Millions of pet rabbits are kept in small hutches that deny their need for space, social contact, and exercise, causing chronic welfare impairment that is invisible to owners who do not understand rabbit behavior.
Pet rabbits are among the most neglected companion animals despite their cognitive complexity and social nature. The image of a rabbit in a small hutch is so culturally normalized that many owners do not recognize it as welfare deprivation. Rabbits in inadequate housing develop obesity, dental disease, muscle atrophy, and behavioral signs of chronic stress including excessive grooming, thumping, and biting. The welfare transformation from hutch to appropriate housing - space, companionship, hay diet, enrichment - is dramatic and immediate.