According to the House Rabbit Society, rabbits are the third most commonly surrendered pets in the United States. Rabbits have also been steadily gaining in popularity as indoor pets in many parts of the world, with an estimated one million pet rabbits in the United Kingdom alone. Although a quarter of pet rabbits are estimated to be adopted, there is a lack of research into how shelters and rescues can optimize the intake and adoptions process for rabbits: unlike for dogs and cats, no standardized rabbit temperament tests exist, and the majority of shelters do no more than a cursory behaviour evaluation on new intake rabbits. In this Spotlight on Research, we talk to Clare Ellis, a Ph.D candidate at the University of Northampton and Moulton College, who is working on developing better tools for shelters to match their rabbits with the right adopters.
What got you started on studying rabbit behavior?
My interest in rabbits was initially tied to the opportunity to explore individual differences in the species. Having completed research into zoo-housed bears, I started to notice some interesting differences between two female siblings I was studying. They had effectively had the same life experiences, so I became interested in why they had quite different responses to environmental stimuli. The opportunity to study the phenomenon of individual differences in rabbits came up, and over the last three years I have discovered how little research there is out there on rabbits, particularly companion rabbits. I’m now involved in a number of projects about rabbits, some of which will hopefully improve our knowledge of rabbits and their needs in captivity.
What should every shelter know about rabbit care?
I’ve seen some great rabbit facilities at shelters, and from chatting to some people who run U.K. centres there is a great deal of knowledge out there already within the industry. From my behavioural research, I would perhaps emphasise two things: provision of hiding places and careful, suitable handling.
As a prey species, rabbits spend a great deal of time avoiding getting eaten, and their ears and eyes are well adapted to help them identify dangers. In a shelter setting, environmental sounds and sudden movements can be quite startling for a rabbit, particularly where rabbits may be kept near to other predatory animals that communicate with sound, such as dogs. If the shelter is noisy, hiding places are vital for rabbits, so they have somewhere to retreat from anything that they might perceive as a potential threat. It is also vital that there are enough hiding places for each rabbit in a pen to avoid competition for resources, which may cause additional stress.
My behavioural research suggests that handling a rabbit may elicit a stronger negative reaction than just being approached by a person and not picked up. Some tasks in a shelter setting require the rabbit to be picked up, but where handling is not essential, e.g., meeting a potential new owner, it may be less stressful to allow the rabbit to come to the owner. Perhaps avoid handling where not needed, let the rabbits come to people.
Why do people relinquish their rabbits?
From my rehoming centre survey (in press) here in the U.K. it seems that a lot of rabbits are being relinquished by an owner due to unplanned litters and challenges with housing for their human owner. These reasons are similar to a study conducted at U.S. shelters. A child losing interest in the rabbit was the third most commonly cited reason in my study. This possibly tells us something about the nature of the rabbit-human relationship. Studies on the relinquishment of cats and dogs to the U.K. rehoming centres never reported “loss of interest” as a reason for relinquishing cats or dogs.
Pet shops, vets, and rehoming centres could definitely emphasise the importance of neutering rabbits at an appropriate age, at the point of purchase or adoption. This could go a long way to reducing the number of rabbits that are relinquished by their owners.
Do you think having specialized rabbit behavior consultants like we have dog and cat behavior consultants would help people keep pet rabbits in their homes?
Yes, I think this would be very beneficial. In addition to being a great source of rabbit education for the community, they could support owners to get the most out of their relationship with their rabbits and help owners make their rabbit’s life more comfortable. Around one in ten owners reported behaviour problems as a reason for relinquishment to the U.K. rehoming centres in my survey. These behaviour reasons included owner-perceived aggression towards humans and other rabbits. Rabbits are rather complex social creatures. A dedicated rabbit behaviourist would be able to support owners in interpreting their rabbit’s behaviour and support them post-adoption to form healthy relationships with their rabbits.
Can you walk me through a rabbit temperament test?
There is no rabbit temperament test reported in the scientific literature to date, but researchers have sought to explore rabbit temperament in behavioural observations and using owner reports. My current research is seeking to develop a tool to assess individual differences in rabbits. Ideally, this will be a tool that can be utilised within the rehoming centre setting. The idea will be to assess a rabbit’s behavioural response to a number of stimuli, and the person would score their response. It is still early days, but hopefully trials will take place next year to test the tool.
Recently there have been criticisms of using temperament evaluations in shelter dogs. Do you think there are problems with evaluating rabbits, and how can shelters that start doing evaluations mitigate them?
It is vitally important that any users of behaviour-based temperament and personality testing tools in animals appreciate that such a tool only provides a snapshot of the animal’s behavioural reactions within the current situation. As a quick comparison, many tools used to assess personality in humans rely on self-report, where a person will reflect on themselves and answer a series of questions. This type of assessment enables us to consider how the person views themselves, and those responses represent reflections across their lifetime of experience. When we complete these assessments in a rehoming centre we cannot ask the animals to rate themselves, and we may not always be able to ask a previous owner. We rely on observations of the animal’s reactions to environmental and social stimuli. We get a snapshot of how they react to now.
Some, but not all, animal temperament testing tools have followed the personality psychology criteria and may be standardised, valid, and reliable, and therefore have predictive value. This final point is why we might use such tools. I would recommend that any rehoming centres that want to start temperament testing their rabbits make sure they are using an assessment tool that can be standardised, has been proven to be valid and reliable, and provides evidence that the results obtained are predictive of real-life future behaviour.
If such a tool is found and used, be sure to inform potential new rabbit owners that the test was conducted within the rehoming centre setting and so the rabbit’s behaviour in its new home may vary.
What kind of research would you like to see to validate whether temperament testing results in more positive outcomes for adopted rabbits? Can shelters help with data collection?
There is certainly a need for this type of research in all companion species, including rabbits. In light of the reasons that rabbits are relinquished by their owners, it would be useful to know if pet rabbit owners are more likely to interact with, or develop a bond with, a rabbit if they received a personality profile of the rabbit at the point of adoption or purchase. Research into rabbit-human interactions is lacking, and it would certainly benefit rehoming centres to understand what makes good rabbit-human matches.
If rehoming centres are interested in contributing to my current research I would be happy to hear from them (Clare.Ellis@Northampton.ac.uk), particularly in terms of what they would want from a temperament testing tool for rabbits and what factors might affect them using such a tool at their centre.
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Mike is an emerging animal behaviorist sitting in Minnesota in the US. He carries an MSc in social science research methods (U. of Kentucky) and brings a passion for understanding how the methods we favor shape the knowledge we privilege. Coming from careers in teaching and non-profit program evaluation, he found companion animal behavior by accident helping anxious feline friends in a unique shelter in Ohio. It is a privilege and a joy to combine these and advance the journal in this exciting time of growth.
Alexandra is a certified dog behavior consultant and holds a PhD in neuroscience. She has spent over a decade in academic research and is author of numerous scientific articles on different aspects of brain development, including olfaction, neurogenesis, and memory formation. Her work as a behavior consultant focuses on creating trusting relationships between humans and their dogs through communication, respect, and science-based knowledge. Alexandra is very dedicated to promoting more science within the dog training world. She supports dog guardians and professionals to build a solid understanding of scientific principles and provides guidance on how to apply these to life with dogs. She runs Canine Mindscape in Alicante, Spain.
I’m an Argentinean-Italian dog trainer and CSAT who spent eight amazing years in Brazil learning and working with dogs. Now based in Europe, I volunteer with the IAABC as a translator and, in my free time, help rehomed dogs settle into their new families. I love bridging languages—and hearts—between people and their dogs.
I’m a translator, editor and journalist, as well as canine educator for children and families, specialized in canine body language. I am part of the IAABC Family since 2019, as Language Director at the IAABC and Translators Team Lead at the IAABC Foundation, at the moment. I volunteer at local shelters and promote bite prevention and animal welfare at schools and events all over my country, Uruguay.
I’m a Chilean veterinarian and certified dog trainer, based in Madrid and working at a veterinary clinic. I’ve been volunteering with the IAABC and the IAABC Foundation for over seven years. In my free time, I help dogs and their guardians strengthen their bond, and I love spending quality time with my own dogs.
Master’s Degree in Natural Sciences, with a strong interest in environmental sustainability and the protection of natural ecosystems. Passionate about writing and science communication, she collaborates with multidisciplinary teams on research projects, such as Equine International, and with non-profit initiatives in the environmental and cultural fields. She is writing for different magazines, including IAABC Foundation. Her major goal is to improve horse’s welfare through behaviour research and empirical practice.
Adrienne Hovey is the copy editor for the IAABC Foundation journal and the owner of 
I believe that knowledge from a wide range of disciplines fosters a more empathetic, curious, and engaging world. I am passionate about social, environmental, and minority rights issues (both human and non-human), and this has invariably led me down the road of multi-species anthropology. Perpetually curious about the world we live in, I hope to contribute towards making the world a kinder place for all of us earthlings to live on!
Beckie Wheldon is based in England, UK, and has been supporting the IAABC Foundation Journal team as a volunteer journal content editor since early 2025. She has a BSc (Hons) Animal Behaviour and Welfare, and has recently completed a MSc Clinical Animal Behaviour. With a passion for both practical and theory, Beckie is proud to be a part of the journal submission journey and support the process of applied animal behaviour information and research getting from our writers to the readers. As her full-time career, Beckie is currently part of the UK veterinary charity, PDSA, as a Learning and Development Business Partner for Veterinary, where she supports the professional development of people in their Veterinary Hospitals. Her last position was with the rescue charity, Dogs Trust, as a Canine Behavioural Welfare Manager, where she worked on embedding evidence-based behavioural welfare best practices throughout policy and practices, with both internal and external professional stakeholders, such as the police and military. With a varied background in kennels, caregiver education, and charity dog training classes, Beckie is also an accredited Animal Training Instructor (APDT UK) and an Associate Clinical Animal Behaviourist (APBC).
Erin Jones, PhD, IAABC-ADT, CDBC, CPDT-KA, CANZ-ATI, CANZ-ABC, is the Journal Director of the IAABC Foundation Journal. She holds a PhD in Human–Animal Studies, an MSc in Anthrozoology, a PG Dip in Animal Welfare, and a BSc (Hons) in Anthropology and Psychology. An international presenter, editor, writer and mentor, Erin’s writing bridges research and practice with a focus on the intersection of philosophy, ethics and dog-centered behaviour practice. She is the author of Constructing Canine Consent and co-editor of Topics in Non/Human Coexistence and numerous academic and trade journal publications.