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Rabbits owned by Primary School . . . . just looking for peoples thoughts

NellieNooNoo

Warren Scout
I walk past a primary school regularly and a few weeks ago noticed they keep chickens in a coop with a run and also rabbits.

They are three hutches (single storey with open and closed sections). In the top one is one rabbit, the one underneath two and cannot see into the third. They are on shavings and cannot see any evidence of hay, and cannot comment what they are fed on.

At the present time they are in the cages 24/7. Whether or not this changes when the weather gets better I do not know but when I had rabbits they were out most days, even if only for a couple of hours in winter but were free range most of the year.
 
do you know any parents or staff? someone you could talk to? or you could print out some welfare leaflets and put them in the letter box. if you were brave, you could make an appointment to talk to the staff member in charge of the rabbits.
 
That sounds a bit worrying. :( No exercise at all for a long period of time can't be good for rabbits.

I think there a re mixed views on shavings, but most rabbit-savvy people don't use them. Do they look as if they are cleaned out regularly?

I hope they like children if they belong to a school ... not all rabbits do!
 
Schools tend to keep animals to be educational for the children don't they? So I'm sure they'd welcome some tips on proper rabbit care! :thumb: I would go in and have a chat :)
 
Maybe contact a local rabbit rescue that could go in and do an educational talk about rabbit welfare?
The school could get the kids to do a project on it or something.
 
Maybe print off the RWAF's 'Hop To It' booklet get it delivered to the person responsible for the rabbits.
Do the RSPCA have guidelines for school pets? They do here so maybe thats something you could look into & bring to their attention.
 
Thank you for your responses and the links. I've emailed the school enclosing the pdf on rabbit welfare. Will update if I hear back.
 
You should also ask a local rabbit group to have a talk with them? There was a rabbit who lived in a hutch at my school and a division of the House Rabbit Society was informed and went to talk with the school.

I also went recentally to talk with my elementary school about a rabbit they had, which couldn't have come at a better time. He was almost six months old, unnetuered, and living in a very tiny cage. The school said that they were planning to get a hutch to keep him outside in :shock: No run and in an extremely rural area. Not to mention he was a very friendly single rabbit, there was no reason for him to be living alone outside in a small cage. The school was very happy to hear from us and will be purchasing him a x-pen and getting him neutered soon. :wave:
 
The RWA might be able to help, they have outreach officers and lots of info.
 
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