{"topic_id":"exotic_behavior_rabbit_welfare_code","category":"exotic-behavior","context":"---\ntopic_id: exotic_behavior_rabbit_welfare_code\ncategory: exotic-behavior\ntitle: \"Rabbit behaviour & company — DAERA welfare code: companionship, handling, stress, enrichment\"\nlang: en\nsource: \"Code of Practice for the Welfare of Rabbits (DAERA, Northern Ireland, 2021) — Crown copyright, Open Government Licence (attribution required). Verbatim claims, C1 substring-verified.\"\nsource_file: pdf-raw/welfare-codes/rabbit_welfare_code_daera_ni.txt\ndate_parsed: 2026-08-04\ntokens_estimated: 300\nverification:\n  method: substring_match\n  claims: 13\n  passed: 13\n  date: 2026-08-04\nrecovered: false\npath: exotic-behavior/exotic_behavior_rabbit_welfare_code/01_exotic_behavior_rabbit_welfare_code.md\nsource_document: \"Code of Practice for the Welfare of Rabbits — DAERA (daera-ni.gov.uk), statutory code under Welfare of Animals Act (NI) 2011\"\ncitation:\n  authority: \"DAERA (Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, Northern Ireland)\"\n  title: \"Code of Practice for the Welfare of Rabbits\"\n  url: \"https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/daera/20.21.048%20Code%20of%20Practice%20Rabbits.PDF\"\n  retrieved: \"2026-08-04\"\n  doc_type: \"statutory code of practice (Open Government Licence)\"\n  needs_review: false\nlicense: permission_granted\ncopyright_note: \"Crown copyright material licensed under the Open Government Licence (DAERA crown-copyright page archived at pdf-raw/welfare-codes/daera_crown_copyright_page.txt): re-use free of charge in any format with attribution, no implication of official endorsement, no misrepresentation. Attribution: Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Northern Ireland), Code of Practice for the Welfare of Rabbits, licensed under the OGL (nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/).\"\nauthority_tier: T1\nauthority_tier_basis: \"manual:OGL statutory welfare code (government, legal-minimum claim domain)\"\nauthority_tier_date: 2026-08-04\n---\n\n# Rabbit behaviour & company — DAERA Code of Practice for the Welfare of Rabbits (Sections 3 & 4)\n\nSource: Code of Practice for the Welfare of Rabbits, DAERA (Northern Ireland), issued under section 16 of the Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 2011. Crown copyright, re-used under the Open Government Licence v3.0 with attribution. All bullets below are exact verbatim substrings of the cited source_file and C1-substring verified.\n\n## Claims\n\n- `Rabbits are social animals and should ideally be kept with an appropriate companion such as another neutered rabbit, preferably a male/female neutered pair.`\n- `An appropriate companion is a neutered rabbit of a similar size and opposite sex. Rabbits of the same sex are more likely to fight.`\n- `Rabbits may accept a guinea pig as a companion, but this is not advised. The powerful hind legs of even a small rabbit could cause serious internal injury to a guinea pig that could be fatal.`\n- `A rabbit, whether kept alone or with other rabbits, should have the opportunity to interact with its owner for several hours a day.`\n- `To lift a rabbit place one hand under the rabbit’s chest and the other hand under its bottom. Hold the rabbit close so that it feels secure and it is prevented from falling.`\n- `Never shout at or punish your rabbit. It is unlikely to understand and can become more nervous or scared.`\n- `A rabbit with nothing to do will quickly become unhealthy, unhappy and possibly aggressive.`\n- `the way each rabbit behaves is largely influenced by experiences during the first few weeks of life.`\n- `A prospective owner should be satisfied that the rabbit they are thinking of getting is old enough to live without help from its mother, which is when it is over 8 weeks of age.`\n- `Never leave your rabbit alone with a cat or dog, even if they are familiar with each other.`\n- `If you see any of these signs of stress you should contact your vet promptly.`\n- `rabbits kept in cramped conditions will fight`\n- `foraging for food and having suitable objects to play with are excellent ways of ensuring a rabbit is kept properly occupied`\n","sources":["exotic-behavior — Code of Practice for the Welfare of Rabbits (retrieved 2026-08-04)"],"source":{"authority":"exotic-behavior","title":"Code of Practice for the Welfare of Rabbits","url":"https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/sites/default/files/publications/daera/20.21.048%20Code%20of%20Practice%20Rabbits.PDF","retrieved":"2026-08-04","ref":"","doc_type":"official PDF","source_document":"Code of Practice for the Welfare of Rabbits — DAERA (daera-ni.gov.uk), statutory code under Welfare of Animals Act (NI) 2011","verification_file":"pdf-raw/welfare-codes/rabbit_welfare_code_daera_ni.txt"},"source_document":"Code of Practice for the Welfare of Rabbits — DAERA (daera-ni.gov.uk), statutory code under Welfare of Animals Act (NI) 2011","source_file":"pdf-raw/welfare-codes/rabbit_welfare_code_daera_ni.txt","tokens_estimated":300,"generated_at":null,"tip":"Use /api/v1/topics to discover more topics. /api/v1/nutrient for precise single-point queries. /api/v1/cross_compare for 2-3 standard comparisons."}