Pet rabbits are one of the most welfare-compromised companion animals in the UK. Traditional small hutches fail to meet even minimum behavioural needs, and rabbits are frequently kept in isolation despite being highly social animals.
Rabbits confined in small hutches cannot run, binky, rear up fully, or express normal social behaviour with a companion. They are prey animals that mask illness and discomfort, making their suffering less apparent to owners. Rabbits kept in isolation suffer loneliness. The combination of inadequate space and social deprivation is extremely common and represents a major welfare problem for millions of animals across the UK and Europe.