Welfare Protocols for Rabbits

Animal welfare assessments are widely used in a range of situations and animal species. In recent years, there has been a shift towards developing more standardized animal welfare assessment protocols. Some examples are the Welfare Quality® and the Animal Welfare Indicators (AWIN) projects. These projects have produced protocols aimed to be flexible and adaptable, allowing them to be used with different farm animal species. Nevertheless, due to a low economic impact or the limitations of its geographical distribution, the welfare assessment of rabbits in commercial production was left out of both projects, even though this species is primarily reared in intensive systems. Nevertheless, several rabbit welfare certifications are now being applied in countries like Spain, Portugal, France, and Italy. Still, there is a need for more research in indicator validation, feasibility, and repeatability. In this chapter, we analyze and compare each protocol proposal recently designed for rabbit production.