Rabbit races and dress-up contests can cause unnecessary stress to the rabbits and is considered animal abuse, says STOMPer Jacelyn. These activities are organised by pet stores this Chinese New Year season.

A volunteer at the House of Rabbits, Jacelyn echoes the views of STOMPer Teeny Teh, who wrote in last year to share her concerns about how dressing up bunnies in clothing could make the rabbit nervous and could cause it mental and even physical harm.

STOMPer Jacelyn writes:

"I refer to the letter by Mr Kay Mohlman to Today, “Stop gimmick for rabbits’ sake” dated on 15 Jan 2011.

"We applaud Mr Kay for taking the initiative to voice out his concern about the fact that a few major pet stores in Singapore are promoting sale of rabbits in a widespread manner such as unsolicited text messeges.

"This appears to be a trend with the Year of the Rabbit approaching.

"We are also extremely concerned that as part of such marketing gimmicks, rabbit shows and contests are now being organised, such as the one organized by Pets Village in Suntec City Tropics Atrium this month.

"There are 2 particular competitions, which could cause unnecessarily stress to rabbits, which our society would like to highlight.

"The “Best Dressed Rabbit” contest (marketed as “The “Rabbit-est of Them’All!” in the Pets Village event) is absolutely unsuitable for rabbits.

"The Racing Rabbits competition (in the Pets Village event) is equally not suitable for rabbits. We are extremely concerned to see the public racing their rabbits against one another because rabbits, being prey animals, are by nature extremely timid.

"They get stressed easily – especially in unfamiliar, noisy environments like a mall. Rabbits do not behave like cats and dogs, which could perform at a race or contest, and should not be treated like them.

"HRSS strongly discourages the public from putting clothes on their pet rabbits. And please do not stress your rabbits by letting your beloved pets take part in any race competition."