Rabbit housing standards have been transformed by welfare science - the hutch-only model has been replaced by guidance requiring large, complex environments with companion animals.
Rabbit housing welfare has undergone a significant evidence-based revolution in the past decade. The recognition that rabbits are complex, social, active animals with large space requirements has led to substantial revision of all major welfare guidance. The traditional small hutch model causes welfare harm through spatial restriction, social isolation and inability to express natural locomotion including binkying and running. Consumer awareness and retail standards are gradually shifting, but millions of rabbits remain in inadequate housing. Legislative minimum space standards, as exist in some European countries, would provide baseline protection that voluntary guidance cannot fully achieve.