skgreene
Warren Scout
i when to PAH yesterday and well read(any tips to whatelse can go in the letter also would be helpful)
To whom it may concern,
I visited your store at ************* r on Saturday 19th June 2010, to purchase a range of your excellent rabbit products which I am always satisfied with and swear by. So I was shocked to find 8 medium sized rabbits and one rabbit that seemed to be of the continental giant breed, these rabbit where scrammed into one of your small rabbit cages with no hay or vegetables which is essential for their digestive health and well being. As if was bad enough I then saw another 6-8 medium sized rabbits in one of the other pens, again with no hay or vegetables.
There was no sign or information concerning to rabbit I believe to be continental breed, that need special hutch or indoor cages as well as information concerning the size this animal will get to and the amount food it will need to grow into a healthy, happy rabbit free from disease and illness. In general the rabbits also had no hides and no obvious toys to create an enriching and suitable environment for these rabbit whilst they are in your care.
The RSPCA recommends that all rabbits have the following(from the RSPCA website);
Rabbits are athletic animals. They need the opportunity to hop, run, jump, dig, stand fully upright on their back legs, and stretch out when lying down.
A rabbit must be able to avoid things that scare it. Rabbits are a prey species and must be able to hide in a secure place, away from the sight and smell of predators (e.g. cats, dogs, ferrets).
Living in a draughty, damp, hot, poorly ventilated or dirty environment may cause your rabbit to suffer and become ill.
A rabbit needs regular access to an appropriate place to go to the toilet.
Rabbits are intelligent. If your rabbit is bored, and doesn’t have enough to do, it may suffer.
Rabbits are inquisitive. If there are hazards within their environment they may easily injure themselves.
Things you should do
Provide your rabbit with a secure living environment that is large enough for it to exercise in and stand up fully on its back legs.
You should provide both a large exercise area and a secure shelter where your rabbit can rest, feel safe and is protected from predators and extremes of weather and temperature. Ensure all areas of your rabbit’s environment are well ventilated, dry and draught-free.
Make sure your rabbit has constant access to safe hiding places where it can escape if it feels afraid.
Allow your rabbit to exercise regularly.
Provide enough bedding to keep your rabbit warm. Bedding should be safe for your rabbit to eat, e.g. dust-free straw or hay.
Give your rabbit regular access to a suitable place where it can go to the toilet, separate to where it eats and sleeps.
Clean the housing and toilet areas regularly.
If you are going away, try to find someone to care for, and meet all your rabbit’s welfare needs within its familiar home. If boarding your rabbit, try to ease the move by keeping grouped rabbits together and taking familiar items, such as toys, along too.
When you transport your rabbit make sure it is comfortable and safe at all times. Putting familiar smelling items in the carrier and the new environment can help make your rabbit feel at ease.
Ensure the size and temperature of any place you leave your rabbit (including your vehicle) is appropriate.
Make sure that where your rabbit lives is safe, secure and free from hazards.
The RWA(Rabbit welfare Association) also recommends the following(from RAW website & educational material);
"HAY IS MAGIC"
Unlimited, good quality hay is the foundation of a healthy diet for pet rabbits. As well as meeting their basic nutritional requirements it has many other benefits. It's so important, it should even be fed to rabbits eating "complete" rabbit foods. Nibbling hay keeps bunnies busy, reducing boredom and helping to prevent behavioural problems. Chewing hay strengthens teeth and jaws. Hay also provides lots of long-strand fibre to maintain healthy
gut movement. Good quality hay - sweet smelling with minimal dust - can be difficult
to find in pet shops. Try riding stables or farms instead. Kiln-dried
grass products can be used alongside or instead of hay, and are
particularly useful if you can't get good hay.
