Best Method To Dispatch

RabbitsOfTheCreek said:

They just said there's a bunch of people that talk about this and other people who don't

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Sorry... I jumped the gun & took a defensive stance assuming it was censorship of sorts.
Remember AOL? Once upon a time they were THE place for just about any discussion. Pretty much a monopoly and they killed it from within.
They ended up in last place, in just a few short years and barely exist at all now because of censorship & politics.
Anyway I've said several times already that I'm not judging anyone here. I'm trying to learn from those who actually have the experience to know the facts.
I'm not interested in the fixed mindset based solely on emotion.
Anyone who has read through this topic can see a ton of useful information has already been presented.

Rabbit Warren Man said:

In nature when wolves eat a moose or elk they start at the rear end and dine while the animal is alive for long periods of time. Coyotes eating a buck deer is horrifying for a human to watch because like the wolves they start at the anus the goal is to get a tare started. Then feed as the animal walks about.
When I shoot my rabbits they have no idea what’s coming.

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Sorry I didn’t mean to sound like I was criticizing I was just pointing it out.
I rarely buy meat from the store as well. I don’t know what’s been done to it when they ship it overseas and return us a crappy product.

RabbitsOfTheCreek said:

Drowning a rabbit sounds like an absolute horrible thing to do

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Yes, and I did not suggest that at all!!!! You just seemed stressed by the process of dying. so gave you my insight. Probably not help at all. Sorry

Although reading through this it appears to have gotten of course, the original question being best method to dispatch. I have tried many methods, and the shoot method works the best for me, and certainly for any rabbits that are not used to being "held". They are calm on the ground generally in clover smelling/ munching away and then its done. I find older ammo or subsonic work best.

More importantly is the goal that its their only bad day. Rabbits in the wild have mostly bad days, certainly true around here. Coyotes, cars, dogs, cats, several things they are looking out for all day every day . Running, eating what they can when they can, if they can. A life based on fear and paranoia. And when they get caught the process is not quick its not painless. Even if one makes it to "old" age it just means they cant outrun predators anymore.

One bad day , we are all going to die eventually , Having one bad day along the journey by most any measure would be a blessing.

Dervis said:

Although reading through this it appears to have gotten of course, the original question being best method to dispatch. I have tried many methods, and the shoot method works the best for me, and certainly for any rabbits that are not used to being "held". They are calm on the ground generally in clover smelling/ munching away and then its done. I find older ammo or subsonic work best.

More importantly is the goal that its their only bad day. Rabbits in the wild have mostly bad days, certainly true around here. Coyotes, cars, dogs, cats, several things they are looking out for all day every day . Running, eating what they can when they can, if they can. A life based on fear and paranoia. And when they get caught the process is not quick its not painless. Even if one makes it to "old" age it just means they cant outrun predators anymore.

One bad day , we are all going to die eventually , Having one bad day along the journey by most any measure would be a blessing.

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You are right on every point.
One observation I've recently made is that the "suggested" caliber should be at a minimum .22 for a bullet or 6mm for a captive bolt.
Many choose air rifles w/ pellets. The potential problem I see there is most are only .177 cal. While this will eventually do the job given enough velocity and accuracy there is a high potential of problems. Hence the recommended. 22 cal.
Not everyone enjoys the right to "keep and bear arms", live in a congested area or, simply don't have the proper training required. So... they try to do the best they can.
While I personally haven't tried any of the methods above, yours appears to be the most effective. Until something better comes along, if I had to dispatch a rabbit, that would be my preferred choice.
BTW, you are the first to mention "sub-sonic" ammo. Great idea! .22 short, while somewhat rare these days would also be a good choice.
.44 magnum not so much.
I really like the idea of zero stress, no pain and 100% success rate.
As a kid, out hunting, I made the mistake of shooting a rabbit with a .22 WMR aka .22 magnum hollow point. I wasted a perfectly good rabbit.
The side facing me consisted of front & back legs, a head & hollow cavity where the body once was. The other side was a partial back leg and a head.
Obviously that was an incredibly stupid "rookie" move.
The only good that came from it was warning my friends to never try that.
In the end it boils down to people doing the best they can with the options they have available.

