# Many pet rabbits worse off than battery rabbits



## RWAF (Feb 22, 2011)

RWAF press release

Many Pet Rabbits Worse Off Than Battery Rabbits
Many Pet Rabbits Worse Off Than Battery Rabbits
2011-05-03








A single rabbit lives alone in a small hutch
May 03, 2011, Press Dispensary. The British public has reacted with distaste to a recent spate of planning applications for battery rabbit meat farms*, where the animals are kept in tiny cages before being slaughtered for meat, but The Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund (RWAF - Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund ) points out that thousands of domestic pet rabbits are kept in conditions that are as bad or even worse, than those proposed by the battery farms.

RWAF Chief Executive, Rae Todd, has this to say. Many people have raised concerns over the planning applications for battery rabbit farms, with almost 1300 signatures being collected within 24 hours of a petition going live. Rabbit farms are outside of our charitable remit, but of course we hate to see any suffering in rabbits. There is however an ongoing, less obvious welfare problem facing domestic rabbits all over the UK: the countless pets living alone with no way to express their natural behaviours. We hope that when people think about the battery farming issue, that they also consider the suffering of solitary pet rabbits in cramped hutches.








Thousands of pet rabbits live in hutches that are too small

Thousands of British pet rabbits spend their entire lives confined to hutches the same size , or smaller than, the DEFRA guidelines - which state that hutched meat rabbits should have a minimum space of 0.75m2. This equates to a hutch with a floor space of 4ft x 2ft, and as hutches this size or smaller are commonly available it will shock many rabbit owners to discover their own pet is in fact worse off than a battery rabbit.

People need to decide for themselves whether to protest to their local council if they dont want a rabbit battery farm in their locality, said Rae Todd, but The RWAF is encouraging people to take a look at their own rabbits accommodation, and to take quick action if the hutch is anything under 6 feet long, with an attached run of at least 8 feet. The RWAF website has great advice on creating the sort of accommodation that rabbits need to lead full and contented lives.

A Hutch is Not Enough - Rabbit Welfare Assocation & Fund (RWAF)


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## Amethyst (Jun 16, 2010)

I would agree with this and maybe some are even worse off, many get dumped when no longer wanted as pets 

Of course two wrongs don't make a right


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## Rini (Jun 23, 2010)

That's hideous. Even when I had my past rabbits in outdoor hutches they were a lot bigger than that! That rabbit cant even move.


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## RWAF (Feb 22, 2011)

In case anybody is worried about that particular rabbit, it is a posed shot. For far too many, though, it's a reality.


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## CarolineH (Aug 4, 2009)

I rescued (and kept!) two large rabbits kept in a double 4 foot hutch, a bow shaped one so there was in effect, even less room. They were Dwarf Lops (meant to be!) but there was really nothing 'dwarf' about them! They were also brother and sister and had had (then killed) litter after litter and the owner was fed up of them. So I took them, immediately seperated them, had the male neutered and reared the litter that the female had 2 days after taking them before having her neutered and rehoming the babies with responsible friends. Sadly I have also seen chinchillas and guinea pigs kept in what can only be described as 'battery systems' when being bred for show.


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## Rini (Jun 23, 2010)

RWAF said:


> In case anybody is worried about that particular rabbit, it is a posed shot. For far too many, though, it's a reality.


I guessed that when I saw the article lol ^.^' but there are worse ones on the market. Like the crappy plastic primary coloured ones you would see a lot of in pet shops in the past.


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## crofty (May 2, 2008)

Tinkerbell was kept in a 2ft cage for breeding  shes never been able to hop properly and i can only imagine its after never being allowed out of a space like that. Teddy my frenchie was kept in a 3ft hutch too, he was very hutch aggressive when i got him, completely different now he lives in bunningham palace  petshops should not be allowed to produce hutches this small.


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## Guest (May 6, 2011)

There is an applicatiuon in our local newspaper this week asking for planning permission for a rabbit farm about ten miles from us, (Meat & Fur)Not best pleased Who the hell uses rabbit fur these days??? or coney as I know it!


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## noushka05 (Mar 28, 2008)

DoubleTrouble said:


> There is an applicatiuon in our local newspaper this week asking for planning permission for a rabbit farm about ten miles from us, (Meat & Fur)Not best pleased Who the hell uses rabbit fur these days??? or coney as I know it!


here DT get contacting your council


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## Guest (May 6, 2011)

noushka05 said:


> here DT get contacting your council


where Noush! There is nothing for me to click on


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## simplysardonic (Sep 1, 2009)

DoubleTrouble said:


> There is an applicatiuon in our local newspaper this week asking for planning permission for a rabbit farm about ten miles from us, (Meat & Fur)Not best pleased Who the hell uses rabbit fur these days??? or coney as I know it!


