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complaint letters about small hutches

Bea & Floss

Mama Doe
Hi does anyone write complaint letters to shops who sell ridiculously small hutches. I am fed up with seeing them in all the garden centres and most people think they are just fine:roll::evil: I always come out thinking about the poor buns who have to spend a miserable life in them. I want to do something about it, i have mentioned it to a couple of shops and they just shrug it off and say customers are happy with the products!(i bet the buns arn't!)

anyway sorry about the long rant, I want to put it in writing and send to the managers/owners but i am not very good at wording letters! anybody want to help me out? or send a letter too? thank you x
 
i have seen these as well they are tiny those poor buns that get stuffed in there all day. Its like sticking a human in a changing room to live there!


poor buns:cry:
 
Hi Tanya

I'd be happy to hit some shops/garden centres with you.

Are you particularly thinking about the one on the A30 with the hutches outside?

I'd be happy to write to them and go and front them up - in the nicest way of course.

I haven't had a chance to write any letters but would be happy to try and put something together, together..............

I know there are a fair few folks on here who already have - like Luvabun so hopefully they'll post up what they had written.
 
You guys would have been disgusted with what my latest rescue bunny was living in! His owner had him in a cat carrier box locked up all night and left on his own in a low-walled garden all day. I feel guilty shutting any of my bunnies into their generously-sized homes even for a few minutes, never mind something as small as some of the hutches I've seen. Some people just don't deserve pets...
 
Don't know if this may help you, it's something I recently sent to a garden centre near to me. It may give you some ideas. I took the prides them selves bit off their website.

I recently visited your XXXXXXXXXX store & was so utterly appalled that I had to leave the store without completing my shopping.

The reason I was / am so upset & distressed is that you are selling small Trixie rabbit hutches which are only 46inches long & the deesign of which does not allow for a run to be attached or connected. These hutches are far too small to house a single rabbit & do not conform to minimum RSPCA & RWAF requirements for rabbit hutches & are in breach the Animal Welfare Act

This means that you, XXXXXXX, by selling these small hutches are helping to inflict & subject rabbits to years of cruelty. Therefore you, XXXXXXX, are selling hutches which are breach of the Animal Welfare Act.

Rabbits can live for 10 years or more. They can be obtained cheaply, unfortunately without much care or thought given for their needs & welfare & here you are supplying substanded accommodation for them to be imprisoned in. Rabbits are social animals & shouldn't be kept on their own. They should be kept in at least pairs but your hutch is too small for one rabbit let alone two !

How could you, XXXXXXXX, a large & well known garden centre, who prides youselves on your Expertise, Excellence, Quality & Caring get it so wrong ? Presumably your buyers check the products you sell, e.g. gardening equipment, meet with health & safety standards ? So when they thought about supplying accommodation units for rabbits, why didn't they consult with the RSPCA & get their approved hutches & runs ? I remind you that you are not selling tubs & planters to put a few bulbs in but supplying what is supposed to be homes for living breathing animals. You should not be thinking about profit - you must be responsible & consider the rabbits needs first & foremost.

The RSPCA & RWAF are working desperately hard to educate the public to current rabbit care & welfare practices & getting the message across regarding their needs e.g. well made, correctly sized hutches with runs attached allowing rabbits plenty of room for companionship of their own kind & to behave naturally with room to run, jump & stand up on their hind legs but here you are selling hutches which defy the work they are doing & goes against the Animal Welfare Act.

Following this complaint, I want you to:-

1) Stop selling non-RSPCA approved rabbit hutches & cages in your stores immediately
2) Remove & destroy all non-RSPCA approved rabbit hutches & cages you have in stock
3) Only supply RSPCA approved rabbit hutches & cages in future


I know from experience the horrors of rabbits being kept in cramped, inappropriate conditions as I help out at rabbit shelters & see the results. One of my adopted rescue rabbits had deformed weak back legs as a result of being kept in a small hutch, the same as you are selling now !

Give rabbits the respect they deserve. Stop this cruelty now.




I
 
Don't know if this may help you, it's something I recently sent to a garden centre near to me. It may give you some ideas. I took the prides them selves bit off their website.

I recently visited your XXXXXXXXXX store & was so utterly appalled that I had to leave the store without completing my shopping.

The reason I was / am so upset & distressed is that you are selling small Trixie rabbit hutches which are only 46inches long & the deesign of which does not allow for a run to be attached or connected. These hutches are far too small to house a single rabbit & do not conform to minimum RSPCA & RWAF requirements for rabbit hutches & are in breach the Animal Welfare Act

This means that you, XXXXXXX, by selling these small hutches are helping to inflict & subject rabbits to years of cruelty. Therefore you, XXXXXXX, are selling hutches which are breach of the Animal Welfare Act.