I try to dispatch all my animals as painlessly and humanely as possible. I don’t like doing it but my dogs and I need to eat. I do know the life I give them is a good one and their death is so much kinder than wild animals who are either chased down and savagely eaten or suffering a long, prolonged death by illness, injury or old age. I use a bolt gun for my rabbits and never had trouble, my chickens we use cones and cut the jugular

Dervis said:

Although reading through this it appears to have gotten of course, the original question being best method to dispatch. I have tried many methods, and the shoot method works the best for me, and certainly for any rabbits that are not used to being "held". They are calm on the ground generally in clover smelling/ munching away and then its done. I find older ammo or subsonic work best.

More importantly is the goal that its their only bad day. Rabbits in the wild have mostly bad days, certainly true around here. Coyotes, cars, dogs, cats, several things they are looking out for all day every day . Running, eating what they can when they can, if they can. A life based on fear and paranoia. And when they get caught the process is not quick its not painless. Even if one makes it to "old" age it just means they cant outrun predators anymore.

One bad day , we are all going to die eventually , Having one bad day along the journey by most any measure would be a blessing.

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I agree with you. I have two reasons for raising rabbits. The first is to have a clean, healthy source of protein. I know what they eat so I know what I'm putting in my body. My second reason is that I don't want to eat an animal that has lived a hard life or been killed in fear, as in most commercial operations. Dying in fear may be normal in the wild but I will treat my meaties with love, kindness and respect. I will try to give them the best life possible and will thank them for their contribution on their last day, which will be as quick and painless as possible. For me, that is using a bolt gun after laying the rabbit on a wooden table and calming it. If you know where to place it, death is instantaneous.

Skai said:

I agree with you. I have two reasons for raising rabbits. The first is to have a clean, healthy source of protein. I know what they eat so I know what I'm putting in my body. My second reason is that I don't want to eat an animal that has lived a hard life or been killed in fear, as in most commercial operations. Dying in fear may be normal in the wild but I will treat my meaties with love, kindness and respect. I will try to give them the best life possible and will thank them for their contribution on their last day, which will be as quick and painless as possible. For me, that is using a bolt gun after laying the rabbit on a wooden table and calming it. If you know where to place it, death is instantaneous.

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That's the ultimate goal here.
Difficult as this topic may be for some, it might prove worthwhile for you to write out extremely detailed instructions of your method, including a description & source of your bolt gun.
Perhaps a video using a stuffed animal too.
This has the potential of others using your experience in place of the "trial & error" approach.

This conversation makes me wonder whatever happened to that cute little Taco Bell dog.

Sisi said:

Hi there @RabbitDad
Let me chime in from the other side, the experience of loosing your life. I have nearly died twice. First as a child. I was under water and my lungs full of water. It was full peace. I remember seeing big fish swimming around me but I know now there was no such fish in that small lake. I was probably hallucinating bc of losing oxygen in the brain. I was in no pain until I was pulled out of the water.
Then again at 35, I got neumonia. My lungs did not work very well. It was what is called a "silent neumonia" Not much coughing. The infection was deep in the avola. I was in hospital with only nurses about. I started to fade, I saw my dead aunt by the bedside. It was no pain, only need to sleep, no panic, just a feeling of slowly fading. I pulled through and gained consciousness and eventually recovered.( I was not given pain medication or sedatives)
I do not suggest that you drown the rabbits, just giving my insight in near death experience.
I also saw someone going unconscious not long ago. They felt a bit dizzy and sat down. Then in an instance fell over with open moth and open eyes. Luckily they were helped by professionals and survived. The person told me after that what they felt scary, was the fact that you could be gone that fast. No warning, no pain. Only dizzy, then nothing.
I think if the rabbit it knocked unconscious they are gone. I too struggle with the kill. I do cut the trough quickly and let it bleed out after the blow as I feel I can then be sure the animal is dead before I go on doing the rest of the work.
I feel more respect for what I eat now that I have this so close. I used to raise cattle but they where sent to slaughter somewhere else. In a way that is cheating, I feel now. We remove ourselves from the whole process. I did mercy kill a couple of rabbit babies in my youth. It was on instinct, as they where screaming in pain. Not fun, and very different from a planned cull. I do not think I will ever become comfortable in culling rabbits. Maybe that is just part of being human or maybe it is bc we have been removed from natural life
Nature is not perfect, often it looks harsh but compared to the insane world some humans tend to create, I will take nature any day. Good luck on your journey

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Absolutely brilliant post. Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts. I'm a connoisseur of NDEs and enjoyed each word.

