Creating better tomorrows for all pet rabbits
Say No To School Rabbits
At the RWA&F, we strongly disagree with rabbits being kept as school pets. We hope that staff and parents considering school rabbits will read this page and change their minds.
During lockdown, we saw a huge boom in rabbit ownership. Families without space or time for a dog assumed having a rabbit or two would be an easier option.
School rabbits are not a casual undertaking. Anyone responsible for animals on the school premises, permanent or temporary, must abide by the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
In 2019, there were 37 prosecutions for the neglect of pet rabbits.
Keeping a school rabbit for pupils to look after and take home during holidays used to be popular. Thankfully, more schools are realising it’s not a great environment for rabbits’ complex welfare needs.
It was considered a good way to teach responsibility and offer a caring experience. But a school creates lots of welfare problems like stress, constantly changing environments and tiny accommodation.
It’s also quite a commitment for schools. Rabbits can live for over ten years. They need regular cleanouts, and have high vet expenses from neutering, vaccinations, and out-of-hours care if they become ill.
Plus, it can cause other problems if a child is bitten or scratched or if rabbit-savvy parents object to the school keeping rabbits. This page highlights all the problem areas.
Problems for the rabbits
Rabbits are prey animals. This means that:
- Rabbits find busy, noisy environments scary. The sound of happy children enjoying playtime is lovely to us, but terrifying for rabbits!
- Rabbits hate being picked up. Their instincts are telling them they’ve been caught by a predator. Schoolchildren love picking up and petting rabbits. But it can lead to injury when a frightened rabbit bites or scratches, or a child drops the pet.
- Bunnies also need to feel safe and secure. Being taken home by different children each weekend or holiday is unsettling. There’s also the journey, different environments, lots of picking up and cuddles. It’s all extremely stressful and can lead to a very frightened, depressed rabbit.
Housing
Rabbits need a lot of space. At the RWA&F we recommend a minimum secure, permanent enclosure around 3m x 2m x 1m high. This is usually unlikely in school premises and even less likely when the rabbits are taken home. Smaller accommodation is cruel, and sets a bad example to the pupils.
Companionship
Rabbits are sociable animals and must always be kept in neutered, compatible pairs or groups. It’s cruel to keep rabbits alone. And pupils will think it’s okay to keep a single rabbit. It’s really not good welfare and not the right message.
Health
As a prey animal, rabbits don’t show signs of illness, injury or disease. It makes them vulnerable to predators. When they do look poorly, it’s often too late to help them. A good rabbit owner knows this and keeps a close eye out for any changes in behaviour or signs of distress. For unsupervised rabbits, out of school hours, these tell-tale signs can easily be missed. Suffering, or even death could have been prevented.
From time to time, even the most friendly pair of rabbits may have a spat. Sometimes when fur flies, injuries happen. Outside of school hours if an injury goes untreated it could become something way more serious.
Being taken home by pupils can cause health problems. Rabbits need a constant diet made up of mostly grass or hay. If it changes suddenly or regularly, it can cause stomach conditions like gut slowdown, which can be fatal.
Finally, rabbits must be neutered and they need to be vaccinated annually.
Problems for the school
You may not have even considered some of the issues we’ve seen over the years. Here’s a few to think about.
Any school staff responsible for animals on the school premises, permanent or temporary, have a legal obligation, according to the Animal Welfare Act 2006, to make sure the animals’ needs are met.
Some staff members will love caring for rabbits more than others. If they move on, they leave the responsibility to someone who’s possibly not so keen. This may not make a happy rabbit.
Hopefully this wouldn’t happen, but it’s possible and can be serious.
Rabbits, despite some misconceptions, are not cheap and easy pets. The cost of neutering, vaccinations, vet trips, food and bedding adds up very quickly, and remember that rabbits can live for over ten years.
Even if rabbits never have any health problems they’ll need to be vaccinated every year and checked out by a rabbit-savvy vet. A member of staff will need to make sure this happens. If they do get ill and medication has to be given over weekends, or a series of vet trips it all takes up valuable time.
Also, sometimes a bond between a pair of rabbits can break down. If this happens, they’ll need supervising for a while to make sure they don’t need permanently separating. This is a big ask for busy staff.
We can’t stress enough that rabbits need lots of space. Schools find it tricky to free up an area big enough to meet welfare standards.
Rabbits make a lot of mess and need to be cleaned out every day. It’s an extra job for staff.
People are keen on rabbits’ complex welfare needs and are more likely to notice when they aren’t being met. They’re also more likely to make their concerns heard.
School rabbits must be risk-assessed, to include a number of the points outlined above and more below.
Some questions to consider for risk assessment and beyond
Here are some example questions we’ve been asked to put to schools when parents concerned about the school rabbit have approached us.
They include some of the points already mentioned and give a good idea of the commitment staff should be prepared for.
- Are the rabbits vaccinated? They need to have two vaccinations every 12 months, against Myxi and VHD1 and also VHD2.
- Are the rabbits neutered? If not, they’ll probably fight when they hit sexual maturity. Can you house them separately and find them both a new partner if this happens? Plus, if the rabbits are unsupervised at weekends, what will you do if the rabbits encounter an unneutered male rabbit and become pregnant?
- Do you have a rabbit friendly vet?
- If the rabbits become unwell and require medication several times a day who’ll do this?
- Who’s responsible for taking the rabbits to the vet and does the school have a budget for vet care? If a rabbit needs regular dental work it can cost £100 every 6 weeks.
- Rabbits are prey animals and don’t enjoy being handled. They’re likely to bite and scratch. Have you conducted a H&S assessment, both for the school and the parents who take these animals home at weekends (and are bound to want to handle them)?
- Are the parents all trained to spot signs of ill health? Do they know which vet to take the rabbits to if they are ill over the weekend. Who’ll pay the bill? Who’ll authorise the rabbits being admitted and the necessary treatment? Can parents get hold of the relevant member of staff to approve this, or is an agreement in place with a vet practice? Rabbits can’t always wait until Monday. They may need immediate vet attention.
- Do you provide a care sheet to go home with the rabbits every weekend, which covers what to feed them and what to look out for? Do you give enough food for a weekend?
- Are the staff suitably trained to care for the rabbits?
- What’s in place for disease control? With diseases such as RVHD spreading via footwear and clothing, what preventative measures are in place to protect pet rabbits children may have at home.
- Who’ll make sure there’s plenty hay/pellets/fresh food? A sudden change of diet (ie. pellet) can be fatal. This is also a concern when children take rabbits home for the weekend or holidays.
