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response to my complaint about shop

lucy24

Mama Doe
regarding this thread:
http://forums.rabbitrehome.org.uk/showthread.php?383530-made-me-sad

this is the response from my council:

"I visited the premises and checked the register showed delivery of the rabbit (white/brown) aged 8 weeks on 28/3/2013, and the little fellow was very happy in his accommodation all to him self measuring 3.8 feet by 2.8.

I emailed our Animal Inspector and the advise given was as below;

Rabbits can feed themselves by 4 weeks of age and typically weaned between 5 and 8 weeks with no advantage leaving them with the doe longer than 8 weeks

I have consulted members of my team and we are all of the opinion that 6 weeks is acceptable for a rabbit to be weaned & capable of feeding itself

In regards to the size – I am not doubting the size specified in the complainants email but this would be for long term housing and Pet Shop keepers are required to adhere to the accommodation sizes as specified in the model licence conditions, remembering that it for a temporary short period until the rabbit is sold.

For rabbits the conditions state that a rabbit must be housed in accommodation of the size specified below – so you can see that accommodation of 50cm x 50cm would be deemed appropriate for up to 4 juvenile rabbits – Although I have never yet seen a pet shop squash rabbits into such a small space – I certainly did not have an issue with the size of rabbit accommodation when I last visited "

the lasy sent me a size chart for housing in pet shops
http://i1137.photobucket.com/albums/n506/rabbitrabbit2/image002_zpsaa5bca63.png

not sure what on earth to thjink really but no wonder we dont get anywhere with places like p@h!:?
 
:evil: 50x50 isn't even minimum for a damn hamster :evil: she really knows her stuff! ..

As for the weaning.. Shouldn't it be left as long as possible :? I would be replying with a fair few choice words:evil:
 
omg thats disgusting. 50cm x 50cm for 4 baby rabbits surely thats not right. That's just over a foot and a half each way :shock:.

I thought it was bad enough that Bramble was kept in a 4 foot cage for five weeks but that disgracefull.
 
I thought it was illegal to sell rabbits under the age of 8 wks? It is here, I thought I heard it was the same in the UK too?
 
thats what i thought so am really confused now.:? no wonder the big companies can get away with things if this is the wider attitude
 
I used to work with Animal Licensing. An age isn't specified other than it's the age at which small animals are 'deemed weaned and capable of feeding themselves' as per the above response. This is generally assumed as 6 weeks for rabbits although some shops and more reputable breeders wouldn't release a youngster under 8 weeks.
 
Pet Industry Federation tend to give out the guidelines to their members which I think most if not all petshops are members of, and yeah the cages that animals can be in are shockenly small! It does say weaning age and not a specific age too. :(

DEFRA I think is a leading government body.
 
we need to petition and write letters to correct this and if we can get vets involved who can say its in the best interests of the kits to stay with their mother until the correct time
 
Disgraceful :( we need to find out who we have to contact about this!! It would be kind for someone to do an outline email we could all send off ( I'm rubbish at those kind of things:oops: ) we also need to try and spread round other animal forums and vets as someone else has said.
 
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our local pet shop sell them at 'around 6 to 8 weeks' because small rabbits sell better. :(
 
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