Farmed rabbits in the EU have historically been kept in conditions with very poor welfare. Reform campaigns have achieved significant progress but full welfare improvement remains incomplete.
Farmed rabbit welfare represents one of the largest unresolved welfare challenges in European agriculture. Unlike broiler chickens and laying hens, which have been the focus of major corporate and regulatory campaigns, farmed rabbits remain largely outside mainstream welfare advocacy in most countries. The welfare harms of wire battery cages — inability to hop, no elevated resting, no nesting, no social interaction — are severe and well documented. EU-level binding legislation has been proposed but not yet implemented. National-level progress is patchy. The combination of corporate engagement, consumer demand, and regulatory advocacy has the most promise for systemic improvement.