Making an impact with small animal welfare campaigns

The welfare of animals is at the heart of everything we do. This has led us at Burgess to start Rabbit Awareness Week and Guinea Pig Awareness Week to create a positive impact when it comes to responsible ownership and elevating the general well-being of small animals. Our campaigns are built around the five welfare needs of those animals and how owners can make positive changes to care for their pets in the best way possible.

About Rabbit Awareness Week and our impact in 2023

Running for the 17^th year, our Rabbit Awareness Week Campaign (RAW), aims to educate current rabbit owners as well as rabbit enthusiasts about the five welfare needs of rabbits. Our digital campaign provides vets, retailers, rescue centres and rabbit owners with digital assets such as posters, care guides, bunting, educational material and social media posts to spread awareness.

This year’s theme was Neutering: Protect and Prevent – and the great news is that more bunny lovers than ever engaged with this important campaign.

The action-packed week of bunny-focused activities had an estimated 20 million mentions across social media – meaning that more people than ever were made aware of the importance of neutering for the health and well-being of their buns!

The five-day programme of events hosted by bunny experts included:

Day one: An Introduction to Neutering

Day two: Female Spaying

Day three: Male Castration

Day four: Post Operation Care

Day five: Rescue Day

Positive feedback from UK vets

We also surveyed veterinary professionals who supported this year’s RAW campaign – 87% promoted the event in their practice with display corners, bunny MOT appointments and colouring competitions. The findings revealed:

• 98% of veterinary professionals surveyed believe that RAW has had a positive impact on the care of rabbits in the UK
• 87% believe rabbit welfare is improving in the UK
• 72% think that owners still know very little about any areas of neutering

Burgess in-house vet, Dr Suzanne Moyes MVB MRCVS, says: “The objective of this year’s RAW campaign was to raise awareness about neutering and its importance for rabbits’ health and welfare: allowing your rabbits to live safely in pairs or groups which is a fundamental recommendation for a healthy rabbit. Everyone involved – including our charity partners Wood Green Animal Shelter, RSPCA, Blue Cross, Rabbit Welfare Association & Fund (RWAF), and Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare – is delighted with what this year’s RAW has achieved. However, there’s always more to do when it comes to helping the UK’s rabbits live happy and healthy lives and we’re committed to continuing with our mission to make a real difference to these often misunderstood animals.”

The campaign reached over 20 million people worldwide across all social media platforms and we have seen an increase in engagement, website visits and educational pack downloads from last year.

About Guinea Pig Awareness Week and our impact in 2023

Since 2021, we are also campaigning about the welfare needs of guinea pigs with Guinea Pig Awareness Week (GPAW). In the 3^rd year, we focussed on the importance of adoption and rehoming with our theme “Rescue & Rehome” while bringing awareness to all five welfare needs.

The theme followed data showing a surge in guinea pigs being abandoned after the pandemic, which has continued during the cost-of-living crisis. The RSPCA has reported that it had already received 235 guinea pigs by mid-August this year, compared to 253 guinea pigs taken during the whole of 2022.

The five-day programme surrounding guinea pig welfare included the following topics:

Day one: Cavy Code: Understanding guinea pig behaviour

Day two: Environment: Home is where the heart squeaks

Day three: Guinea Nutrition: Five steps to a complete diet

Day four: Guinea pig health: From squeak to peak

Day five: Companionship: Hurray for Herds – happier together.

The campaign was held on social media platforms and reached over 12 million people across the world.

Awareness for rabbit and guinea pig welfare: A global mission

Years of campaigning to improve rabbit and guinea pig welfare has spread from the UK to many other countries and regions, including the United States and Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The hashtags #RabbitAwarenessWeek and #GuineaPigAwarenessWeek are used around the world by vets, businesses and small animal enthusiasts to talk about and share the welfare needs of those animals.

Did you miss RAW or GPAW this year but want to access our educational material?

No problem! Send us an email at export.sales@burgesspetcare.co.uk and we can share archived materials with you. 

Here is how you can join in 2024:

Joining RAW or GPAW as an Excel Distributor or reseller is easy: A few months before the campaigns in June and September, we will send you an email to confirm the exact date, the topics we will discuss as well as instructions on how you can join. We will always have downloadable packs on our website which you can share with vets, retailers, rescue centres and small animal owners. These packs will include some social media posts, infographics, posters, interactive material and bunting as well as other ideas on how you can create content yourself.