Easter is a tough time for animals. Aussies fill their plates with sensitive sea animals like fish, baby chicks are dyed with chemicals, and rabbits are purchased as soon-abandoned companion animals or used in petting zoos and as props in photoshoots.

Of course, we should choose delicious vegan fish and prawns instead of killing sea animals, and coating a baby chicken with chemicals is cruel, but how much do you know about rabbits?

Here are 6 reasons to never involve rabbits in your Easter plans.

Rabbits Are Prey Animals

Like all animals, every rabbit is someone, and each has a unique personality. Still, one thing they have in common is that they are prey animals who like to have all four feet on the ground and can easily go into shock if handled improperly.

Rabbits’ have sensitive noses, ears, and skin and can easily be injured if handled incorrectly. They can also suffer from heart attacks if frightened and break limbs if they fall while struggling to escape.

Rabbits Have Very Special Needs—For a Long Time!

Rabbits are considered an ‘exotic’ animal, requiring specialist diet, husbandry, and medical treatment. They even have their own (expensive!) vets.

While rabbits can live for up to 16 years, they’re also prone to illnesses that can quickly turn fatal. Rabbits have sensitive digestive systems and are good at hiding illness until it’s an emergency, such as stasis, a slowing of the digestive tract that can quickly lead to death.

Too often, rabbits are abandoned as babies because their care is considered too laborious or expensive. You should only ever adopt rabbits if you’re prepared to give them lots of space (a hutch is not enough!) and care for many years to come.

Chocolate Is Toxic to Rabbits

Because they’re so quick to chomp down on sweet things, rabbits and chocolate Easter eggs make bad bedfellows. Setting up photos that feature rabbits, children, and chocolate is a recipe for disaster, as rabbits can nibble a chocolate egg faster than you can say “vegan cheese”!

Unlike cartoon rabbits, foods like carrots should be considered rare treats in a rabbit’s diet—which should be mostly hay.

Shelters Are Overflowing with Unwanted Rabbits

As Easter approaches, breeders work overtime to pump up fresh new baby bunnies to capitalise on the rabbity holiday, but a shocking 95% of rabbits acquired at Easter don’t survive to see their first birthday!

Those who do are often surrendered to already overwhelmed shelters or abandoned in the wild, where they quickly die. Rabbits aren’t holiday decorations to be bought and discarded when the long weekend is over.

Rabbits Are a Terrible Choice as a Child’s Companion

Cute as they both may be kids and rabbits don’t mix. Rabbits look cuddly, but they’re not always interactive animals, and kids can quickly grow bored with them. Before long, many rabbits are relegated to too-small hutches in the yard, where they languish until they die or are rehomed.

If your child wants a rabbit for Easter, get them a stuffy, instead!

Rabbits Are Social Animals, And They Suffer When Alone

In their natural homes, rabbits live in family groups of as many as 30 rabbits, and they bond with some, just as we have best friends. Bonded rabbits will comfort and groom each other, eat together, and even share cecotropes—special faeces that contain nutrients to nourish the gut.

Rabbits are sweet and an endless source of hilarious antics, but they can also be destructive, messy, and costly— so consider that, times at least two, if you’re considering adopting!

Do The Right Thing by Rabbits This Easter

If you want to make rabbits part of your celebrations, consider donating to a rabbit rescue group or volunteering at your local shelter.

If you’ve done your homework and are serious about bringing a pair into your family, always adopt; don’t shop.

You can also help rabbits by never wearing fur, never attending a petting zoo, and by joining PETA to urge the government to end experiments on animals, which often subject rabbits to excruciating and ultimately deadly procedures that don’t help humans in any way.