There's one been turned down not too far from me, gonna get in touch with my animal rights mate who lives in the same village, get her to keep an eye on it


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## noushka05 (Mar 28, 2008)

DoubleTrouble said:


> where Noush! There is nothing for me to click on


http://www.petforums.co.uk/rabbits/162751-rabbit-battery-farms.html

oops i forgot to paste it


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## Guest (May 6, 2011)

simplysardonic said:


> There's one been turned down not too far from me, gonna get in touch with my animal rights mate who lives in the same village, get her to keep an eye on it


I come under Nottinghamshire council - although I an nearer to lincolnshire!

Can't find no link! am I looking for something that isn't there?


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## Guest (May 6, 2011)

noushka05 said:


> http://www.petforums.co.uk/rabbits/162751-rabbit-battery-farms.html
> 
> oops i forgot to paste it


Thanks Noush#!
Go on admit it! you are just testing me this morning arn't you
Just like the dogs


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## kirksandallchins (Nov 3, 2007)

I have never seen a rabbit battery farm, and don't like the idea of it. But have people been to see the set up of big chinchilla breeders who use the polygamous method of breeding, or the large scale breeders of small pets who supply pet shops?


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## Guest (May 6, 2011)

kirksandallchins said:


> I have never seen a rabbit battery farm, and don't like the idea of it. But have people been to see the set up of big chinchilla breeders who use the polygamous method of breeding, or the large scale breeders of small pets who supply pet shops?


Yes, and IMO they should be stopped too, in fact pet shops should be banned from selling any livestock full stop.


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## RWAF (Feb 22, 2011)

DoubleTrouble said:


> There is an applicatiuon in our local newspaper this week asking for planning permission for a rabbit farm about ten miles from us, (Meat & Fur)Not best pleased Who the hell uses rabbit fur these days??? or coney as I know it!


I believe it's illegal in the UK to farm rabbits for fur. Sadly not so for meat.


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## Guest (May 6, 2011)

RWAF said:


> I believe it's illegal in the UK to farm rabbits for fur. Sadly not so for meat.


My OH read it to me out of the local paper yesterday! I shall check later and copy onto here! but very tied up at the moment!


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## Guest (May 6, 2011)

Couldn't wait could I
page 25 of the Neark Adertiser (can been read online bottom righthand corner)

It begins

Proposals to breed rabbits for meat and fur have been submitted to Rushcliffe Borough Council


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## RWAF (Feb 22, 2011)

If the rabbits are being farmed for meat, then fur can be a by-product, but farming exclusively for fur is prohibited.

Here's the relevant documentation 
Fur Farming (Prohibition) Act 2000
and the explanatory notes
Fur Farming (Prohibition) Act 2000 - Explanatory Notes


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## noushka05 (Mar 28, 2008)

peta might not be everybodys cup of tea but credit where credits due! they have always been at the forefront in the battle with the fur industry and this is what they say about the proposal..........Regardless of the primary purpose for factory farming the rabbits, their suffering will be the same whether they are reared and slaughtered for their flesh or for their skin,' say the People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

Battery rabbit farm proposals could see return of fur farming to UK - News - The Ecologist


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

am I right in thinking a cage for meat rabbits only needs to be 40cm by 40cm? this wouldnt allow a typical meat breed to lay out and stretch/sleep. I have seen very few pet rabbit hutches smaller than this (1.5ft by 1.5ft). The majority of the tiny ones are 3ft by 1.5 ft. 

I would also like to think that a pet rabbit kept in a tiny cage is also likely to get more exercise than a caged farmed rabbit, even if its only once in a blue moon or while being cleaned out. 

I'm not saying that keeping pets in tiny cages isnt wrong. But I do feel this is a rather sweeping statement. 

As is stands there are no legal minimum requirements for pet rabbit hutch and run sizes, this would be extremely difficult to police. But I do feel there are likely to be less pet rabbits in tiny hutches than the 1000s we are talking about at these farms.

I also feel that these 1000s of farmed rabbits will live in such sterile conditions due to the numbers, with minimum human contact, ie automatic feeders, no hay to rummage in, no chews, veg, company...

I'm sure the number of rabbits that get taken into the RSPCA, other charities and caring peoples care far underestimates the actual number of neglected rabbits. But I do feel we wouldnt be looking at numbers similar to the 10s of thousands of meat rabbits per year that this place is planning to churn out. They will never know any form of stimulation.


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