Rabbits can live for 10 years or more. They can be obtained cheaply, unfortunately without much care or thought given for their needs & welfare & here you are supplying substanded accommodation for them to be imprisoned in. Rabbits are social animals & shouldn't be kept on their own. They should be kept in at least pairs but your hutch is too small for one rabbit let alone two !

How could you, XXXXXXXX, a large & well known garden centre, who prides youselves on your Expertise, Excellence, Quality & Caring get it so wrong ? Presumably your buyers check the products you sell, e.g. gardening equipment, meet with health & safety standards ? So when they thought about supplying accommodation units for rabbits, why didn't they consult with the RSPCA & get their approved hutches & runs ? I remind you that you are not selling tubs & planters to put a few bulbs in but supplying what is supposed to be homes for living breathing animals. You should not be thinking about profit - you must be responsible & consider the rabbits needs first & foremost.

The RSPCA & RWAF are working desperately hard to educate the public to current rabbit care & welfare practices & getting the message across regarding their needs e.g. well made, correctly sized hutches with runs attached allowing rabbits plenty of room for companionship of their own kind & to behave naturally with room to run, jump & stand up on their hind legs but here you are selling hutches which defy the work they are doing & goes against the Animal Welfare Act.

Following this complaint, I want you to:-

1) Stop selling non-RSPCA approved rabbit hutches & cages in your stores immediately
2) Remove & destroy all non-RSPCA approved rabbit hutches & cages you have in stock
3) Only supply RSPCA approved rabbit hutches & cages in future


I know from experience the horrors of rabbits being kept in cramped, inappropriate conditions as I help out at rabbit shelters & see the results. One of my adopted rescue rabbits had deformed weak back legs as a result of being kept in a small hutch, the same as you are selling now !

Give rabbits the respect they deserve. Stop this cruelty now.




I

That's a brilliant letter!!! :D Well Done you!! :thumb:

Did that took you long to write it?
Also what was the outcome from that garden centre you sent the letter to??
 
Don't know if this may help you, it's something I recently sent to a garden centre near to me. It may give you some ideas. I took the prides them selves bit off their website.

I recently visited your XXXXXXXXXX store & was so utterly appalled that I had to leave the store without completing my shopping.

The reason I was / am so upset & distressed is that you are selling small Trixie rabbit hutches which are only 46inches long & the deesign of which does not allow for a run to be attached or connected. These hutches are far too small to house a single rabbit & do not conform to minimum RSPCA & RWAF requirements for rabbit hutches & are in breach the Animal Welfare Act

This means that you, XXXXXXX, by selling these small hutches are helping to inflict & subject rabbits to years of cruelty. Therefore you, XXXXXXX, are selling hutches which are breach of the Animal Welfare Act.

Rabbits can live for 10 years or more. They can be obtained cheaply, unfortunately without much care or thought given for their needs & welfare & here you are supplying substanded accommodation for them to be imprisoned in. Rabbits are social animals & shouldn't be kept on their own. They should be kept in at least pairs but your hutch is too small for one rabbit let alone two !

How could you, XXXXXXXX, a large & well known garden centre, who prides youselves on your Expertise, Excellence, Quality & Caring get it so wrong ? Presumably your buyers check the products you sell, e.g. gardening equipment, meet with health & safety standards ? So when they thought about supplying accommodation units for rabbits, why didn't they consult with the RSPCA & get their approved hutches & runs ? I remind you that you are not selling tubs & planters to put a few bulbs in but supplying what is supposed to be homes for living breathing animals. You should not be thinking about profit - you must be responsible & consider the rabbits needs first & foremost.

The RSPCA & RWAF are working desperately hard to educate the public to current rabbit care & welfare practices & getting the message across regarding their needs e.g. well made, correctly sized hutches with runs attached allowing rabbits plenty of room for companionship of their own kind & to behave naturally with room to run, jump & stand up on their hind legs but here you are selling hutches which defy the work they are doing & goes against the Animal Welfare Act.

Following this complaint, I want you to:-

1) Stop selling non-RSPCA approved rabbit hutches & cages in your stores immediately
2) Remove & destroy all non-RSPCA approved rabbit hutches & cages you have in stock
3) Only supply RSPCA approved rabbit hutches & cages in future


I know from experience the horrors of rabbits being kept in cramped, inappropriate conditions as I help out at rabbit shelters & see the results. One of my adopted rescue rabbits had deformed weak back legs as a result of being kept in a small hutch, the same as you are selling now !

