I have drafted a letter/email to russel rabbit, could anyone please have a quick look and give me any feedback? Am I right in thinking that the hutch size advice is 5'? Is my other text accurate? Is the letter too long? Too ranting? About right? Please be brutally honest with me, as I'd like to come across as a rational human being who stands a chance of being listened to! Thanks!
Dear Sir/Madam
Whilst browsing your site for information on Science Selective, I started to read your rabbit care advice pages. I have to say that given how excellent the Selective food is, I was very disappointed by the outdated, inaccurate and sometimes conflicting advice being given on these pages. I would be grateful if you would review your care advice – and particularly the items you have chosen to highlight on the front ‘care’ page, in the light of the most recent advice and research on the welfare of rabbits. In particular, I have three main concerns which I would like to highlight:
*The opening page states that “rabbits love to be handled”. This is simply not the case. Rabbits are prey animals and on the whole absolutely hate to be picked up and handled, although they may enjoy being stroked. I think this statement is very misleading and perpetuates the myth of rabbits being great pets for children. There are so many rabbits in rescue centres in the UK, and no doubt elsewhere in the world, because parents believe rabbits to be good childrens’ pets, and then once the rabbit becomes a teenager, they find out otherwise! I think it would be more accurate to make potential owners aware that because they are prey animals, their rabbit(s) will probably not like to be picked up, and if they are expecting a cuddly pet like a cat or dog, they are likely to be disappointed!
*The issue of companionship is dealt with extremely flippantly on the front page, although a little more advice is given on the “looking after your rabbit” page. I believe that it is irresponsible of your company to suggest that the people who are likely to be reading these pages (i.e. not professional breeders), should put unneutered males and females together, with the flippant remark that this may produce lots of babies. This will only exacerbate the current problems of poor rabbit welfare, potential genetic problems through breeding of unknown stock and adding to the huge numbers of rabbits already in rescues.
In addition, although mentioned in the detailed advice, no mention is made of neutering and companionship on your front page, which I feel is vital and much more useful than the information currently displayed. Neutering rabbits is now a relatively common procedure and neutered males and females make excellent companions. I am sure you are aware that it is now widely acknowledged to be cruel to keep most rabbits alone, and the RSPCA and Rabbit Welfare Association both advocate the keeping of (neutered!) rabbits together and believe you should be stressing this information rather than the confusing mix of advice currently given. Considering that there are 33,000 rabbits in rescues at present, I would also like to suggest that as well as your current advice on selecting rabbits, you add information to the effect that there are a large number of rabbit rescues throughout the country, many of whom have pairs of rabbits already neutered and bonded, or who offer a “dating service” to help you choose a suitable rabbit for your existing single one. Some excellent information on rabbit rescue centres and a searchable database can be found at
www.rabbitrehome.org.uk
*Finally, your advice on hutch sizes is a little outdated. It is now recommended that the minimum size for a medium rabbit is 5*2*2 and not 4*2*2 as you have stated.
I thank you for your time, and I trust that you will take this opportunity to review and update the care information provided on your website.