Permits are no longer required to keep domestic rabbits and commercial rabbit breeds.
The Agriculture Protection Board (APB) has changed the classification ofdomestic pet and commercial rabbits to enable them to be kept by households without restrictions.However, keeping wild rabbits is still prohibited. Agriculture Western Australia animal pests project manager Marion Massam said the deregulation of domestic rabbit keeping requirements was more a practical arrangement.
"These changes mean that people no longer require permits, inspection approvals or auditsto keep domestic pet rabbits or breeding rabbits," she said.
"People have been allowed to keep pet rabbits since 1986 and there has been very little evidence of domestic breeds establishing in the wild and having an impact on agriculture and the environment."
Ms Massam said there was little risk that pet rabbits or commercial rabbits vaccinated against the control agent Rabbit Calicivirus Disease (RCD) would result in resistantpopulations in the wild,
"The vaccine used for RCD cannot reproduce in the host and therefore cannot spread to otherrabbits," she said.
"The level of protection against RCD from the vaccine may also wane over time, which is why pet owners and breeders need annual boosters. The offspring of the vaccinated rabbits also become susceptible to RCD at about 10 weeks of age, like the offspring of non-vaccinated rabbits."
Ms Massam recommeded that people continue to contain their rabbits in escape proof,insect proof hutches to ensure their rabbits do not cause damage in their own or theirneighbours' yards, which would also reduce the chances of their pets catching Myxomatosis or RCD.
"It is also in the best that rabbits on commercial rabbit farms or for human
consumption are kept according to the Model Code of Practice for the Welfare
of Animals (Intensive Husbandry of Rabbits)," she said.
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.You may keep only domestic or fancy breeds, not common grey (wild) rabbits.
.Some popular rabbit varieties are NZ white, Californians, Flemish Giant, Chinchilla, Satins and English, German and French Angoras.
.Rabbits must be kept in an enclosure that effectively prevents them escaping.
Rabbit Information Service recommends a pine and plywood hutch as rabbit housing rather than a metal hutch. Metal becomes
hot to touch even in the shade on a hot day and a pine hutch is cooler in summer and warmer in winter.
The hutch should be kept in a sheltered place, out of the weather and on very hot days, either the rabbit (in a secure cat carry case)
or the hutch and rabbit should be moved indoors for the day. Pine hutches are readily available in WA. If you have trouble
locating one, email rabbit@iinet.net.au and you will be provided with some contact phone numbers of hutch manufacturers
or pet shops in your area (W.A.only) that are supplied with hutches made of pine and plywood.
Different sized rabbits require different sized hutches and the hutches can be made to order. A 3ft long hutch
is acceptable for a small Netherland Dwarf but a 4ft, 5ft or 6ft hutch may be preferable for larger breeds.