Hutches should be a minimum of 6ft x 2ft x 2ft, and preferably with an attached run to allow the rabbits to exercise at will. The run should be 6ft x 4ft x 4ft as a minimum. Hutch size and runs can
never be too big, so don't skimp, and remember hat a baby rabbit will grow so never be
tempted by the ‘starter hutches’ as they are a false economy. You don’t have to stick to the
traditional hutch as a home for your rabbits, a garden shed, or child's wooden Wendy house can both make fabulous ‘warrens’. Many rabbit owners put a cat flap in their garden sheds to an outdoor run so that the rabbits can exercise when they please, and bird aviaries can make great homes and they
have the added benefit that you can walk around in them so no more stooping to get the rabbit out of the run!
Also the Animal Welfare Act 2007 states that all animals must;
When does the new law come into effect? From 6 April 2007 in England, and in Wales from 27 March, the animal welfare law is being improved. It is still against the law to be cruel to an animal, but now you must also ensure that all the welfare needs of your animals are met.
What does the new law do?
It makes owners and keepers responsible for ensuring
that the welfare needs of their animals are met. These
include the need:
For a suitable environment (place to live)
For a suitable diet
To exhibit normal behaviour patterns
To be housed with, or apart from, other animals (if applicable)
To be protected from pain, injury, suffering and disease
The new law also increases to 16 the minimum age
at which a person can buy an animal and prohibits giving animals as prizes to unaccompanied children under this age.
Anyone who is cruel to an animal, or does not provide for its welfare needs, may be banned from owning animals, fined up to £20,000 and/or sent to prison.
What does it mean to me and my rabbit?
It's not acceptable to keep a solitary rabbit in a small hutch, without the opportunity to exercise. Sadly we know that this is still the case for thousands of pet rabbits in the UK, as they are the most neglected domestic pet. Make sure that you are providing your rabbits with everything they need to live a long and happy life.
I was satisfied with ******* Pets At Home and how their rabbits were kept and visited weekly and spent between £15-£20 per week for all my pets, I now with be shopping elsewhere from now on until your standards for keeping your animals is improved to a more suitable condition and the information provided to new owners is also improved. I look forward to reply.
Your Sincerely
Miss S.k.Greene
What do you think???? any thing else i could add???
To whom it may concern,
I visited your store at ************* r on Saturday 19th June 2010, to purchase a range of your excellent rabbit products which I am always satisfied with and swear by. So I was shocked to find 8 medium sized rabbits and one rabbit that seemed to be of the continental giant breed, these rabbit where scrammed into one of your small rabbit cages with no hay or vegetables which is essential for their digestive health and well being. As if was bad enough I then saw another 6-8 medium sized rabbits in one of the other pens, again with no hay or vegetables.
There was no sign or information concerning to rabbit I believe to be continental breed, that need special hutch or indoor cages as well as information concerning the size this animal will get to and the amount food it will need to grow into a healthy, happy rabbit free from disease and illness. In general the rabbits also had no hides and no obvious toys to create an enriching and suitable environment for these rabbit whilst they are in your care.
The RSPCA recommends that all rabbits have the following(from the RSPCA website);
Rabbits are athletic animals. They need the opportunity to hop, run, jump, dig, stand fully upright on their back legs, and stretch out when lying down.
A rabbit must be able to avoid things that scare it. Rabbits are a prey species and must be able to hide in a secure place, away from the sight and smell of predators (e.g. cats, dogs, ferrets).
Living in a draughty, damp, hot, poorly ventilated or dirty environment may cause your rabbit to suffer and become ill.
A rabbit needs regular access to an appropriate place to go to the toilet.
Rabbits are intelligent. If your rabbit is bored, and doesn’t have enough to do, it may suffer.
Rabbits are inquisitive. If there are hazards within their environment they may easily injure themselves.
Things you should do
Provide your rabbit with a secure living environment that is large enough for it to exercise in and stand up fully on its back legs.
You should provide both a large exercise area and a secure shelter where your rabbit can rest, feel safe and is protected from predators and extremes of weather and temperature. Ensure all areas of your rabbit’s environment are well ventilated, dry and draught-free.
