dumblepaws
Mama Doe
So, I've been trying to make the effort to improve things for bunnies...
I contacted a garden centre about a tiny hutch, and they said
"I can confirm that we are fully compliant with all legislation/recommendations. We stock a wide variety of hutches up to 6ft x 2ft x 2ft (the vast majority are 5ft hutches)
The 4ft hutch that you have seen on site - the free rabbit which comes with this hutch is a smaller, compact breed such as Netherland Dwarf & Mini Lops - which would be able to do 3 unrestricted hops in such a cage. We would not sell any of our larger breeds with this hutch.
As a Pet & Aquatic shop we are subject to rigorous frequent inspections by both the RSPCA and the local authority Pet Shop/Animal Inspectorate and have never had any issues/problems with either body. Infact, as our Pet & Aquatic license is now due, we have had the local authority on site this morning to inspect all aspects of our pet shop and animal welfare etc. Following your email we have raised your concern with the inspector this morning who has no concerns re. the hutch and the rabbit that is supplied. We are bound by the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and are fully compliant with this act.
We are all animal lovers on site, including the pet shop staff who always re-iterate the fact that rabbits/guinea pigs etc. require more than just their hutch and a permanent run for exercise etc. They have also refused sale of livestock on occasion when they believed the welfare of the animal was in question.
After reading through one of your attached links (http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/RWAFsmallhutches-final.pdf) - It does state at the bottom a minimum size of 4ft x 2ft x 2ft
In terms of selling rabbits in pairs etc. I will raise this with the pet shop and we will have a look into it and see if there are ways we can improve in this area.
Please be assured that the welfare of all animals is central to everything that we do here at Wentworth.
And I contacted an animal farm about keeping bunnies/guineapigs separate and hay and muesli and they said
"Thanks for your advice about rabbits and guinea pigs. As a rule we keep our mature rabbits and guinea pigs separate. Their diet is tailored to each species and we buy high vitamin C food for the guinea pigs and feed rabbit pellets to the rabbits with plenty of hay and straw for both. Young rabbits and young guinea pigs are run together in the selling pen as we split the sexes and they are together for a short while. When selling rabbits and guinea pigs we try to recommend that pairs of the females of each species are kept together and we also advise on diet. I hope that this answers your questions, I also understand that there is a lot of advice out there not all of it the same."
I just don't know where to go from here other than telling them to stop being morons and in the first instance that a pet deserves more space than a lab rabbit is legally entitled to (sorry lab rabbits) and in the second that pairs of females are less compatible than one of each sex and post-neuter care for girls is much more heartbreaking for a child to watch and they absolutely need neutering or they'll be dead by 4. As they've both said basically, we hear your concerns but we're fine. But they're not.
Also grr.
I contacted a garden centre about a tiny hutch, and they said
"I can confirm that we are fully compliant with all legislation/recommendations. We stock a wide variety of hutches up to 6ft x 2ft x 2ft (the vast majority are 5ft hutches)
The 4ft hutch that you have seen on site - the free rabbit which comes with this hutch is a smaller, compact breed such as Netherland Dwarf & Mini Lops - which would be able to do 3 unrestricted hops in such a cage. We would not sell any of our larger breeds with this hutch.
As a Pet & Aquatic shop we are subject to rigorous frequent inspections by both the RSPCA and the local authority Pet Shop/Animal Inspectorate and have never had any issues/problems with either body. Infact, as our Pet & Aquatic license is now due, we have had the local authority on site this morning to inspect all aspects of our pet shop and animal welfare etc. Following your email we have raised your concern with the inspector this morning who has no concerns re. the hutch and the rabbit that is supplied. We are bound by the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and are fully compliant with this act.
We are all animal lovers on site, including the pet shop staff who always re-iterate the fact that rabbits/guinea pigs etc. require more than just their hutch and a permanent run for exercise etc. They have also refused sale of livestock on occasion when they believed the welfare of the animal was in question.
After reading through one of your attached links (http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/RWAFsmallhutches-final.pdf) - It does state at the bottom a minimum size of 4ft x 2ft x 2ft
In terms of selling rabbits in pairs etc. I will raise this with the pet shop and we will have a look into it and see if there are ways we can improve in this area.
Please be assured that the welfare of all animals is central to everything that we do here at Wentworth.
And I contacted an animal farm about keeping bunnies/guineapigs separate and hay and muesli and they said
"Thanks for your advice about rabbits and guinea pigs. As a rule we keep our mature rabbits and guinea pigs separate. Their diet is tailored to each species and we buy high vitamin C food for the guinea pigs and feed rabbit pellets to the rabbits with plenty of hay and straw for both. Young rabbits and young guinea pigs are run together in the selling pen as we split the sexes and they are together for a short while. When selling rabbits and guinea pigs we try to recommend that pairs of the females of each species are kept together and we also advise on diet. I hope that this answers your questions, I also understand that there is a lot of advice out there not all of it the same."
I just don't know where to go from here other than telling them to stop being morons and in the first instance that a pet deserves more space than a lab rabbit is legally entitled to (sorry lab rabbits) and in the second that pairs of females are less compatible than one of each sex and post-neuter care for girls is much more heartbreaking for a child to watch and they absolutely need neutering or they'll be dead by 4. As they've both said basically, we hear your concerns but we're fine. But they're not.
Also grr.
