Wild rabbits are subject to lethal population management by landowners, but also provide important ecological services and face welfare challenges from myxomatosis and rabbit haemorrhagic disease.
Wild rabbits face welfare challenges from both disease and management. Myxomatosis causes prolonged suffering including blindness, respiratory distress, and secondary infections over a course of 10-14 days. Rabbit haemorrhagic disease causes acute internal haemorrhage and is rapidly fatal. Lethal control through shooting, when accurately executed, causes minimal suffering, but snaring and ferreting with less skilled practitioners can cause prolonged injury. The welfare and ecological value of rabbits should be weighed in any management decision, with lethal control reserved for situations where non-lethal alternatives have failed.