Some newborns fall through bars and die in the squalid sewage pits below

Harrowing details have emerged of the horrific conditions at European rabbit farms where animals destined for pet food in Britain are crammed into tiny battery-style cages.

An investigation at farms in Italy, Greece, the Czech Republic, Poland and Cyprus found animals covered in sores and in such distress that they chewed off each other's ears.

The rabbits are treated with such appalling cruelty that many simply die in their cages. The bodies of these dead animals are then often simply left to rot, with the other rabbits forced to walked across the carcasses simply to make their way around the cramped cage.

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Cramped: An investigation at farms in Italy, Greece, the Czech Republic, Poland and Cyprus found animals covered in sores and in such distress that they chewed off each other's ears

Miserable existence: Like most battery-reared animals, the rabbits never see daylight, instead spending their entire lives locked in cramped cages

Horrific: Newborns are often left to fall through the sharp metal bars on the floor of their cramped hutches, where they will starve to death in the squalid sewage pit below

Investigations into European rabbit farms revealed sickening details of the cruelty to which the animals are exposed before being slaughtered..

Like most battery-reared animals, the rabbits never see daylight, instead spending their entire lives locked in cramped cages.

At one farm 16 rabbits were found locked in a cage just one metre square, according to the Mirror.

The distressing details were revealed to the newspaper by the the animal welfare charities Four Paws, the French group L214, and Compassion in World Farming.

The treatment of the rabbits depends on whether they are male, female or newborn.

When the male rabbits are crammed in tiny cages, the females are often kept in solitary confinement where they are artificially inseminated and forced to deliver litter after litter.

The fact of newborns deemed too small to be used for meat is even worse, with the tiny rabbits' heads smashed against the wire to kill them or otherwise left to fall through the sharp metal bars on the floor of their cramped hutches, where they will starve to death in the squalid sewage pit below.

Packed in: The investigation into European rabbit farms revealed sickening details of the cruelty to which the animals are exposed before being slaughtered and turned into pet food

One eyewitness said: 'The scale of the trade in Italy is immense and the factory farmers are united in talking about their business in terms of 'products'…not creatures'

Cruel: What brief moments the rabbits get outside of their cages generally consists only of rough handling

The rabbits are treated with such appalling cruelty that many simply die in their cages. The bodies of these dead animals are then often simply left to rot, with other rabbits forced to walked around the carcasses

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On average the rabbits rarely live longer than 80 days at which point they are slaughtered, with many of them turned into pet food - much of which is bound for Britain.

It is understood that 300,000 rabbits - the vast majority caged - are imported to Britain every year.

Undercover investigators working on behalf of Compassion in World Farming secretly entered 16 European rabbit farms last summer, filming the animals' horrific conditions.

The animal welfare charity's investigation focused on the horrific conditions the rabbits were kept in but did not find evidence that linked the farms to the British pet food industry.

They later produced a report titled 'End the Cage Age' detailing what they found in each country.

Speaking of the trade in Italy, one investigator said: 'The scale of the trade in Italy is immense and the factory farmers are united in talking about their business in terms of 'products'…not creatures.'The scale of the trade in Italy is immense and the factory farmers are united in talking about their business in terms of 'products'…not creatures

'When you see mothers and baby rabbits being hurled from supermarkets trolleys into cage after empty cage, it's not difficult to imagine the same scene in a supermarket where products are grabbed off shelves and tossed into trollies racing through the aisles,' they added.

Speaking of the situation in the Czech Republic, another eyewitness said: '[Feces] covered the whole area and it wouldn't be possible to check on the welfare of the rabbits without wading through it. I didn't see a farm as dirty as this in any other country and I'd already seen some appalling farms.'