Animal rights going mad!

Re: Animal rights going mad!

Ju_xx — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 08:07:46 GMT

[quote user="Diane Westwood"]

Where does it say animal rights? Could be a neighbour they have pissed off.

[/quote]

It's at the top of the page, not sure how they know it is.

My two are in a hutch with a run attached. it is a 6x4 run and when we get the fence replaced next week they will have free roam when i'm not at work. Worked well for my old rabbit he loved it!

Re: Animal rights going mad!

NorthernLass — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 03:23:30 GMT

Very good reply. I totally agree. Mine are all in pairs (3 pairs) and have access to a run all the time. The pair in the kitchen have great fun shedding cardboard and paper all day, hopefully instead of the units! Also the outdoor ones have lovely big hutches made by Forsham Cottage Arks.

Re: Animal rights going mad!

Carys Thorp — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:27:02 GMT

Rabbits are too often not cared for properly, it drives me mad! However, i have two bunnies and they are in a hutch with no run, it might look creul however: theres two of them so they have company, they are let out daily in a secure garden (supervised) they often come inside (they LOVE coming inside!), they are vaccinated, microchipped, generally looked after well, have LOTS of toys and are loved to bits! You cant tell from the article if the rabbit is well looked after or not but either way taking an elderly rabbit away from its owner is creul, they should have contacted the RSPCA if they suspected it wasnt being looked after properly

Re: Animal rights going mad!

Sally Seddon — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:08:47 GMT

My ickle bunny has a hutch with a run underneath. He has loads of toys, gets new ones all the time and comes out to play. He is a happy as could be, of course he cant tell me how happy he is but he seems pretty content. Cant see whats wrong with him being in a hutch like this

Re: Animal rights going mad!

emmRAR — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:14:04 GMT

I had two rabbits as a child, mum and baby. They didn't like sharing a hutch so we had one for each of them where we would put them at night, then in the morning let them both out into the garden (well secured, of course) and let them play there until it started to get dark. They loved each others company and it was lovely to watch.

Re: Animal rights going mad!

Maisy — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:12:28 GMT

[quote user="Sophie Gosden RVN MBVNA"]

if rabbits are kept as house bunnies, is there not a high risk of them biting through electrical cables and killing themselves that way?

[/quote]

Cable protectors - you can get them from hardware places and invaluable for rabbits, puppies, gpigs....

I agree with Caro though, enrichment makes all the difference regardless of cage size (within reason of course!). Hamsters and other rodents benefit greatly from being able to have digging opportunities such as taking food bowls away and burying food in jamjars etc and plenty of safe chewing. For rabbits using sheds are great to renovate to bunny standards rather than a hutch as you can offer more in there for them.

Re: Animal rights going mad!

Caro Laithwaite VN — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:15:31 GMT

Juat say that it is not so much the size as much as what is in it environmentally. No point putting a mouse in a huge cage thats sterile it will go nuts. But if you keep it in a smaller cage and have lots for it to do it will be happy. Bear in mind the type of environment the animal lives in in "the wild" and base size/environments on that not on human emotions.

Re: Animal rights going mad!

Sophie Bedford RVN CertVNECC — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:11:34 GMT

My local riding stables has a great use for the middle of the horse walker - she's converted it into a haven for rabbits and g. pigs!! they're so cute and get lots of attention and it's pretty safe so they can't get out.... love the idea of the wendy house though.

I'm thinking of getting a couple of g. pigs one day but I will definitely need to think of some brilliant way of keeping them, don't want to get reported or anything... on another note - if rabbits are kept as house bunnies, is there not a high risk of them biting through electrical cables and killing themselves that way?

Re: Animal rights going mad!

Katie B — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:00:43 GMT

[quote user="Princess Ophelia Hermione MacBeth"]

[quote user="Katie Brocklebank"]

If you don't keep your rabbit in a hutch then where can you keep it? although my friend has a house rabbit, it goes to the toilet in a litter tray and goes out on walks. Which I find very cute!

