Don't Pat-a-Pet Pledge: Choose Welfare This Summer 🐾

Fun for us shouldn’t be frightening for them.

Farm parks in the UK attract hundreds of thousands of visitors every year. But behind the cheerful petting corners and family days out, there’s a serious issue that’s often overlooked: the welfare of the animals, especially rabbits and guinea pigs.

The Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund (RWA&F) has significant concerns about the conditions in many, if not most, farm parks. While these parks aim to entertain and educate, they often fall short of even the most basic welfare standards.

Too often, rabbits are:

• Housed alone, lacking essential companionship
• Kept in hutches without proper space or enrichment
• Fed inappropriate diets
• Unvaccinated and medically neglected
• Subjected to repeated handling through daily "pat-a-pet" experiences, despite the stress this causes

⚖️ The Legal and Ethical Obligations

Every animal guardian, including farm parks, must meet the Five Welfare Needs under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. These include the need:

• For a suitable environment
• For a suitable diet
• To exhibit normal behaviour patterns
• To be kept with (or separate from) other animals as appropriate
• To be protected from pain, suffering, injury, and disease

There are also official Codes of Practice across the UK that specify what proper rabbit care looks like:

Rabbit Welfare: England

Rabbit Welfare: Wales

Rabbit Welfare: NI

Rabbit Welfare: Scotland

🛑 Why “Don't Pat-a-Pet” Needs to Stop

Daily handling by dozens of visitors may feel fun and educational, but for the rabbit, it can be terrifying. Many sit still, not because they’re enjoying it, but because they’ve frozen in fear or learned that struggling is useless.

This is called “learned helplessness.” They may have tried to escape at first—by biting or wriggling—but over time, they give up. What we interpret as calm could actually be silent distress.

🔍 How to Spot Fear in a Rabbit:

• Frozen body posture
• Nose twitching rapidly
• Bulging or wide eyes
• Flattened ears
• Tense or trembling
• Thumping

If you saw a dog behaving this way, would you think it was enjoying itself?

Don’t Bug Bunnies or Pester Pigs.

We’re asking visitors to pledge not to take part in rabbit or guinea pig petting activities. Just a few minutes of handling for you can mean hours of anxiety for them, day after day.

🐾 The Don't Pat-a-Pet Pledge:

I pledge to protect animals from unnecessary stress and harm. This summer and beyond, I commit to:

🐰 Choosing compassion over entertainment by avoiding petting sessions at farm parks

🌿 Supporting environments that meet the Five Welfare Needs as outlined in the Animal Welfare Act

🎓 Learning about species-specific welfare and encouraging others to do the same

📢 Raising my voice for rabbits, guinea pigs, and other small animals whose needs are often overlooked

🛑 Calling out unsafe or misleading practices where animals are treated as props, not sentient beings

💞 Championing ethical standards in education, tourism, and recreation

Because fun for us should never be frightening for them.

Sign the The Don't Pat-a-Pet Pledge

By signing, I pledge to stand up for animal welfare and help change how Farm Parks educate and engage the public.NameEmail

✋ What You’re Pledging

By signing, you agree to:

• Avoid petting sessions at farm parks where animals are handled repeatedly for entertainment
• Support venues that meet the Five Welfare Needs under the Animal Welfare Act
• Learn and share knowledge about species-specific welfare, especially for prey animals like rabbits
• Speak up when you see animals treated as props instead of sentient beings
• Promote kindness and respect in every interaction with animals

📚 Why It Matters: What the Research Says

Rabbits are terrestrial prey animals, meaning being picked up or restrained is often perceived as a threat. Studies show:

• Handling is innately stressful for rabbits, especially when lifted off the ground or restrained without support.
• The most welfare-friendly method is supporting a rabbit’s body against the handler’s chest, while scruffing or “trancing” (inducing tonic immobility) is considered painful and distressing.
• Repeated handling in noisy, unfamiliar environments—like farm parks—can lead to chronic stress, learned helplessness, and reduced trust in humans.
• Rabbits handled frequently by owners were less likely to voluntarily approach them, suggesting that forced interaction damages the human-animal bond.

🐰 What You Can Do Instead

• Observe animals from a respectful distance
• Choose parks that offer enriched enclosures and educational signage
• Teach children that gentle watching is just as wonderful as touching
• Share the pledge with friends, schools, and community groups

🧠 How You Can Help

You can be a voice for animals simply by speaking up:

• Kindly raise concerns in person if you see poor conditions
• Follow up in writing—your feedback matters
• Leave honest reviews on platforms like TripAdvisor
• Encourage parks to improve conditions and sign up for the Don’t Pat-a-Pet Pledge
• Share this message with others who care
• Join the Movement
• Take the pledge. Share your voice. Help us build a summer of compassion. Because every animal deserves to feel safe, even when we’re having fun

Poor rabbit welfare is more than a local problem—it shapes how thousands of visitors, especially children, learn about animal care. We must set a better example.

Let’s work together to make Farm Parks safe, enriching spaces—not just for people, but for the animals too.

Please share this page and help us to reach more people willing to stand up for animal welfare!

Tell us what you really think about petting zoos and farm parks.

We’re gathering public opinions to help improve animal welfare standards, especially for rabbits, guinea pigs, and other vulnerable species in these settings.

Take Our 2-Minute Survey