The Department of Agriculture (DA) is eyeing rabbit meat as a potential replacement of pork amid the threat posed by the spread of the African Swine Fever (ASF).
DA-9 Assistant Director Melba Wee said rabbits are a good source of protein that could address the problem just in case the local hog industry will be affected by the ASF.
“Rabbit is one of the potentials once there is a shortage of pork,” Wee said.
According to Wee, only certain types of “meat-type rabbit” are fit for human consumption. These varieties, she said, “eat only vegetables and pellets, reproduce fast, and are easy to raise.”
She said there are rabbit raisers in this city and in the region but these are not the meat-type rabbit.
She said the livestock department of the DA regional office together with the Office of the City Veterinarian (OCVet) will conduct a study and explore its potential as a replacement–once there is a shortage of pork meat.
But the DA official conceded that one drawback in introducing rabbit meat to the public is that the animal is widely seen as a pet.PNA
