Rabbits are the third most farmed mammal globally yet receive almost no welfare protection. Intensive battery cage systems cause severe behavioral frustration in highly active, social animals.
Farmed rabbit welfare is one of the most severe and least visible welfare crises in animal agriculture. Rabbits in battery cages experience the complete frustration of every natural behavior that defines their species: they cannot run, cannot dig, cannot jump, cannot hide, and have minimal or no social contact. These are active, inquisitive animals that in natural conditions would range across territories, dig extensive burrow systems, and live in complex social groups. The confinement of these animals in cages barely larger than their own body is a welfare failure that has been clearly identified by scientific assessment but has received far less public attention and advocacy effort than comparable conditions for chickens or pigs. Expanding the welfare conversation to include farmed rabbits is an important advocacy priority.