Wanted: home for giant rabbit that could grow to 1.2m long

Appropriately named Atlas, a seven-month-old continental giant rabbit, grew so large its owners found it too much of a handful and passed it on to the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Now the organisation has appealed for someone to provide the giant bunny with a new home.

Anybody taking in Atlas will need a rabbit hutch the size of a dog kennel. Atlas is already the size of a west highland terrier; fully grown continental giant rabbits can measure up to 1.2 metres, weigh more than 20kg and eat a bale of hay a week and up to 2,000 carrots and 700 apples a year.

Scottish SPCA staff in Cardonald, Glasgow, sent out its appeal on Monday.

“Atlas is already about the size of a westie and is still young with some growing to do,” said SPCA manager Anna O’Donnell. “He is a very friendly rabbit who loves attention and getting cuddles. Atlas is also an inquisitive boy who makes everyone laugh with his mischievous character.”

She pointed out that a standard rabbit hutch would not be big enough and the new owner would need plenty of space for him.

“Atlas needs an owner with the knowledge to properly care for him, so ideally someone who has kept a continental giant before. If anyone is interested in offering him a home they should give us a call on 03000 999 999.”

Katie Price, the model with a fondness for animals, tweeted to say that she was willing to take Atlas. Price already has a menagerie of pigs, goats, horses and dogs.

The largest rabbit in the world is Darius, another continental giant, weighing 22kg – about the same as a six-year-old child.

According to the Pets4Home website, the continental giant is one of the largest and oldest breeds of rabbit, with evidence suggesting that the breed may stretch as far back as the mid-16th century.

“They aren’t keen on being picked up and so aren’t the best breed to keep if you have children who might want to carry them and have a cuddle. They will be more than happy to be petted and stroked however, and as they are such gentle, inquisitive creatures they do make fantastic pets,” says the site.

Most continental giant rabbits are descended from the ancient Flemish giant, a breed that originated in Ghent, Belgium. It is thought that the Flemish giant was created by breeding larger examples of fur and meat breeds – probably the so-called stone rabbit (because it was said to weigh as much as an old Belgian stone - 3.8kg) and the Patagonian, an old European breed now extinct.