Why Veterinarians Should Learn About Rabbits in Veterinary School

There should be a requirement for veterinarians to learn about rabbits in veterinary school since not all veterinarians know how to handle or treat rabbits during an emergency. Rabbits are also the third most common pet in American households. When their pet gets sick and seeks help, Veterinarians will usually not know how to provide for them as they did not learn much about how to handle/care for them. In Veterinary schools, rabbit care is not typically taught, only minimal/required information to cover the basics to understand rabbits.

Based on my first reasoning that Veterinarians generally don't know how to handle or treat rabbits in case of an emergency, a social experiment was conducted and what people from South Carolina had expressed was that, quote, “I have needed an emergency vet for my bunnies several times, and none of the emergency vets treat rabbits." This explains my first reason why I think Veterinarians should learn about rabbits and how to handle/care for them.

My second reason for why I think that Veterinarians should learn about rabbit care is that most American households have rabbits as pets and Veterinarians generally don't know how to treat them in case of an emergency. This line from the article explains my reason as it states, “The House Rabbit Society puts the number of pets in the U.S. at between 3 million and 7 million.” This shows that a lot of Americans own rabbits as pets and don’t generally get the care that they need because Veterinarians don't know how to handle them.

Lastly, my third reason why Veterinary schools should learn more about rabbits in Veterinary school is that Veterinary schools don’t generally teach about rabbits. As quoted by the author, " I knew almost nothing about this delicate prey species. My exposure to them in veterinary school consisted of about an hour of lectures. After that, students were taught how to pick up and carry an uncharacteristically docile New Zealand buck that lived in the university's lab." This demonstrates that students are rarely exposed to animals.

In conclusion, I believe that all Veterinary schools should teach about the handling and care of rabbits. There are many reasons to state why they should, some of mine is that a lot of vets don’t know how to handle/care for them in case an emergency occurs. Even though many Americans have rabbits for pets, vets are often unable to provide them with the care that they need. A majority, if not all, of Veterinary schools, do not teach about rabbits and how to care for them enough.