Rabbit farming “dangerous”

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33577, 4 July 1974, Page 8

Rabbit farming “dangerous”

Rabbit farming would be a dangerous and retrograde step, said delegates at the annual conference of the South Island Pest Destruction Boards’ Association in Christchurch yesterday.

If a wild rabbit poisoned with 1080 was exported by mistake, one could only imagine the damage it would do to New Zealand’s meat exports, said Mr L. D. Urquhart (Mackenzie).

The “decommercialisation” : of rabbits 20 years ago had been a break-through in com- i batting rabbits — it would be foolhardy to throw away that control in new legislation, said Mr Urquhart. The conference decided that pest destruction boards would “strenuously resist” any move to introduce rabbit farming. , Thousands of people would welcome the opportunity of eating rabbit meat, said the Under-Secretary of Agriculture (Mr Barclay) when opening' the conference. The proposal being considered by the Government provided for a controlled and licensed rabbit-farming industry with no change in the official attitude to the feral rabbit, said Mr Barclay. A well-organised and well-;, administered pest-destruction' movement would continue to function. It would be impossible to; say that there would be no black marketing of feral rabbits if rabbit farming was introduced, said Mr Barclay. Black marketing existed at present. To questions from delegates, Mr Barclay said that i it was a matter of taste! whether people could tell the (

difference between the taste of wild and farmed rabbit meat. Delegates suggested that farmed rabbit meat would taste similar to chicken, and that there was therefore no need to provide rabbit meat.

Poisoning as a means of controlling the rabbit population would be “finished” if a wild rabbit killed with 1080 poison was picked up and eaten, said Mr R. A. Chaffey (North Canterbury). Rabbit farming would increase the danger of this happening. Mr Barclay said the risk of a person eating a rabbit killed with poison existed at present.

The taxpayer had to be told that rabbit farming was dangerous, said Mr J. H. Carswell (Southland). “The only good rabbit is a dead one,” he said.

If, as Mr Barclay said, there was a demand for rabbit meat, it would be better to import it in order to protect New Zealand’s primary produce, Mr Carswell said.