Make sure your rabbit has constant access to safe hiding places where it can escape if it feels afraid.
Allow your rabbit to exercise regularly.
Provide enough bedding to keep your rabbit warm. Bedding should be safe for your rabbit to eat, e.g. dust-free straw or hay.
Give your rabbit regular access to a suitable place where it can go to the toilet, separate to where it eats and sleeps.
Clean the housing and toilet areas regularly.
If you are going away, try to find someone to care for, and meet all your rabbit’s welfare needs within its familiar home. If boarding your rabbit, try to ease the move by keeping grouped rabbits together and taking familiar items, such as toys, along too.
When you transport your rabbit make sure it is comfortable and safe at all times. Putting familiar smelling items in the carrier and the new environment can help make your rabbit feel at ease.
Ensure the size and temperature of any place you leave your rabbit (including your vehicle) is appropriate.
Make sure that where your rabbit lives is safe, secure and free from hazards.
The RWA(Rabbit welfare Association) also recommends the following(from RAW website & educational material);
"HAY IS MAGIC"
Unlimited, good quality hay is the foundation of a healthy diet for pet rabbits. As well as meeting their basic nutritional requirements it has many other benefits. It's so important, it should even be fed to rabbits eating "complete" rabbit foods. Nibbling hay keeps bunnies busy, reducing boredom and helping to prevent behavioural problems. Chewing hay strengthens teeth and jaws. Hay also provides lots of long-strand fibre to maintain healthy
gut movement. Good quality hay - sweet smelling with minimal dust - can be difficult
to find in pet shops. Try riding stables or farms instead. Kiln-dried
grass products can be used alongside or instead of hay, and are
particularly useful if you can't get good hay.
Hutches should be a minimum of 6ft x 2ft x 2ft, and preferably with an attached run to allow the rabbits to exercise at will. The run should be 6ft x 4ft x 4ft as a minimum. Hutch size and runs can
never be too big, so don't skimp, and remember hat a baby rabbit will grow so never be
tempted by the ‘starter hutches’ as they are a false economy. You don’t have to stick to the
traditional hutch as a home for your rabbits, a garden shed, or child's wooden Wendy house can both make fabulous ‘warrens’. Many rabbit owners put a cat flap in their garden sheds to an outdoor run so that the rabbits can exercise when they please, and bird aviaries can make great homes and they
have the added benefit that you can walk around in them so no more stooping to get the rabbit out of the run!
Also the Animal Welfare Act 2007 states that all animals must;
When does the new law come into effect? From 6 April 2007 in England, and in Wales from 27 March, the animal welfare law is being improved. It is still against the law to be cruel to an animal, but now you must also ensure that all the welfare needs of your animals are met.
What does the new law do?
It makes owners and keepers responsible for ensuring
that the welfare needs of their animals are met. These
include the need:
For a suitable environment (place to live)
For a suitable diet
To exhibit normal behaviour patterns
To be housed with, or apart from, other animals (if applicable)
To be protected from pain, injury, suffering and disease
The new law also increases to 16 the minimum age
at which a person can buy an animal and prohibits giving animals as prizes to unaccompanied children under this age.
Anyone who is cruel to an animal, or does not provide for its welfare needs, may be banned from owning animals, fined up to £20,000 and/or sent to prison.
What does it mean to me and my rabbit?
It's not acceptable to keep a solitary rabbit in a small hutch, without the opportunity to exercise. Sadly we know that this is still the case for thousands of pet rabbits in the UK, as they are the most neglected domestic pet. Make sure that you are providing your rabbits with everything they need to live a long and happy life.
I was satisfied with ******* Pets At Home and how their rabbits were kept and visited weekly and spent between £15-£20 per week for all my pets, I now with be shopping elsewhere from now on until your standards for keeping your animals is improved to a more suitable condition and the information provided to new owners is also improved. I look forward to reply.
Your Sincerely
Miss S.k.Greene
What do you think???? any thing else i could add???
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