In the fall of 2004 the Vancouver SPCA was the recipient of 12 lab cages from UBC. The inside measurements of these cages are roughly 25"L x 24"W x 15"H [5.2 cu ft] and are being used as primary "housing" for rabbits.

Here are the SPCA's oft-repeated "Five Freedoms". They look good in the media and on the BC SPCA website, but the SPCA itself seldom provides all the Five Freedoms for the animals it keeps. Here they are right from the SPCA's web site. We dispute that these rabbits at the Vancouver SPCA have freedom from discomfort and distress, and especially to have the freedom to express behaviours that promote well-being. When one of the SPCA's head officers was queried about the distress caused to the rabbits by being kept for as long as two weeks without being allowed out to stretch their legs and indulge in some "freedom", his answer was a search for a justification for the sizes of the cages, which he found by apparently quoting Humane Society of the U.S. figures. Those figures can't be confirmed in a search of the HSUS site.
1. Freedom from hunger and thirst
2. Freedom from discomfort
3. Freedom from pain, injury or disease
4. Freedom from distress
5. Freedom to express behaviours that promote well-being

Rabbit experts and rescuers describe the symptoms of distress in rabbits that are kept in close confinement for long: "While a cage may be used as a "home base" for a house rabbit the failure to provide an opportunity to exercise leads to the possibility of the animal developing both physical and behavioral problems. Various disorders may include stress, aggression, obesity, listlessness, bone density thinning and poor muscle tone, sore hocks, and runny eyes. although these cages are used as a temporary "home", this does not preclude the fact that exercise is an essential component to overall health."