Let's keep the focus on undersized hutches

How is everyone doing with their New Year resolutions?! A few weeks ago we suggested some resolutions that could help improve rabbit welfare, and we'd love to hear if you have managed to do any of them. If not, it's not too late, how about starting off by finding a retailer on-line that you think is selling hutches that are too small for rabbits, and politely e-mailing them and telling them. Remember that a rabbit should be able to take 3 hops in its hutch and rear up fully (so that they do not develop painful spinal deformities) - for an average sized rabbit (remember of course they should be kept in pairs so this should be a minimum) this will be 6ft long and 2ft high.

Watch the link below. It will only take you a few minutes to send an e-mail, and could really help to make a difference.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ewd5ASbHtf4&context=C3f24600ADOEgsToPDskJAAG8qORF0LuSWM0uaoqnO

Would it be possible to have a rwaf letter - like the summer/winter neighbour ones - that could be attached to emails or posted to local pet shops?

I am going to do this to a local garden centre and then to their suppliers. Hutches I saw today were just under 36 inches wide and under a foot high.

Unfortunately, it is going to be very difficult to stop these uneducated humans from selling houses that are too small for us.

I don't think that it is the retailers that need targeting. We need to target the potential humans who may look after us. We need to educate them personally. They will then ask for larger houses and the smaller ones won't sell.

Remember, a retailer will only stock what sells. One or two people lobbying won't stop them stocking 3ft houses but people not buying them will.

cheryl'n'bruce'flo wrote:Would it be possible to have a rwaf letter - like the summer/winter neighbour ones - that could be attached to emails or posted to local pet shops?

I was thinking that! It would seem more official if there was a rabbit related organization attached!

I was in a shop yesterday and burst into tears because of the tiny hutches they were selling!! and then in another the enclosures the rabbits they were selling weren't big enough and how are new owners supposed to think any different if they see the pet shops keeping the animals in these conditions!? It was a very tearful Saturday!!

Talking of undersized hutches, I explained to a friend that you wouldn't keep a cat or small dog in a small hutch, so why would you keep a rabbit in one? Food for thought for those who just took it on face value that rabbits can live in small hutches.

On another note, I think the runaround system is fab, but the price is shocking. Why does it have to be soooooo expensive when you can buy similar stuff much cheaper (not refering to the tunnels) The price of some of the products alone would put off anyone wanting to expand their set up. Unless you are DIY inclined and can be creative about how you copy such an idea, it is pretty much out of limits for some (majority even?)

Writing to these companies is a really good way for us to take some action on these tiny hutches.

Its a way that all of us, no matter how limited our time is, can try and make a small difference in some way.

I will be giving RWAF my full support on this.