A pair of homesteaders have been slammed online after revealing that they shower their pet rabbits with love – before eating them.
Emily and Drake Donovan have quickly adapted to the off-grid lifestyle.
The pair, aged 28 and 30, source their own dairy and eggs, as well as grow and harvest fresh vegetables and produce meat from animal to table.
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While they often eat beef and chicken, they also opt for a more unusual source of protein – rabbits.
A video has enraged animal lovers – racking up 5.1m views and over 142,000 likes – showing the pair stroking the furry rodents with love, before showing the meat cooking.
People are dubbing the couple “cruel”.
“There is a fraction of people who believe that rabbits are just pets and wish death upon our families – but that’s the internet for you,” Emily, who works part-time in hospice, told Need To Know.
“But they are great meat choices.
“It’s not the most common livestock animal and we’re finding that many folks have never considered them for meat.
“Rabbits are the most accessible and sustainable animal for anybody to start producing their own meat at home.
“It takes only four or so months from the day you get your first pair of breeding rabbits to the day you are harvesting your first litter for the freezer.”
Drake and Emily, from Oregon, US, began their homestead five years ago, after trialling the lifestyle for a couple of years beforehand.
As rabbits are easy to transport, keep and manage, they raise over 200lbs of meat per year.
And they say the butchering process is easy, taking only 20 minutes or so before the animals are ready for the freezer.
In the clip, they show themselves stroking a furry rabbit sitting in its cage, before cutting to a clip of a fillet of their meat cooking up.
The couple also show the fluffy remains of the animal, which they turn into clothes and jewellery.
Users have flocked to the comments to share their reactions, with many people left disagreeing with the practice.
Evie said: “Let them roam free before you pretend it’s ethical.”
Scott said: “Petting and treating them all cutesy before gutting them is diabolical.”
Another user said: “Pet them love them then eat them gross disgusting why don’t you just let them live then?”
One user said: “Sigh.”
Other people, however, are in favour of the meat choice.
One user said: “If you do it, be humane and use all animal parts with no waste! That’s cool.”
Another user added: “This is how we all should eat animals. Great welfare before a quick humane death.”
Emily and Drake hope to share their journey to inspire others and show that there is a more sustainable way to live.
Emily added: “Overall we’ve been super excited to connect with and offer guidance to so many people who want to increase their self-reliance.
“Producing our own food at home has been one of the most fulfilling engagements of our lives.”
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