Hello. I was thinking about breeding rabbits to use in shows as I will breeding them for meat anyways. Do you ever get people that are really against using animals

In the U.S., using and wearing real fur of any kind is looked down on, and you will certainly hear the people against it. They use to throw blood on people wearing fur.

It is hard to tell them that rabbits were killed for food, as there are those that are against killing animals to eat.

The rabbit foot use to be a "lucky" novelty to have. Even that has disappeared from American society.

My mother always said, that tame rabbit was bad tasting compared to wild rabbit. In America, rabbit is not a common food to eat.

Chicken, fish, beef, and pork are the main meat products in America to eat. Hunters also hunt and eat deer. Other hunters may eat other animals, but that is not the norm or acceptable in America.

You can expect criticism from the general public but more importantly from PETA. Before doing anything with rabbits where for meat of performing, you might want to read this topic.

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......forum=13

There are a lot of requirements

Having used animals in my show for over 35 years, I can tell you its a very small minority that is offended or has any problem with using animals in a show.

Apparently so, but my only requirement is to treat the animal well and with respect. I really think people can sense how you treat an animal just by the body language you use.

Thanks for the comments guys. Bill I had never heard wild rabbit taste better. I'm a man from the hills and have always heard it the other way. Down here we hunt and eat everything from squirrels to pole cat. My family settled this part of missouri and Howell county is actually named after us. We have always farmed and been good to our animals. It's funny but in good times rabbits are pets and bad they are food. I'm glad to hear people don't frown on it to much. Was thinking of raising Florida Whites to serve both purposes or would a New Zealand Whites not be to big.

It's not the people you are performing for, it's the animal agencies as outlined in the topic I linked to. Birds, dogs and such are not as controlled as rabbits.



I'm a dove guy and haven't used rabbits very much but from what I've read, New Zealand whites range 4-6 pounds. I believe most magicians use Netherland Dwarf rabbits as they are usually 2 1/2 - 3 pounds and fit quite nicely in magic props. There are exceptions but the dwarf fits most applications.

The Florida Whites are like that

I assume you mean they are small like Netherland Dwarfs. Just be sure to check out all the regulations for raising rabbits regardless of what you are using them for. The link I provided is pretty informative.

The regulations are extremely lax where I live. In missouri you can actually butcher and sell your own rabbits from home

OK, you know best about your area but the rabbit regulations are Federal and not state driven

I always ask if there are restrictions regarding the use of animals as I'm booking the show. Generally, my patrons are more concerned with health codes and allergies than animal cruelty. True, that's likely to come from other sources (e.g., PETA), but I've been fortunate enough to not have run afoul of any of them (knock wood)

The people booking the show usually aren't aware of the legal restrictions. It's just a chance you take if you haven't done all the due diligence. As far as I know, these restrictions only apply to rabbits.