The charity took in more than 3,000 rabbits last year.

The RSPCA is calling on people to carefully consider whether they can commit to keeping pet rabbits, following a surge in case numbers.

Last year saw the number of rabbits arriving at RSPCA animal centres increase by 48 per cent compared to the previous year, reaching a total of 1,090. In addition, RSPCA branches provided help to 1,942 unwanted rabbits during 2022.

In some cases, overbreeding has caused problems, and so the RSPCA is calling on owners to neuter their rabbits to keep numbers at a manageable level. It is also advising people struggling to afford to keep their rabbits during the cost-of-living crisis to seek help.

Recently, on 20 April, an RSPCA officer rescued seven rabbits in Manchester which had been left in a cage and a cat carrier in an alleyway behind a house. The owners have not been traced, and after being vaccinated and undergoing health checks, the rabbits are being looked after at a private boarding home as they wait to be rehomed.

Animal rescue officer Lee Ferrans said: “Six of the rabbits were in one cage and there was another in a cat carrier. Neither the cage nor the carrier were large enough to accommodate them, although they probably hadn’t been living like that before they were abandoned.

“This is not an unusual job for our inspectors and animal rescue officers at the moment - I myself have dealt with three or four rabbit abandonments in recent months.”

Cases of pets being abandoned are continuing to rise. In April 2023, the RSPCA received 1,508 reports about an animal being abandoned, compared to 1,370 reports during the same month in the previous year: an increase of 9.6 per cent.

Mr Ferrans added: “People think it’s easy to look after rabbits, but there’s a lot more work involved. It may be the case that this large number of rabbits has proved to be too much for someone after they started off with just a couple.

“People need to neuter their rabbits and they also need to research what it takes to look after them properly before they take up ownership.”

Image (C) RSPCA