RABBIT owners in Dorset are guilty of neglecting their pets, according to an RSPCA study.

The worrying findings of the South and South West survey found that the average bunny was bought on a whim, locked in a decrepit hutch 24 hours a day and then abandoned three months later.

Dorset case studies involved several bunnies being put on the waiting list of the RSPCA Taylor's Animal Centre at Kingston Maurward after their owners lost interest.

In one case a woman bought herself a pet rabbit and signed it over to the RSPCA less than 48 hours later when she realised it was too time-consuming to look after.

Centre manager Lisa Samways said: "Many of the rabbits are given to us for personal reasons such as a house move or a change of job.

"However, the truth of the matter is often more a case that the animal is no longer wanted and the change provides the owner with what they feel is a legitimate excuse to get rid of it."

Another owner put her Angora rabbit on the centre's waiting list because she did not realise they needed grooming.

When its coat became tangled and messy she decided she did not have the time to give the animal the care and attention it needed and contacted the RSPCA to try and have it re-homed.

Another case found a Dorset teenager was allowed to breed 15 rabbits unsupervised in a back garden.

The rabbits were re-homed because the teenager was no longer able to cope. They had overgrown nails, teeth problems, dirty fur and eye infections.

RSPCA officers discovered the animals were not being kept in adequately-sized hutches or given clean bedding or access to a run with shelter.

The survey - carried out by RSPCA inspectors, animal centre staff, branches and volunteers - looked at the quality of life and experiences of every rabbit they came into contact with over a six-month period.

Anonymous 'rabbit awareness' questionnaires were also completed by members of the public.

RSPCA regional manager Jonathan Silk said: "We have always known that there is a major problem across the region with the way that some rabbits are bought and kept.

"However, this survey, now in its second year, has given us a unique and very disturbing insight into how many of these animals have a poor quality of life and how often people acquire them as pets and quickly lose interest in them."