Heartbased Homestead said:

Absolutely brilliant post. Thank you for sharing your experience and thoughts. I'm a connoisseur of NDEs and enjoyed each word.

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Those stories are always better with happy endings.

RabbitDad said:

That's the ultimate goal here.
Difficult as this topic may be for some, it might prove worthwhile for you to write out extremely detailed instructions of your method, including a description & source of your bolt gun.
Perhaps a video using a stuffed animal too.
This has the potential of others using your experience in place of the "trial & error" approach.

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I will not be extremely detailed. Sorry, but that's a little grizzly for me. However, I purchased my bolt gun here, www.bunnyrancher.com, and they have a demo video at if you want to watch it. Placement of the bolt and sufficient pressure is the only requirement for successful dispatching. What is done up to that point is your own personal emotional investment.

RabbitDad said:

Thanks.
I'm a Vietnam vet & retired peace officer. Looking from the outside, one might assume I wouldn't have any issues on this topic but the reality is... I'd need to be extremely desperate, or have kids to feed before I'd resort to killing. At least I'm aware of my limitations.
I'm not claiming to be a vegetarian, just that I'd lose my appetite if I had to kill my dinner.
The flip side of that, I have some serious respect for those who can.
This is beyond morbid but the closest analogy I can come up with is stories I've read about people in desperate situations, starving to death like The Donner Party & the plane crash is the mountains of South America.
Most people wouldn't be able to resort to cannibalism but I see there is a big difference since they were already dead. I hope that made sense.
While researching The Donner Party ordeal, I read the diray of one of the mothers desperately trying to feed her children. (All bets are off when it comes to that!)
She wrote that one of the first victims they sacrificed was their family dog.
Of course I took it out of context when she reminisced... "He was a good dog." I took it as "He was finger lickin' good!" I had to read it again to get back on track.
It really changes the meaning of "Having a friend for dinner." OK I'll stop LOL.
I mentioned previously that I invested everything we have in a ranch to raise bison. (Aka American Buffalo) After I was all in, I realized that while buffalo meat is my absolute favorite, I can't exploit these magnificent animals. Regardless of who actually does the dirty work.
So... things have slowed to a crawl. We are still raising them but as they reach maturity, they are slowly being transferred to reservation lands where they are relatively safe.
I can't bring back the massive herds that were once here, but I'm not the only one dumb enough to try to at least make a dent in it. The numbers are increasing... slowly.
As much as I enjoy a good steak, seeing our tiny herd outside my bedroom window each morning is far more enjoyable.

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We bought 50 acres about 40 years ago that the previous owner raised buffalo on. The huge paddock they lived in was made of 12' high telephone poles with very large cable as wire. He said that was the only thing that would keep them in, or keep them from jumping over. You really have a herd of buffalo outside your bedroom window? Or are you romanticizing the connection with your buffalo.

RabbitDad said:

I'm new here with a million questions.
I'm not here to judge anyone, just very curious... What is the preferred method of killing a rabbit for butchering?
Also, is everything useful used? Like pelts?
If I were to butcher an animal, I'd make use of everything possible.

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Well, I do my best, but pelts are a lot of work. Even without the pelts, I think I am using more of the animal personally than I would be if I bought meat in the store. Sometimes I tan pelts, but I also have a real job so...I tend to use a captive bolt followed by exsanguination (stun and slit throat) for adults and cervical dislocation followed by exsanguination (break neck and slit throat) for rabbits under two pounds.

