Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T03:11:02.787Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Rehoming of pet rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in Sweden: an investigation of national advertisement

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

L Ulfsdotter ,
A Lundberg  and
M Andersson
L Ulfsdotter
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Environment and Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, POB 234, S-53223, Skara, Sweden
A Lundberg
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Environment and Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, POB 234, S-53223, Skara, Sweden
M Andersson*
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Environment and Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, POB 234, S-53223, Skara, Sweden
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) are popular companion animals, yet there has been little research into rabbits kept as pets in Sweden. Many rabbits that are rehomed are done so via personal contacts rather than through animal shelters. The purpose of this study was to provide a picture as to why rabbit owners rehome their pets and to what extent this is done in Sweden. There were 505 rabbits put up for rehoming through a large Swedish advertisement site during the winter of 2012/2013. The most commonly stated reasons for trying to rehome rabbits were ‘Lack of time’ (35.8%), ‘Owners are moving’ (16.6%) and ‘Allergies’ (13.2%). The mean age of the rabbits was 17.6 months and most rabbits were put up for sale for a price of between €11.1 and €55. Requests about the new home were mentioned in 46.8% of the adverts and the majority of the comments described the type of home needed for the rabbit. Reasons for relinquishing rabbits were similar to those found in other studies and the number of rabbits with behavioural problems was very low (0.9%). We conclude that a number of rabbits in Sweden are experiencing rehoming and the effect of this on their welfare should be further investigated.

Keywords

animal owneranimal welfarebehaviourpetrabbitrehoming
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 25 , Issue 3 , August 2016 , pp. 303 - 308
Copyright
© 2016 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

References

Blocket 2013a http://www.blocket.se/regler.htmGoogle Scholar
Blocket 2013b http://www.blocket.se/Google Scholar
Cook, AJ and McCobb, E 2012 Quantifying the shelter rabbit population: an analysis of Massachusetts and Rhode Island animal shelters. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 15: 297–312. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10888705.2012.709084CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DiGiacomo, N, Arluke, A and Patronek, G 1998 Surrendering pets to shelters: the relinquisher's perspective. Anthrozoös 11: 41–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.2752/089279398787000878CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edbom, M 2011 Kaninhållning för sällskapsbruk. Student report 363, Department of Animal Environment and Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Skara, Sweden. [Title translation: Pet rabbit housing]Google Scholar
Edgar, JL and Mullan, SM 2011 Knowledge and attitudes of 52 UK pet rabbit owners at the point of sale. Veterinary Record 168:353. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/vr.c6191CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ledger, RA 2010 The relinquishment of rabbits to rescue shel-ters in Canada. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 5: 36–37. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2009.10.016CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowe, JA 2010 Pet rabbit feeding and nutrition. In: de Blas, C and Wiseman, J (eds) Nutrition of the Rabbit. CABI: Wallingford, UK. http://dx.doi.org/10.1079/9781845936693.0294Google Scholar
Mullan, SM and Main, DCJ 2006 Survey of the husbandry, health and welfare of 102 pet rabbits. The Veterinary Record 159: 103–109. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/vr.159.4.103CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mullan, SM and Main, DCJ 2007 Behaviour and personality of pet rabbits and their interactions with their owners. The Veterinary Record 160: 516–520. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/vr.160.15.516CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
New, JC, Salman, MD, Scarlett, JM, Kass, PH, Vaughn, JA, Scherr, S and Kelch, WJ 1999 Moving: characteristics of dogs and cats and those relinquishing them to 12 US animal shelters. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science 2: 83–96. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327604jaws0202_1Google ScholarPubMed
Normando, S and Gelli, D 2011 Behavioral complaints and owners’ satisfaction in rabbits, mustelids and rodents kept as pets. Journal of Veterinary Behaviour 6: 337–342. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2011.01.005CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SCB 2012 Hundar, katter och andra sällskapsdjur 2012. http://www.jordbruksverket.se/download/18.300b18bd13d103e79ef80002651/Resultatrapport+Hundar+katter+och+andra+s%C3%A4llskapsdjur+2012.pdf. [Title translation: Dogs, cats and other companion animals 2012]Google Scholar
SJVFS 2008 Djurskyddsmyndighetens föreskrifter och allmänna råd (DFS 2004:16) om villkor för hållande, uppfödning och försäljning mm av djur avsedda för sällskap och hobby, omtryckt i DFS 2005:8, därefter senast ändrad genom SJVFS 2008:31, saknr L 80. www.sjv.se. [Title translation: Legislation for animals kept as pets]Google Scholar
Ulfsdotter, L and Andersson, M 2016 Companion animals in Swedish animal shelters. Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica, in prepGoogle Scholar
Weiss, E and Gramann, S 2009 A Comparison of attachment levels of adopters of cats: fee-based adoptions versus free adoptions. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare 12: 360–370. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10888700903163674CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed