Animal welfare group seeks tougher rules for pet rabbits

Animal welfare group Dyreværnet wants stricter rules for pet rabbit care, including a minimum living space of nine square metres. The group presented seven recommendations to Denmark’s Ministry of Food on Tuesday, DR reported.

Dyreværnet says rabbits should no longer be kept in small cages where they cannot stretch out or stand upright without their ears touching the roof. The group hopes its proposals will lead to regulations that improve conditions for pet rabbits.

“A great many rabbits are kept in a small cage at the back of the garden, surrounded by filth, and the only contact they have with anyone is when they are given food and water once a day,” said Nina Amdi, Dyreværnet’s emergency response manager. “People don’t do it because they are cruel, but because they don’t know better.”

Amdi said rabbits need space and stimulation, like dogs and cats. Many cases brought to Dyreværnet involve rabbits kept in poor conditions, sometimes after being allowed to breed until too many animals are crowded into small cages. They may be left sitting in their own waste, without a place to hide or enough room to stand upright or stretch out. This can cause sores, while their teeth may grow crooked or too long, she said.

Rabbits often hide signs of pain because they are prey animals, Amdi added. “They just sit still and suffer.”

Dyrenes Beskyttelse’s animal shelter in Tranbjerg is also working to educate owners about rabbits’ needs. Louise Toft Nielsen, an animal caretaker at the shelter, trains rabbits to use a litter tray so they can live as free-roaming pets, with a base of their own but access to the rest of the home. The shelter allows families to adopt rabbits only if they will let them live this way.

Dyreværnet’s seven recommendations are: clear minimum requirements for space, exercise and enrichment; a permanent living area of at least nine square metres; phasing out breeding for extreme physical traits that cause health problems; a limit of six rabbits in private homes without special permission; mandatory identification and registration of all rabbits; neutering rabbits that are not intended for breeding; and a ban on using live rabbits for hunting or dog training.

Dyreværnet met with the Ministry of Food on Tuesday to discuss the proposals. The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration is due to consider legislation on rabbit keeping. Amdi said the first regulations for rabbits should address more than when young rabbits can be separated from their mothers.