Rabbits are one of the most farmed animals in Europe yet receive some of the weakest welfare protections - what the evidence shows.
Farmed rabbits are among the most welfare-compromised farm animals globally. They are housed in wire cages where they cannot burrow, leap, or perform normal locomotion. Social housing is often avoided due to aggression concerns, leaving rabbits in solitary confinement for their entire lives. Disease burdens are high, and mortality rates that would be considered unacceptable in other species are normalized. Rabbits are stoic animals that mask illness, making welfare assessment difficult. Their small individual value means welfare improvements receive little economic priority.