Rabbit relinquishment through online classified advertisements in the United Kingdom: when, why, and how many?

ABSTRACT

To identify implicit causes of companion rabbit relinquishment, this study investigated whether there was annual and seasonal variation in the number of advertisements and ages of rabbits posted as free or for sale on classified websites in the United Kingdom. The number of advertisements posted decreased from 2014 to 2016. There was an increase in the number of advertisements for free rabbits in winter compared with other seasons, which could be a result of caregivers’ reduced willingness to interact with their rabbits and carry out husbandry during periods of inclement weather. Rabbits advertised as free were older than rabbits advertised for sale, and rabbits relinquished due to human-related reasons were older than those relinquished because of rabbit-related factors. It is recommended that further research is undertaken to elucidate whether providing education to prospective rabbit caregivers regarding the life span of rabbits and their substantial husbandry requirements, especially in winter, would deter the purchase of rabbits by caregivers unable or unwilling to care for them in the long term.

KEYWORDS:

• Rabbit
• relinquishment
• online advertisements

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Robert Dunn for his help with data coding and useful comments on the manuscript. We also thank Liz Paul and Mike Mendl for their useful comments on this manuscript.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council-funded South West Biosciences Doctoral Training Partnership (BB/M009122/1) and the Rabbit Welfare Association and Fund.