Rabbit protection groups around the country are planning on coming together to tell Whole Foods Market what rabbit lovers really think about Whole Foods’ decision to start selling rabbit meat in their stores.
The following cities and stores will have peaceful leafleting at them:
Northern California
- Mill Valley, CA (731 E Blithedale Ave): SaveABunny; contact Marcy Schaaf
- San Francisco, CA (399 4th St): SaveABunny; contact Lisa Zorn
- Berkeley, CA (3000 Telegraph Ave): House Rabbit Society; contact Anne Martin
- San Mateo, CA (1010 Park Pl): Burrow Inn; contact Donna Jensen
- Monterery, CA (800 Del Monte Center): contact Erin Borozny
- Santa Cruz, CA (911 Soquel Ave): The Rabbit Haven; contact Mari Rodriguez
- Capitola, CA (1710 41st Ave): The Rabbit Haven; contact Mari Rodriguez
- Sebastopol, CA (6910 McKinley St): contact Diana Rousseau
- Sonoma, CA (201 W. Napa St): contact Marti Bryant
- Santa Rosa, CA (1181 Yulupa Ave and 390 Coddingtown Mall): contact Cathy Wade
- Palo Alto, CA (774 Emerson St): contact Lisa Rockwell
- Campbell, CA (1690 S. Bascom Ave): contact Lisa Rockwell
- San Ramon, CA (100 Sunset Drive): East Bay Rabbit Rescue; contact Joan Wegner
- Fremont, CA (3111 Mowry Ave): East Bay Rabbit Rescue; contact Joan Wegner
- Sacramento, CA (4315 Arden Way): Sacramento House Rabbit Society; contact Sonia Tedsen
- Folsom, CA (270 Palladio Parkway): Friends of Unwanted Rabbits; contact Kimberly Wheatfill
Southern Pacific
- Glendale (331 N Glendale Ave) and Long Beach, CA (6550 E Pacific Coast Hwy): Zooh Corner Rabbit Rescue; contact Cat Logsdon
- Pasadena, CA (465 S Arroyo Pkwy and 3751 E Foothill Blvd): Zooh Corner Rabbit Rescue; contact Cat Logsdon
- San Diego (711 University Ave), La Jolla (8825 Villa La Jolla Dr), Encinitas, CA (687 S Coast Highway 101): San Diego House Rabbit Society; contact Amy Spintman via SDHRS Facebook page
- West Hollywood, CA (7871 Santa Monica Blvd): Bunny World Foundation
- Las Vegas, NV (8855 W Charleston Blvd): Las Vegas House Rabbit Society; contact Maria Perez
- Las Vegas, NV (6605 S Las Vegas Blvd): Las Vegas House Rabbit Society; contact Linda Walden
Pacific Northwest
- Seattle, WA: (1026 NE 64th St) Rabbitron; contact Tracy Martin
- Redmond, WA: (17991 Redmond Way) Seattle House Rabbit Society/Rabbit Meadows; contact Sandi Ackerman
Rocky Mountain
- Albuquerque, NM (2103 Carlisle Blvd. NE): New Mexico House Rabbit Society; contact Margo DeMello or Cathy Sweeney
- Boulder, CO (2905 Pearl St): Colorado House Rabbit Society; contact Nancy La Roche
Midwest
- Overland Park, KS (91st and Metcalf): Kansas City House Rabbit Society; contact Beth Chow
- Wheaton, IL (151 Rice Lake Square): The Sweet Bunny Project; contact Brian Duda
- Chicago, IL (1550 N. Kingsbury): Red Door Animal Shelter; contact Toni Greetis
- Evanston, IL (1640 Chicago Ave): Red Door Animal Shelter; contact Toni Greetis
- St. Paul, MN (30 Fairview Ave S.): contact Amy Ramnaraine
- Madison, WI (3313 University Ave): Wisconsin House Rabbit Society; contact Lynn Pauly or Renee Stodola
- Milwaukee, WI (2205 N.Prospect Ave): contact Carolyn Long
- Troy, MI (2880 W. Maple Rd): contact Lisa VanOsdol
- Ann Arbor, MI (3135 Washtenaw Ave): contact Melissa Pulcini
North Atlantic
- New York, NY (4 Union Square E #4); contact Marcie Frishberg
- West Hartford (50 Raymond Rd.) and Glastonbury, CT (55 Welles St): Nestle’s Rabbit Rescue; contact Jessica Cucka
- Portland, ME (2 Somerset St.); contact Ann Flagg Campbell
- Cambridge, MA (200 Alewife Brook Parkway); contact Megan-Marie Henrici
- Cranston, RI (151 Sockanosset Cross Rd); contact Linda Turchetta
South
- Duluth, GA (5945 State Bridge Rd):Georgia House Rabbit Society; contact Edie Sayeg
- Mt Pleasant, SC (923 Houston Northcutt Blvd); contact Grace Lorraine
