Can anyone advise - after visiting my local Acorn Pet Store on Saturday, I decided to write to complain to the head office. There were four bunnies in there that day, each of them in TINY TINY plastic cages in which they have very little room to move about. Each rabbit was on a bed of wood shavings but there was no hay in sight.
I sent the complaint below to them, and received their reply. Can anyone advise how I should respond to this? Please tell me that i haven't got it wrong that hay is a vital part of a rabbits diet and should be available in unlimited quantities? I do realise that some kinds of hay (alfafa etc that are high in calcium should be limited) but I am correct in that timothy hay should be available at all times aren't I? I would appreciate any help with how to respond to this. Thanks!
My email:
I live in East Lothian and sometimes purchase items from the Acorn Store in Musselburgh. Whilst the staff in the store seem very pleasant and helpful, I am absolutely appalled at the TINY plastic cages used to hold rabbits. I am assuming that some of these rabbits are in these cages for days on end with little or no exercise. It seems to me that Acorn Pet Centres are putting profit before animal welfare. I intend contacting the SSPCA to ask what the legal requirement is for cages sizes in pet stores but I'm really disappointed in this and will not be returning to this store. Also, I was in this morning to buy some hay for my own rabbits (so I do have experience of caring for them and I know how much exercise they require). The cages, as far as I could see, did not have any hay for the rabbits to eat - they only had a bedding of wood shavings (or some similar bedding). Please correct me if I'm wrong, but should rabbits not be provided with an unlimited supply of hay - for digestion, wearing down their teeth and to relieve them from the boredom of being in these tiny hutches with no stimulation. This is extremely cruel. I hope that you will take steps to rectify this and at the very least, the rabbit cages should be made much bigger than they currently are. I hope you can do better!
I look forward to your response.
Their response:
I am sorry that you feel this way but I can assure you that the standard of cage that the rabbits are held in exceeds the recommendation. We are subject to an annual inspection to gain a licence to sell animals where these guidelines are all put through a thorough examination. We have never had any issue with complying with the regulations in any of our branches.
With regard to the hay situation our rabbits are given hay and straw on a daily basis. As you state you have experience in caring for rabbits then you should know that rabbits require a feeding programme and that if you leave them with an "unlimited supply" of hay they are highly likely to suffer from Bloat. As we do not wish to have illness in any of our animals we tend to stick to the correct feeding routine.
I find your claims that we are "cruel" to the animals unacceptable and unproven. If you have evidence to the contrary please forward this to me and we will investigate the situation.
Regards
Acorn
I sent the complaint below to them, and received their reply. Can anyone advise how I should respond to this? Please tell me that i haven't got it wrong that hay is a vital part of a rabbits diet and should be available in unlimited quantities? I do realise that some kinds of hay (alfafa etc that are high in calcium should be limited) but I am correct in that timothy hay should be available at all times aren't I? I would appreciate any help with how to respond to this. Thanks!
My email:
I live in East Lothian and sometimes purchase items from the Acorn Store in Musselburgh. Whilst the staff in the store seem very pleasant and helpful, I am absolutely appalled at the TINY plastic cages used to hold rabbits. I am assuming that some of these rabbits are in these cages for days on end with little or no exercise. It seems to me that Acorn Pet Centres are putting profit before animal welfare. I intend contacting the SSPCA to ask what the legal requirement is for cages sizes in pet stores but I'm really disappointed in this and will not be returning to this store. Also, I was in this morning to buy some hay for my own rabbits (so I do have experience of caring for them and I know how much exercise they require). The cages, as far as I could see, did not have any hay for the rabbits to eat - they only had a bedding of wood shavings (or some similar bedding). Please correct me if I'm wrong, but should rabbits not be provided with an unlimited supply of hay - for digestion, wearing down their teeth and to relieve them from the boredom of being in these tiny hutches with no stimulation. This is extremely cruel. I hope that you will take steps to rectify this and at the very least, the rabbit cages should be made much bigger than they currently are. I hope you can do better!
I look forward to your response.
Their response:
I am sorry that you feel this way but I can assure you that the standard of cage that the rabbits are held in exceeds the recommendation. We are subject to an annual inspection to gain a licence to sell animals where these guidelines are all put through a thorough examination. We have never had any issue with complying with the regulations in any of our branches.
With regard to the hay situation our rabbits are given hay and straw on a daily basis. As you state you have experience in caring for rabbits then you should know that rabbits require a feeding programme and that if you leave them with an "unlimited supply" of hay they are highly likely to suffer from Bloat. As we do not wish to have illness in any of our animals we tend to stick to the correct feeding routine.
I find your claims that we are "cruel" to the animals unacceptable and unproven. If you have evidence to the contrary please forward this to me and we will investigate the situation.
Regards
Acorn