Killing a rabbit for food is one thing, but the moment they gave it a name, “Allan”, it transitioned to being a pet.
My cousin lives on a ranch. She raises one cow for themselves. It gets named, and after a few years of being in the yard and good feed, it gets slaughtered.
At the original Passover (and I suppose subsequent ones), the Jews were to bring the sheep to be sacrificed into the home for a period of time. (I don’t recall how long, a week? 40 days?) But long enough to become a “pet” - and for the sacrifice to take on more meaning.
Why would a zoo keeper know about how the typical way to kill a rabbit (or any animal) is done? I suppose they couldn’t find a rabbit farmer to go on air. I’m surprised the tool of choice for zoo keepers (or rabbit farmers) is a tire pump.
The name makes a difference? My cousin raised a pig for slaughter (won a 4H competition along the way) and he named it “Barbecue.”