625 pet rabbits were abandoned during the last Year of the Rabbit in 1999, which was a 116 per cent increase from the year before, according to The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA).
Deirdre Moss, Executive Director of the SPCA, said: "We certainly hope that this coming Lunar Year of the Rabbit will not see a repeat of people buying them on a whim, to bring luck."
Animal welfare groups said that the problem of buying pets on impulse is particularly acute for rabbits because people wrongly assume that they are low-maintenance starter pets for children.
They added that many pet shops are also not well informed about the care needed for a pet rabbit and often provide wrong or false information to unknowing first-time owners.
Animal welfare groups have advised against buying rabbits from a shop, and to adopt instead from SPCA or from the House Rabbit Society Singapore.
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