Rabbits are the third most surrendered companion animal in many countries, and rescue organizations face specific challenges in rehabilitating and rehoming rabbits appropriately.
Rabbit rescue welfare reflects failures upstream in the purchase chain: rabbits purchased impulsively or given as Easter gifts frequently enter rescue with health problems and behavioral challenges from years of inadequate care. The welfare task in rescue is both acute treatment of presenting conditions and longer-term rehabilitation and education of potential adopters. Bonded pairs present a welfare dilemma: separating them to make individual adoption easier causes welfare harm, while requiring pair adoption reduces the potential adopter pool and extends shelter stays. Specialist rabbit rescues that invest in rabbit-specific knowledge achieve better outcomes than generalist shelters where rabbit welfare needs are less well understood.