I own a pet rabbit and I notice that when I tell my European and Asian friends about it, the perception is usually good. I have had a number of my European friends say good things about my pet and even say that it is a better fit for an apartment than a large dog.

Meanwhile, whenever I have told my American friends that I own a pet rabbit, there has been an active disdain. Almost all have said that rabbits are rodents, poop too much, stink, and found it weird that someone would own one as a pet.

I was curious, why is there so much active disdain towards rabbits as pets in American culture?

For what its worth, my friend group is mainly Gen Z and Millennials.

45 comments

  1. Maybe you need new friends.

    I have a bunny, and whenever I tell people they either react positively or neutrally. 🤷🏼‍♀️

  2. >I was curious, why is there so much active disdain towards rabbits as pets in American culture?

    Is there? If there is, I’ve never noticed it.

    It’s certainly true that having a rabbit as a pet is less common than having a dog or a cat, but I’ve never noticed anyone having a particularly strong opinion about rabbits as pets.

  5. I haven’t experienced this at all. I raise rabbits! I know lots of rabbit owners!

    They are insanely clean and I think their little poops are cute lol

  6. I’ve never heard of this. Rabbits are among the most popular pets in the US.

  7. I’m a millennial and have owned a bunny I ain’t got nothing wrong with em… however if they get in the e garden they get clapped lol

  8. This is probably just anecdotal because I’ve never heard this, I also had a pretty rabbit when I was young.

  9. I have never experienced this disdain in American culture that you describe.

  10. I have never heard of an American having disdain for pet rabbits. I think this is your friend(s) only.

  11. This is an issue with the specific friends you’ve made. Pet Rabbits are not uncommon in the US, and there is not a cultural dislike of Rabbits.

  12. Are you really going to stereotype 350M+ people based on the opinions of a few of your friends?

  13. It isn’t common, but there isn’t active disdain. I see them more as food animals, but I know people who own rabbits as pets. They’re soft.

  14. I’m not aware of a general dislike. I’ve known a couple people who’ve had pet rabbits. Maybe the perception is that they’re a lot of work? Also, sometimes people buy pet rabbits as a novelty for Easter, then they’re abandoned once kids lose interest.

    I don’t think there’s any negativity towards the bunnies themselves, just that they tend to be neglected by owners who don’t know how to take care of them.

  15. I think you might be overestimating how much people care (judging from the fact that you’ve posted six separate threads asking about this in the past month).

  17. I don’t know that I have personally met anyone that had rabbits strictly as pets. My sister raised some in 4-H when we were kids, but they were fur/show animals not really pets. Mean tempered little guys that liked to bite people in fact. Other than that I have known people that raised rabbits for meat, but again not strictly as pets. I have heard they can make good pets and haven’t heard anyone say anything negative or derogatory about pet rabbits. It’s just not very common.

  18. I’ve never experienced this as both a veterinarian and bunny mom, but they are high maintenance pets that I only recommend for a certain kind of owner. I adore my bunnies but they’re not easy pets.

  20. For rabbits? I’ve never met anybody with an inherent distaste for people having rabbits as pets. Rabbits are seen as cute and are popular with kids, or at least that’s what I’ve gathered.

  21. There is no active disdain for pets in American culture, I find your experience unusual.

  22. My sisters had rabbits and my wife had a rabbit. I only met one person who hated the idea of it. Everyone else loved it.

  24. I had a house rabbit like 20 years ago. I’ve never got any hate for it.

    I mean they do poop a lot and are usually pretty destructive, but not anymore than lots of other pets.

  25. Not sure it’s reasonable to generalize the tastes of your circle of friends to the country at large.

    Or… anecdotal evidence is anecdotal.

  26. …what? Rabbits are extremely common pets and I’ve literally never heard of anyone getting pushback for having them. That’s super weird. At worst maybe people might think of them more as a kid’s pet but I definitely know multiple adults with pet rabbits and the only reaction I’ve seen is people asking for pictures and thinking they’re super cute?

    The only time I’ve ever seen someone get pushback was a homesteader raising meat rabbits and someone else had a meltdown about it but that’s totally separate from typical pet rabbits.

  28. Yeah, you need new friends. Many people are surprised to find out that we have a house rabbit, but the reaction tends to be curious rather than disdainful. Our current house rabbit (our 4th) is 11 years old and a sweetie. The hay does tend to track around the house, but she’s fully litterbox trained (all of them have been) and just as clean as our cats, who adore her.

  29. I think of rabbits as cute but kind of boring pets. I probably wouldn’t want one for myself. But I have truly no opinion of other people having them. I certainly don’t think it’s weird or in any way bad.

  31. I’m a millennial and I grew up with pet rabbits and never had anyone say anything negative. I don’t think that’s a common feeling among Americans.

    As a matter of fact I’m much more likely to hear people jokingly call them “vegan cats”.

  33. I don’t know anyone who gives a shit, personally. They’re pretty popular pets here so idk what exactly you’re talking about other than anecdotal incidences

  35. There’s no bias against rabbits as pets, only as food animals.

    Though I personally think they’re delicious.

  36. Soo… by American culture you actually mean what like 5 people?

  37. Rabbits are common pets in the states. As a young adult I had a litter trained rabbit in my apartment. I did a lot of research before getting my rabbit and found that there is a large community of people that have house rabbits. There were 8 units in my building and 3 of the 8 households had rabbits. It’s even more common to keep rabbits as outdoor pets.

    OP’s friends are just ignorant about rabbits in general and as pets in specific. As evidenced by OP’s friends calling them rodents, rabbits are not rodents, they are Lagomorphs.

  38. How odd I’ve never noticed any disdain for rabbits as pets here. I’ve known many people who have rabbits as pets – they’re not the most popular pet ofc, but they’re not crazy uncommon either.

  39. It’s not exactly a widespread disdain here. I’ve owned rabbits and I’ve known many that also did. Many people keep them indoors, too. They’re as popular as any other smallish pet like guinea pigs or chinchillas.

  40. I wasn’t aware that we were known for disliking pet rabbits. We had them when I was growing up.

  41. People here *prefer* dogs and cats overall, but that doesn’t mean people *dislike* the idea of rabbits as pets, they are just not as popular.

  42. I think this might just be a thing among your friends for some reason. pet rabbits are much less common than dogs or cats, but afaik there’s no general cultural stance on them here. speaking only for myself, I’m actually intimidated by the idea of having a prey animal as a pet. I feel like there’s so many ways I could unintentionally scare it or hurt it

  44. Not sure where you heard this because it isn’t true at all lol. Everyone loves pet rabbits. I used to have several.

  45. I have 2 rabbits no one I’ve ever met has ever had anything bad to say about it

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