Leading animal welfare charities are backing a new action plan to improve rabbit welfare in 2024.
The Rabbit Welfare Association and Fund (RWAF) and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) have led a project to create a new Rabbit Welfare Strategy to highlight the needs of pet rabbits, which they maintain are currently “the nation’s most misunderstood pets”.
The strategy, which includes a 10-point action plan, aims to identify common health and welfare problems, as well as offering advice and possible resolutions to navigate the issues raised. It is backed by a number of other organisations including the Pet Industry Federation (PIF).
Despite the popularity of rabbits as domestic pets, the organisations maintain that many are being kept in in unsuitable housing or fed unsuitable diets. In addition, more rabbits are bred each year than there are good homes for, putting a strain on rescue facilities, says the document.
Among other aspirations, the document aims to encourage owners and potential owners to acquire up-to-date knowledge on optimal rabbit care; to work with the retail trade to encourage the sale of welfare-compatible products and to ensure staff training is adequate; and to work with breeders and sellers to best prepare rabbits for a happy, healthy life as a companion animal.
Andrea Short, senior scientific and policy officer at the RSPCA said: “Rabbits are popular family pets – with around one million being kept in the UK – most of whom are kept singly in hutches outside, which presents a range of potential welfare problems. We hope that this rabbit strategy will improve the welfare of rabbits so that they can all live happy, healthy lives.”
