This is going to sound stupid and I feel a bit silly posting but, our last guinea pig died on Saturday and the kids were really upset so I suggested a rabbit.

My friend said we should get another hutch because the new rabbit would be able to smell the other animals and sense that they have died there. She said they could suffer mentally and possibily die earlier than normal.
I laughed and didn’t take her seriously; I’m not buying another hutch.
Has anyone else heard of this, seriously?

I have read that it's best to get a new hutch - can't remember why though, I'm off to google......

I don't know if this is true or not, but when I got my rabbit (aged 8 weeks) I got the hutch off a friend who had previously used it for her rabbit. My rabbit lived in that hutch for about a year until we bought an indoor hutch. We've never had any problems with her and she's lived a happy healthy life so far.

Perhaps it's just an urban myth started by the hutch sellers then!

I hope it's a myth as it wasn't cheap. It's a nice one with an upstairs and a downstairs.
We even added wheels to it so we could move it around the garden and let the guinea pigs mow the lawn for us.

The lady I bought my rabbit from said not to let her eat the spring grass - but she's a pedigree, so is not as hardy as most rabbits.

I've had a quick surf, I can't find anything against re-using a hutch - in fact there are lots of second hand hutches for sale, so it can't be too bad.

I've kept a succession of guinea pigs and rabbits for years. They've all lived (and died) quite happily in the hutch and no animal who came afterwards appeared affected by it in any way.
I think the only time you would actually need a new hutch is if an animal died from a fatal illness (e.g. Myxomatosis or fly-strike?) and would spread infection onto the new animal.

Just make sure you give it a thorough clean and airing before putting the new animal in

Think about the way the animal would behave in the wild.

All animals, rabbits, guinea pigs, whatever, die eventually, and their homes are usually taken over by a new generation pretty quickly. The new rabbit won't give the issue a second thought. Indeed if anything I'd have thought the reverse would be true -- a feint 'lived-in' smell will encourage the new guy to impose his own scent on the place more quickly, which in turn will increase confidence.

I don't think you have much to worry about.

As has been mentioned, I'd be more concerned about potential infectious diseases -- although even then the chances of a GP being a disease vector to a rabbit is remote.