Rabbit Awareness Week brings together leading rabbit welfare experts and veterinary professionals from across the UK, along with welfare charities and organisations that work to help improve standards of rabbit care. This year, it is running as a virtual event over two weeks, from 10-23 August.
To mark Rabbit Awareness Week, UFAW is highlighting the results of a study that was published in its journal Animal Welfare earlier this year which underlined why owners should avoid having lone rabbits.
The study was carried out by the Royal Veterinary College (RVC) and sought to compare the welfare of single versus paired rabbits. It showed that housing rabbits together actually reduces stress related behaviour and helps them keep warm in winter. Researcher Dr Charlotte Burn of the RVC, said: “It is crucial that we take rabbits’ needs for a companion seriously. There is a culture of getting ‘a rabbit’ and this needs to change, meaning that pet shops, vets and animal welfare charities should advise owners on housing rabbits with a compatible partner. Part of the enjoyment of having rabbits is surely to see them playing and resting together, especially when we give them suitably large housing.”
You can find out more here https://www.ufaw.org.uk/press-releases/no-social-distancing-for-rabbits-why-two-bunnies-are-better-than-one
You can also find out more about some of the genetic welfare issues which can affect rabbits here - https://www.ufaw.org.uk/rabbits/rabbits
For further information on Rabbit Awareness Week, see https://www.rabbitawarenessweek.co.uk/
