Rabbits are the third most common companion animal in many countries but are frequently housed in conditions that severely restrict their movement and deny them social companionship, causing chronic welfare compromise.
Rabbits suffer silently in conditions that appear comfortable to uninformed owners. A rabbit confined to a standard pet shop hutch is experiencing chronic physical restriction equivalent to a dog kept in a small cage indefinitely. Without social companions, rabbits develop depression-like states characterised by withdrawal and reduced activity. The gap between typical rabbit housing and appropriate rabbit welfare is large, and closing it requires both better owner education and retail reform that stops selling housing inadequate for the species it is designed for.