RabbitDad said:

The following can be quite disturbing to some so you may want to stop here.
After watching the video above, I was temporarily relieved that the rabbit died instantly, without any pain, suffering or even realizing what had happened.
Then logic took over causing me to do some research.
...
As far as I'm aware, nobody has done a formal study on this for rabbits. Logic suggests that it's very possible that it's not painless.
...

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So, you may want to look at the American Association for Laboratory Animal Care or American Veterinary Medicine or the FDA recommendations for rabbit dispatch either for food or research use. These ARE, in fact, based on research, which has actually been done.

I come from a farming AND an animal research science background. I have worked with these kinds of questions for decades, with extensive third party committee oversight. I agree with everyone who says what works best is what is fast and the human dispatcher can handle. After years and years and years of euthanizing and harvesting animals for one reason or another by several methods, what is objectively best is either whatever is fastest, or doing everything under heavy anesthesia as in a surgical procedure.

Obviously for meat production anesthesia is not generally an option, as some is likely to remain in the animal's tissue following death. Thus, dead is dead, faster is better. In my opinion 90% of what causes animal suffering at the time of death is the squeamishness of the dispatcher. All that is required to give a humane end is total commitment, and a small amount of skill/knowledge.

It is a good idea, @RabbitDad, to educate yourself before attempting to harvest an animal. It is also a good idea, when seeking that education, to remain respectful towards those who respond. If you remember that you will find that you will learn more, and no topics are off limits. If you forget, all topics can be problematic. Text is a difficult medium, and prone to misunderstanding, so it is best to double your polite meter when communicating that way.

In case you are still interested in the research I mentioned, may I introduce you to PubMed? It is a research search engine that I find helpful, but the articles you find there are written by scientists for other scientists, so sometimes the language can be a little tedious and hard to understand, depending on your background. As a scientist, I am happy to offer clarification if you have any questions.

rabbit euthanasia methods - Search Results - PubMed

Skai said:

We bought 50 acres about 40 years ago that the previous owner raised buffalo on. The huge paddock they lived in was made of 12' high telephone poles with very large cable as wire. He said that was the only thing that would keep them in, or keep them from jumping over. You really have a herd of buffalo outside your bedroom window? Or are you romanticizing the connection with your buffalo.

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Agree with the extreme fencing. We use 8' railroad cross-ties for the posts & steel cable for the runners.
The concern isn't so much an escape, it's stupid people thinking they can hunt privately owned livestock.
So far, the biggest expense has been fencing.
Vet bills are amazingly small. We do biannual checkups & so far, it hasn't been a major ordeal. Pregnancies are more closely monitored. That too has been super easy.
They recognize our trucks instantly... those mean free food so they come running.
We just drive along slowly and toss bales off the back. We grow our own alfalfa so it's basically the cost of fuel seed & whatever soil treatments we need. Plus it's not all year and we need hay for our horses anyway.
All but one of our horses are mustangs. Besides being wild when we got them they were all severely neglected, some SEVERELY abused so pasture time was impossible.
That's not an issue now. Horses are extremely intelligent, they learn really fast. Even though they all suffered horrific pasts, they quickly figured out we could be trusted.
One big happy & healthy family now!
This is our new colt (born last November) he's a few hours old in this pic... outside soaking up the sun on his first day. Also note that "Mom" isn't a skeleton anymore.

RabbitDad said:

Agree with the extreme fencing. We use 8' railroad cross-ties for the posts & steel cable for the runners.
The concern isn't so much an escape, it's stupid people thinking they can hunt privately owned livestock.
So far, the biggest expense has been fencing.
Vet bills are amazingly small. We do biannual checkups & so far, it hasn't been a major ordeal. Pregnancies are more closely monitored. That too has been super easy.
They recognize our trucks instantly... those mean free food so they come running.
We just drive along slowly and toss bales off the back. We grow our own alfalfa so it's basically the cost of fuel seed & whatever soil treatments we need. Plus it's not all year and we need hay for our horses anyway.
All but one of our horses are mustangs. Besides being wild when we got them they were all severely neglected, some SEVERELY abused so pasture time was impossible.
That's not an issue now. Horses are extremely intelligent, they learn really fast. Even though they all suffered horrific pasts, they quickly figured out we could be trusted.
One big happy & healthy family now!
This is our new colt (born last November) he's a few hours old in this pic... outside soaking up the sun on his first day. Also note that "Mom" isn't a skeleton anymore.