Southwest
- Houston, TX: Bunny Buddies; contact Barbara Schmeitz
Mid Atlantic
- Pittsburgh, PA (5880 Centre Ave): contact Emily Vertullo
- Glen Allen, VA (11173 W Broad St): contact Kendall Bryant about the local event as well as other locations in Virginia
- Silver Springs, MD (833 Wayne Ave): contact Kendall Bryant
- Upper Arlington, OH (1555 W Lane Ave): Columbus House Rabbit Society; contact Terri Davenport Cook
- Woodmore, OH (27249 Chagrin Blvd): Buckeye House Rabbit Society; contact Stephanie Anielski Lodge
What Materials Should You Bring?
Visit wholefoodsbunnybutchers.tumblr.com to download and print their demonstration poster below right (also available here) for your participants to carry. A less “in your face” poster that you might want to use instead can be downloaded here.
Print out our “ruby eyed” poster here and bring it along with you to show what wonderful animals rabbits, and New Zealand rabbits in particular, are.
If you are in California, you might want to use the demonstration poster above left to carry instead or as well!
Visit the Whole Foods Kills Rabbits Pinterest page to find loads of great images to use on posters, flyers, or websites.
Bring these blank petitions to have people sign; when you have them signed, send them to Lisa Rockwell
Bring these leaflets (below) to hand out.
Have a stack of flyers ready to give out (see bottom of page for samples):
- Flyer A: this is the front and this is the back.
- Flyer B (can be printed in color or black and white): this is the front and this is the back.
Buy a tee shirt here if you want to look stylin!
What Should You Do?
Have at least two people at the event, and plan to politely talk to Whole Foods customers about the company’s decision to sell rabbit meat. Your goal is to inform customers of Whole Foods’ decision, let them know what wonderful animals rabbits are, remind them how popular rabbits are as pets, and let them know that the company’s “humane standards” in terms of how the rabbits are being raised and killed are really just greenwashing PR. Your ultimate goal is to encourage these customers to walk into the store, and fill out a comment card expressing their concerns, and to also, if possible, talk directly to the store’s management.
Where should you stand?
The First Amendment covers your rights to stand on a sidewalk, to hand out literature, and to speak to people, all without a permit, as long as you are not impeding traffic. However, be aware of the property that is directly in front of the Whole Foods store, because that property is most likely owned by the company itself, excluding of course the public sidewalk. If anyone complains about you, you may need to keep moving on the sidewalk, so as not to block traffic, but you do not have to leave a public sidewalk.
In addition, in California, and in some other states, shopping centers are not considered private property by the courts. In other words, the courts recognize malls and shopping centers as public gathering places, which means that you DO have the right to distribute information and talk to customers outside of the store in those centers. But each state is different, so you may want to check with your local state laws.
If you do choose to leaflet and speak to people directly outside of the store (but definitely do not do so directly in front of the doors!), then the store manager will most likely come out and ask you to leave, in which case you will need to move to a public sidewalk.
Remember–Whole Foods says they are carrying rabbit meat because of customer demand. We want to show that enough customers demand that Whole Foods NOT carry rabbit meat.
This campaign has been organized by the following