# Bloody hutch sizes (sorry for the rant)



## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

So in a moment of madness during the week I sent out a few emails again. 

the gist went:
I am however concerned that like so many pet shops and the majority of larger online stores, you do not sell a single wooden rabbit hutch or indoor cage that meets the RSPCAs guidelines. I appreciate the RSPCA only sets down guideline standards, however having personally spent a great deal of my time with my own rabbits and with rabbits at rescue centres, I feel these minimum standards really should be upheld.

Many of the hutches you have for sale are around the 3 to 4 foot mark - 90cm or 120cm. However the RSPCA states that 5 foot should be a minimum 150cm for 1 small rabbit. As rabbits are sociable creatures a pair of rabbits should have accommodation at lest 6 foot 180cm in length by 2foot deep. Height is also an issue with many of the hutches for sale not only on your website but on many others, rabbits love to stand on their back legs and look out just like meercats, many of the medium sized rabbits typically for sale in pet shops will easily stretch to 2 and a half feet 75cm, which again the RSPCA sets down as a guideline for height.

You do not sell a single hutch or cage in my opinion suitable for a rabbit.

I appreciate it would be hard to find a supplier of good quality and correct size hutches for a website as large as yourself, but I really feel you would in return receive a great deal more customer from dedicated informed rabbit owners looking for new homes and treats for their pets. Additionally you could also help to educate others who are not aware of these minimum requirements for their pet rabbit.

I would be very interested in hearing your thoughts on this matter.

Kindest Regards


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

This is the really poor reply I got from ZOOPLUS
Thank you very much for your email.

Be kindly informed that your comments and suggestions are highly appreciated.We have forwarded your message to our purchasing department.Article Trixie Natura Hutch & Run Delux 53359.1 would meet your requirements.

Furthermore, it is up to you which cage you are buying, with or without a run or just that the rabbit in the summer can get some fresh air.

With kindest regards,

Your Service-Team

We want to continue to improve our services for you, and we would appreciate it if you would share your opinion with us with a quick click of the mouse.

 as a company who advertise so much online I am so disappointed by their response, the trixie, hutch and run is a HUTCH AND RURN, it is not a 6ft hutch!!!!


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## Nicky10 (Jan 11, 2010)

Well done. I hate seeing the tiny cages and hutches when I go to PAH and yet they tell people they're perfectly suitable for rabbits


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

on the other hand I got a really good positive response from PetPlanet.

Welfare of rabbits is everything to me and arrogance/complete lack of responsibility from companies is enough to make sure I never use them or recommend them again.


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## Nicky10 (Jan 11, 2010)

This is the same place that said rabbits didn't need exercise or hay... only place around here that sells a lot of the things I need though or I wouldn't go near it


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## BattleKat (Oct 26, 2009)

What was the response from pet planet?

I wrote a brilliant email to a pet shop near me that used to be fantastic but recently has had no hutches large enough even for guineas, no runs full stop, no suitable hamster cages and no rat cages! despite selling all of these animals!
Turns out the email on their website is wrong and I don't have the courage to say these things in person, especially when you really need to be speaking to managers.


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

Kat this is what I got from Pet planet. ear Emma,

Many thanks for your email. You've touched on a point that we have been discussing and researching recently at PetPlanet.co.uk. Our understanding of the RSPCA guidelines are that the recommended sizes are actually for 2 rabbits as they do not recommend that anyone keeps one rabbit singly.
There are only a couple of rabbit hutches, which we can source from the UK, which comply with the recommendations and the UK suppliers of all the other hutches have no plans to stop selling hutches suitably sized for single rabbits as that it what the majority of the market wants, and we have little control over that.
We do run a Trixie model (linke below) which meets the recommendations, but unfortunately Trixie's supply is intermittent and this product is currently out of stock.
Trixie Natura Apex Rabbit Hutch Large Run 186x93x146cm Wooden Rabbit Hutches for Sale
We are constantly searching for UK supplied hutches, which are bigger, and by asking for this from our suppliers, we can only hope that they take this on board and commission larger models for their ranges. It's then a tough job to try to sell a more expensive product to consumers who often want to buy the cheapest option possible. We don't condone, nor encourage that - it's just a fact.
We do source our own rabbit hutches internationally , and we do normally run one large enough for the RSPCA guidelines (link below).
Rabbit Hutch and Run by Petplanet Medium Apex Wooden Rabbit Hutches for Sale
However, the supplier was not producing the goods to our QC standards, so we're switching supply to another manufacturer. In the longer term this product will be available on PetPlanet.co.uk.
None of this gets around the fact that many people will only keep one rabbit, and therefore don't believe that they need the larger hutches. We can say to them that rabbits should not be kept on their own, but many people still want to own single rabbits. As you say, all we can do is educate people as best we can. With this in mind, we took the decision last week to put onto all of our hutches' descriptions some additional information and a link (see below) to our new Hutch Sizing Advice Guide, which quotes the RSPCA advice on what rabbits need to be comfortable and happy.

The UK's Favourite Online Pet Shop

We plan to roll out this link onto all of our rabbit hutches over the next few weeks (it takes some time to do anything at this time of year, as we're so busy with Christmas!). Hopefully, with the additional information offered to customers we can actively encourage people to choose the larger sized hutches.


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

to which I commented on the trixie "hutch and run" and also advised them to contact the happy hutch company as I have heard good reviews. 

and I got this back 

Thanks for your response. I have passed on your suggestion about the Happy Hutch Company to our Buyer, and we'll see what happens with them. Obviously with Christmas in full swing now, it will be into the new year before we make much progress with this. Once again, thanks for your emails - we always welcome input and the chance to review our policies.

 really feel like ive tried and someone out there has understood my language for once


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## BattleKat (Oct 26, 2009)

How refreshing to get an honest response from someone. I like that they said it's difficult to sell something expensive to someone who wants something cheap - normally you'd just get a bunch of bull to distract you from the fact they just want to make a profit and don't really care.
also great that they are making an effort to get large enough housing in.

good for you, people like you make the market change


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## metame (Sep 25, 2009)

BattleKat said:


> What was the response from pet planet?
> 
> I wrote a brilliant email to a pet shop near me that used to be fantastic but recently has had no hutches large enough even for guineas, no runs full stop, no suitable hamster cages and no rat cages! despite selling all of these animals!
> Turns out the email on their website is wrong and I don't have the courage to say these things in person, especially when you really need to be speaking to managers.


can you not print ot off and deliver it snail mail? or by hand?


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## emzybabe (Jun 30, 2009)

very refreshing! just type something up and put it through the letter box if you dont want to give it to them personally. It will be worth it if it just improves one pets life


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