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This is several weeks later. He's a big boy now!

eco2pia said:

Well, I do my best, but pelts are a lot of work. Even without the pelts, I think I am using more of the animal personally than I would be if I bought meat in the store. Sometimes I tan pelts, but I also have a real job so...I tend to use a captive bolt followed by exsanguination (stun and slit throat) for adults and cervical dislocation followed by exsanguination (break neck and slit throat) for rabbits under two pounds.

So, you may want to look at the American Association for Laboratory Animal Care or American Veterinary Medicine or the FDA recommendations for rabbit dispatch either for food or research use. These ARE, in fact, based on research, which has actually been done.

I come from a farming AND an animal research science background. I have worked with these kinds of questions for decades, with extensive third party committee oversight. I agree with everyone who says what works best is what is fast and the human dispatcher can handle. After years and years and years of euthanizing and harvesting animals for one reason or another by several methods, what is objectively best is either whatever is fastest, or doing everything under heavy anesthesia as in a surgical procedure.

Obviously for meat production anesthesia is not generally an option, as some is likely to remain in the animal's tissue following death. Thus, dead is dead, faster is better. In my opinion 90% of what causes animal suffering at the time of death is the squeamishness of the dispatcher. All that is required to give a humane end is total commitment, and a small amount of skill/knowledge.

It is a good idea, @RabbitDad, to educate yourself before attempting to harvest an animal. It is also a good idea, when seeking that education, to remain respectful towards those who respond. If you remember that you will find that you will learn more, and no topics are off limits. If you forget, all topics can be problematic. Text is a difficult medium, and prone to misunderstanding, so it is best to double your polite meter when communicating that way.

In case you are still interested in the research I mentioned, may I introduce you to PubMed? It is a research search engine that I find helpful, but the articles you find there are written by scientists for other scientists, so sometimes the language can be a little tedious and hard to understand, depending on your background. As a scientist, I am happy to offer clarification if you have any questions.

rabbit euthanasia methods - Search Results - PubMed

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Outstanding response!
This is a difficult topic to discuss in public, with the public and varied opinions / experience.
That being said, I truly appreciate the fact based info without dancing around the questions.
My tolerance has degraded to the point where I simply can't afford mistakes.
I publicly admit I'm pretty much a wimp now but when the wellbeing of animals are concerned perhaps that's not a bad thing.
Thank you!

RabbitDad said:

I really hope that's the case. To back up your claim, I thought again to the decapitation of people.
One would expect that having your head completely severed would be astonishingly painful, if... you could feel it. So painful in fact that 100% of your concentration would be on that.
So based on the experiments of decapitated victims where they responded to their names being called, looking around etc wouldn't make much sense if they were preoccupied with pain.
I suspect you have a very valid claim. Not merely because that's what I truly want to believe either. It just makes sense, with evidence to back it up.
THANK YOU!

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I think that's why we kill before decapitating.

After your post, I did read some of those studies. The conclusion was that there was indication of pain being felt for 10-15 seconds IF the person was decapitated while conscious. If unconscious from anesthesia or by stunning then the person or animal would not feel any pain.

Skai said:

After your post, I did read some of those studies. The conclusion was that there was indication of pain being felt for 10-15 seconds IF the person was decapitated while conscious. If unconscious from anesthesia or by stunning then the person or animal would not feel any pain.

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Yeah... 10-15 seconds could seem like eternity if the pain was severe enough.
As for drugs... that seems like a bad idea too as it "may" contaminate the meat. Not sure on that I'm not a doctor. (I only role played one as a child)
Once upon a time I was having back surgery. During the procedure I developed a leak of spinal fluid resulting in a Texas size headache.
I said "ow!" or something similar & the doc said, "I'm not even touching you." So I replied with... "not my back, my head!"
The look of panic on the doctor's face and seeing his hands shaking after he fixed it was rather unsettling.
Then he explained everything. Having your head chopped off would create the same leak. I don't wish that on anybody! That hurt!