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      Rabbit welfare: determining priority welfare issues for pet rabbits using a modified Delphi method

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          Abstract

          Background

          Rabbits are the third most popular pet in the UK, but little research into their welfare needs has been conducted.

          Methods

          A modified Delphi method was used to generate expert consensus on the most important welfare issues for rabbits in the UK. The study involved 11 experts, recruited from a range of disciplines. The experts generated an initial broad list of welfare issues via an online discussion board. Two rounds of online surveys were conducted to prioritise these issues. The final round was a workshop with a subsection of experts. The experts decided that welfare issues should be ranked considering: (1) severity, (2) duration, and (3) prevalence.

          Results

          Experts considered that rabbits were often kept in inadequate housing, were not handled or socialised properly, were fed inappropriate diets and owners failed to vaccinate their rabbits against preventable diseases. Rabbits were thought to experience a reduced life expectancy. Lack of owner knowledge of rabbit husbandry and behaviour and, in some cases, also lack of veterinary knowledge, contributed to poor rabbit welfare.

          Conclusions

          The Delphi process resulted in consensus on the most significant welfare challenges faced by rabbits and can help guide future research and education priority decisions.

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          Most cited references21

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          Survey of the husbandry, health and welfare of 102 pet rabbits.

          David Main, S Mullan (2006)
          One hundred and two pet rabbits were examined and their husbandry, health and welfare were reviewed. The most common breed was the dwarf lop (n = 38). The most common problem was dental disease, which affected 30 rabbits although only six of their owners were aware of the problem, which was significantly associated with feeding a rabbit mix. All the rabbits were housed in ;hutches' at some stage, but 89 had access to the outside and 47 came inside the home at times. Hutches bought at pet shops were significantly smaller than home-made hutches. Forty-five of the rabbits were housed alone; the relationships between rabbits with rabbit companions were described by their owners as ;very friendly' for 84 per cent of them and ;quite friendly' for the rest.
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            The current state of welfare, housing and husbandry of the English pet rabbit population

            Nicola Rooney, Emily Blackwell, Siobhan Mullan … (2014)
            Background The welfare of pet rabbits is an area of growing interest in Europe and the UK. This study analyses questionnaire results from a diverse population of 1254 rabbit owners from three different geographical areas in England with the aim of providing an accurate representation of how pet rabbits are currently housed and cared for and key aspects of their health and welfare. Results Rabbits were kept in a variety of different housing types, the most common being a traditional hutch/cage (59%). Although the majority had additional exercise areas, access was often unpredictable, or ill-timed, which may compromise welfare. Only 41.9% of owners kept their rabbit with conspecifics, limiting their ability to engage in social behaviour. Of those rabbits housed with a companion, although many were reported to be amicable and to engage in positive interactions, over a quarter were reported to fight at least occasionally (25.3%), whilst 22.7% guarded resources and 27.1% avoided one another. Whilst low levels of some of these behaviours may be a normal part of social interaction, the relatively high levels reported here suggest that not all cohabiting pairs of rabbits are compatible, which is potentially a significant welfare issue. Although the vast majority of owners fed hay for over 10% this was less than daily. Pelleted foods were very popular (71.4% at least daily) compared to commercial muesli mixes (32.6%). As in previous studies, dental problems were commonly reported (12.2% of rabbits); however, so were eye problems (12.9%), digestive problems (11.5%) and parasites (11.3%). A large proportion of rabbits (58%) were thought to be fearful of loud noises, and 61% were not reported as calm when handled by their owner, which may be a significant concern for this species. Conclusion This study has confirmed and expanded on previous findings: many pet rabbits were found to be in good health, had compatible companions and were provided with enriched living areas. However, it also found numerous welfare issues that affect large numbers of pet rabbits. We suggest further studies are required exploring the accuracy of owner reports (which possibly under-report many problems) and prioritising the issues raised here.
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              Pain and analgesia in rabbits: a review

              Livia Benato, Nicola Rooney, Jo Murrell (2018)
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Journal ID (nlm-ta): Vet Rec Open
                Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Vet Rec Open
                Journal ID (hwp): vetreco
                Journal ID (publisher-id): vetreco
                Title: Veterinary Record Open
                Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group (BMA House, Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9JR )
                ISSN (Electronic): 2052-6113
                Publication date Collection: 2019
                Publication date (Electronic): 21 November 2019
                Volume: 6
                Issue: 1
                Electronic Location Identifier: e000363
                Affiliations
                [1 ]departmentJeanne Marchig International Centre for Animal Welfare Education , The University of Edinburgh Royal Dick School of Veterinary Studies , Edinburgh, UK
                [2 ]departmentAnimal Behaviour and Welfare , Scotland's Rural College , Edinburgh, UK
                Author notes
                [Correspondence to ] Dr Cathy Mary Dwyer; cathy.dwyer@ 123456ed.ac.uk
                Author information
                http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7511-2056
                Article
                Publisher ID: vetreco-2019-000363
                DOI: 10.1136/vetreco-2019-000363
                PMC ID: 6924855
                PubMed ID: 31903189
                SO-VID: af268133-d0e5-4f8b-bebb-5b33f9028bfc
                Copyright © © British Veterinary Association 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. Published by BMJ.
                License:

                This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, an indication of whether changes were made, and the use is non-commercial. See:  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

                History
                Date received : 26 June 2019
                Date revision received : 21 October 2019
                Date accepted : 23 October 2019
                Funding
                Funded by: Animal Welfare Foundation, BVA;
                Categories
                Subject: Companion or Pet Animals
                Subject: 1506
                Subject: 2072
                Subject: 2209
                Subject: 1897
                Subject: 1937
                Subject: 2004
                Series title: Original research
                Custom metadata
                special-feature unlocked

                Keywords: welfare,behaviour,nutrition,owner attitudes to pets,rabbits
                Data availability:
                Keywords: welfare, behaviour, nutrition, owner attitudes to pets, rabbits

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