Rabbits are the third most popular companion animal in many countries but among the most frequently kept in welfare-compromising conditions. Understanding rabbit ethology transforms their care and wellbeing.
Companion rabbit welfare is one of the most significant and underaddressed welfare issues in the companion animal world. The gap between how rabbits are typically kept — in small hutches with inadequate exercise space, poor diets, and often in solitary housing — and their actual behavioral needs is enormous. Part of the problem is the cultural framing of rabbits as low-maintenance starter pets that require minimal care, which attracts owners without the knowledge or commitment their actual needs require. Rabbits are intelligent, social, behaviorally complex animals with the same level of care requirements as dogs or cats but without the training resources and veterinary expertise that companion dogs and cats have developed over decades.