, this hormone allows to schedule and control the births by stimulating ovulation. But how is this hormone obtained?


By raising horses on “blood farms”. These farms are particularly common in Argentina and Uruguay, as shown in these images that provoked outrage in 2018. In these establishments, blood is taken from the jugular vein of pregnant mares in order to harvest the eCG hormone. Up to 10L per animal are harvested every week for about 2 months. Since they stop producing this hormone around the 120th day of their gestation period, they are then aborted by hand to restart their cycle. The extreme breeding conditions practiced by these farms cause a high mortality rate among the animals.


Former “blood farm” employee Blood extractions are done at night, I worked there
during the day. But I know that the mares died in heaps, one lied here, another lied there… That’s because they take too much blood. Out of 100 mares, around 25 die, perhaps even 30. Once harvested, this hormone is used in the manufacturing of products made for breeding, notably abroad according to the Animal Welfare Foundation.


Thus, the export of this product to France by the company Syntex Argentina accounted for around $10 million between January and May 2017. Dr. Perdigón Blood farm owner The mares are impregnated, their blood is collected, we then extract the plasma and this plasma, once frozen, is exported. In the case of the breeding farm shown in the L214 footage, it can be seen
that in June 2019, the insemination of 507 rabbits has enabled the birth of 3840 bunnies of which 240 were “eliminated”. In France, an average of 22% of farmed rabbits die before reaching their slaughter age, whereas 30 million rabbits were slaughtered in the country in 2017.


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