Farmed rabbits are among the least-regulated farmed species despite their complex behavioral needs, with most living in barren wire battery cages that prevent virtually all natural behavior.
Wire battery cages represent a profound welfare failure for rabbits. Animals adapted to run and leap are confined in spaces so small they cannot stand upright or turn around comfortably. Wire flooring causes painful foot sores. Without bedding, they cannot perform nest-building behaviors. Without space, natural locomotion - a high-motivation behavior for rabbits - is impossible. The silence and stoicism of rabbits masks their suffering from casual observers, contributing to insufficient regulatory attention to one of the most intensively farmed species.