Give rabbits the respect they deserve. Stop this cruelty now.




I

thats a great letter thank you for sharing x
 
Hi Tanya

I'd be happy to hit some shops/garden centres with you.

Are you particularly thinking about the one on the A30 with the hutches outside?

I'd be happy to write to them and go and front them up - in the nicest way of course.

I haven't had a chance to write any letters but would be happy to try and put something together, together..............

I know there are a fair few folks on here who already have - like Luvabun so hopefully they'll post up what they had written.

Sounds good Helen! and yes petfood kingdom is on my hit list! oh and nottcuts
 
Great letter. I have been in contact with someone today from ebay as they have been selling made to order 3ft "rabbit hutches". I said very little in my original email just basically pointed them in the direction of the 2007 welfare act which made them email back and ask what was wrong with their hutches. I then went into a little more detail of what is expected, how they are breaking the law, how they can fix what they are doing and told them that by making the hutches which conform to legal requirements (6x2x2 ft) they can double (or more) their prices despite not doubling their matierial or labour costs. I also complimented the on ther craftmanship so they didn't think I was being completely negative as they actually looked quite nice apart from being tiny.

I was actually surprised they emailed back for more info. Hopefully they will take the advice onboard as it would be nice to have a little more of a selection of good quality hutches of the correct dimensions.
 
The garden centre letter didn't take too long to write as I adapted it from my original Tesco complaint letter but the Tesco letter did take me some time to write as I'm the worlds worst speller & even spell check often doesn't know what I'm trying to say.

In the Tesco one I also complained of :-

The rabbit hutches/cages were in a pet section which was in the same aisle & only a few feet away from the Easter egg display. As I have said, rabbits are usually bought at Easter time. They are often bought on a whim with little or no thought for their needs, care & welfare. You are helping to reinforce & encourage the idea of getting a fluffy little bunny for Easter by the placing of the Easter eggs near to the rabbit cages. A cold blooded marketing strategy with no thought or care of the repercussions ? The RSPCA & RWAF work hard in raising public awareness of rabbit needs & welfare & to dispel this perception that they are "throw away pets". The RSPCA & rabbit shelters get swamped with thousands of rabbits which are bought as Easter presents & then dumped by their owners.

I also note that in the pet section you had on sale a few pet information books on dogs & cats however there were none on rabbits. Is it because any decent information book on rabbits would spell out the minimum hutch/cage
required which of course none of yours conform to ?

Also rabbits must have in their diet a ready supply of good quality hay which is very important for their health & well being. You only sell poor quality bedding hay.


Extra on my list of what I wanted them to do was:-

4) Do not have Easter displays any where near rabbit merchandise
5) Sell RSPCA endorsed rabbit information books in your pet section
6) Sell only pet merchandise that has been approved by the RSPCA
7) Sell good quality eating hay


So far with regards to the garden centre complaint, the person who replied on their behalf said "I wouldn't personally keep any animal or bird in a cage or hutch" but refered my complaint on to Pets Corner, the company who supply the hutches, for " a professional view on the size of the cages/hutches he supplies with particular regard to RSPCA requirements". Dean Richmond, the managing director of Pets Corner replied "he did not feel the hutch was too small & disagrees with me & the RSPCA on this". He went on to say " I appreciate you will not be happy with my reply but with many issues in the pet trade there will always be differing opinions & we are not in breach of any laws, in fact we far exceed them."

Well , I have to hand it to him, he was right about something, I'm not happy. I'll plug away again but I think it's a head against a brick wall situation with this one.
 
I've not written letters but I have often complained verbally to pet shops. Unfortunately they are not breaking any laws as they will say they are selling the hutches for tortoises or chicks (or other such nonsense!!) and that they are not advising people to buy them for rabbits.

I hope your letter has the desired effect, but it does seem there is little we can do unless legislation changes. Perhaps we should be lobbying MP's? -Sue:wave:

I dont know what the legal position would be if the hutch actually says its for a rabbit. Small hutches are legally allowed for rabbit breedingI believe(?) so they could say its for breeders?
The Sale of Goods Act does say an article must be fit for the purpose for which it was intended and as you know the Animal Welfare Act says a rabbit must have adequate space, but until the amount of space is defined it is very difficult to do anything other than appeal to the pet shops good nature.
 
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