Rabbits are the third most farmed animal in Europe yet have among the least developed welfare standards of any farm species.
Farmed rabbits represent one of the most neglected welfare issues in European animal agriculture. Battery cage confinement denies rabbits their most fundamental behavioral needs — the ability to jump, stand on their hind legs, dig, hide, and engage in social behaviors. Rabbits in wire cages show high levels of stereotypic behavior, bone fragility from inactivity, and compromised immune function. The lack of welfare legislation specific to rabbits — most European countries have general livestock welfare laws that technically apply but are rarely enforced for rabbits — means that reform has lagged far behind chickens and pigs. Consumer awareness of rabbit farming is low, partly because few people realize they are consuming farmed rather than wild rabbit. Welfare campaigns are working to change this.