Rabbits are frequently misunderstood pets, and common misconceptions about their needs lead to welfare problems in millions of homes. Evidence-based rabbit care dramatically improves their quality of life.
Pet rabbits in the UK and many other countries live lives that fail to meet their basic welfare needs. The hutch-in-a-garden model - small, often solitary, with limited hay and no exercise - causes chronic suffering. Solitary rabbits experience loneliness and depression. Rabbits in inadequate space develop behavioural abnormalities from frustration. Poor diets cause painful dental disease that progresses silently for years. The gap between how rabbits are commonly kept and what they actually need represents one of the largest welfare failures in companion animal keeping. Better education at point of sale and stronger regulations on housing sold with rabbits are urgently needed.