Labour MP Mike Hedges believes so. At a recent parliament meeting at the Welsh Senedd, he called for a wide range of changes to current animal welfare rules, including proposing rules that restrict who can own rabbits moving forward. Part of the proposal includes prospective rabbit owners to compelte a short course that properly advises people on what rabbit husbandry looks like, including what rabbits need and what true care for them looks like. The RSPCA has said that rabbits are among the most neglected pets in the UK, and welcomed an improvement to animal welfare, while a rabbit charity said bunnies can currently be bought far too easily, with most prospective owners having too little understanding of their needs.
As someone who once had rabbits, and learnt very quickly just how little information is given to you when you seek to care for a rabbit. So much of my learning happened in emergency situations, and the majority of my google searches were trying to find answers about basic rabbit care, especially in the very early days where I felt like a new parent. What has always been shocking to me is that this information is not more readily available, and I found I was having the same conversations with people everytime they found out that I had rabbits. Notice how no one questions how your cat or dog live in your house.
As of now, no formal plan has been put in place, but it is encouraging to see that this issue is finally being discussed, especially in Parliament which decides what legislative changes are to take place.
Taylor Talks Vegan 
Thank you for sharing this! It’s wonderful news. I’m ashamed to say that, as a child, I kept a rabbit on her own in a hutch because I thought that was how rabbits lived. I fed her and cleaned out her hutch but I daren’t let her out in case she ran away. My guilt about it not occurring to me that she was lonely will never leave me. That I kept her confined while thinking she had everything she needed, or perhaps while not thinking at all, shames me. But if children are not taught to consider an animal’s need for freedom and companionship, it’s not their fault that it doesn’t occur to them.
I can’t tell you how glad I am that Mike Hedges is doing something to draw attention to this and hope to God things will improve for rabbits very soon.
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I think we’ve all had that experience 😦 you did all you could with the knowledge you had at the time ❤️ Hopefully these changes help educate everyone – adults and children – so that rabbit welfare and care is common knowledge and readily available.
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Absolutely! ❤
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And next step: make breeding animals illegal 😀
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Absolutely!!
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