Approximately 1 billion rabbits are farmed commercially each year, primarily in Europe and Asia, in intensive conditions that receive far less attention than other farm animal welfare issues.
Commercial rabbit farming welfare is severely compromised in conventional wire cage systems. Rabbits cannot express natural behaviors including running, jumping, and hiding. Wire floors cause hock wounds (sore hocks — ulcerated skin from pressure on wire). Social housing is complicated by territorial fighting in conventional groups. Rabbits in poor welfare conditions show stereotypic behaviors — bar-chewing, wire-biting — indicating frustrated behavioral motivation. The welfare science is clear that rabbits require enriched, larger enclosures with hiding places, social companionship, and solid flooring. Park system housing — allowing group living with refuges — is an emerging welfare-positive alternative to wire cages.