The thing is people just dont know any better. And of course them being childrens pets doesnt help either.
Take one of my childhood rabbits, Snowey. This was after my mum had stopped breeding (yes I know :roll
and she was mine and my sisters pet rabbit. I remember when I was 12 I forgot to feed her for a weekend and she had run out of water, I felt terrible and I always made sure to check again, but plenty of children would forget more often. When I went away on holiday my sister fed her only once and she ate almost all her hay and straw
We often didnt clean her out for like 10 days at a time but saw nothing wrong with that. The fact is children should not be left with sole responsibility for a pet.
I fed her a bowl of rabbit mix every day and in winter a bowl of porridge made with water too, sometimes she had straw instead of hay as we thought she just LIKED to eat it as a snack, because rabbits eat rabbit food obviously. I fed her carrots and lettuce for treats. And the only time I spent with her would be with me sitting outside the hutch talking to her but I never handled her as she would attack you the moment you put your hands in. I thought she hated me, but now I know she was just showing typical unspayed behaviour, she was hormonal and had constant phantom pregnancies. She had friends, but we split them up after we stopped breeding and just kept her. She had an attached run to her 4ft hutch (which we thought was HUGE) but she wouldnt go down the ramp, so she only got exercise when she free-ranged once a month or less.
It makes me so sad to think back to how horrible her life was, but it is pretty standard for a lot of rabbits. Now imagine the reaction if I came on here treating my rabbit like that, imagine the outrage and flaming. I honestly loved Snowey and if I had known the right information I would have changed her life for the better. But noone told me, and I believed everything the pet shop said I should do. The thing is, I thought what I was doing was right, yet looking back I did neglect her.
My current rabbit will be getting a friend soon, he free-ranges in my room all day and has 20sqft at night. He has the correct diet, is vaccinated and neutered and I spend loads of time with him. I am the same person, just armed with better knowledge.