[/quote]

More enlightened owners keep them in enclosures that better allow them to meet their behavioural needs. One of the nicer enclosures that I have seen was a converted wooden wendyhouse with a large run attached. The inside of both the run and the wendy house had shelvings and a climbing frame and there were tunnel tubes and toys provided. Another one I have seen had set up the run so that rabbits could dig a mini-warren if they wanted to. And almost all enlightened set ups allowed more than one rabbit to share an enclosure.

Most hutches are an abomination in terms of rabbit welfare. It is well documented through work on lab rabbits that keeping a rabbit confined to an area the size of the average rabbit hutch rapidly leads to weaker bones and greater risk of fractures. They also often show stereotypic behaviour (repetitive uniform behaviour).

I work with lab animals. Not rabbits but the principle is the same. I would need very strong ethical justification to be allowed to house a lab rabbit in a cage as small as most hutches and in the absence of the company of another rabbit.

[/quote]

The wendy house thing sounds fab. I can understand what your saying, I don't think its right for any animals to be caged up. Is this the same with hamsters, chinchillas, mice etc? Is it bad for every animal to be caged up? Surely most owners let them have a couple of hours free run around time, is this any better? or not?

Re: Animal rights going mad!

Louise B — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 07:05:46 GMT

[quote user="Katie Brocklebank"]

If you don't keep your rabbit in a hutch then where can you keep it? although my friend has a house rabbit, it goes to the toilet in a litter tray and goes out on walks. Which I find very cute!

[/quote]

Re: Animal rights going mad!

Katie B — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 00:20:36 GMT

Thats terrible. This actually happened to my friends dog. It was stolen out of her back garden. She put up adverts and someone spotted her out on a walk. My friend went to the address and had to talk him round to giving her back. It's terrible but it doesn't suprise me in todays day and age. I am always caucious when I let my doggy out just because you never know.

If you don't keep your rabbit in a hutch then where can you keep it? although my friend has a house rabbit, it goes to the toilet in a litter tray and goes out on walks. Which I find very cute!

Re: Animal rights going mad!

Lynn Perry — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 23:34:31 GMT

Kinda sad that people resort to stealing pets. I had my ferret stolen a few days before christmas (he was kept in a hutch outside) and I know I was devastated.

Re: Animal rights going mad!

Mac Feather — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 22:53:07 GMT

In this day of amazing communication methods its beyond me why the person concerned for the bunnys welfare couldnt have tried discussing their concerns with the owner- maybe thats me in my ideal world again but to me it sounds a sensible suggestion.

Re: Animal rights going mad!

Diane Westwood — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 22:24:29 GMT

Where does it say animal rights? Could be a neighbour they have pissed off.

Re: Animal rights going mad!

Louise B — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:31:55 GMT

I think there is another side to this. No where does it say that the rabbit was released into the woods to face certain death. I am not saying that it is right to steal people's animals but it is possible that the rabbit now has a better quality of life.

The welfare of a pet rabbit kept on its own in a hutch down the end of the garden is far worse than that of many laboratory rabbits. The rabbit might have lived for 9 years and have been loved but longevity and love are not evidence of mental and physical wellbeing. And, if these are not good 9 years is a long time to be suffering.

I personally think that it should be illegal to keep a rabbit in solitary confinement in a hutch.

Re: Animal rights going mad!

Saskia Quinn — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:13:13 GMT

Thats a terrible thing to happen - I would be distraught if such a thing happened to me. The only thing I can say is if the person who snatched the rabbit is an animal lover, hopefully Fluffy Barney will be well looked after. Thats no consolation to the family of course.

Re: Animal rights going mad!

Angiy Michael — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 21:11:57 GMT

Clearly done by an idiot..I agree they shouldn't ideally be in hutches but any idiot would know releasing it will mean certain death. Poor little girl