Animal lovers do not see the bunny side of plans for a pop-up “rabbit cafe” in Islington.

Gaby Whitehill, 23, is marshalling a thousand-strong petition against Bunny Blossom’s plans, and has called for the cafe to be shut down and the organisers – whose registered address is a shoe shop and none of whom could be contacted by the Gazette – “looked in to”.

“I came across it on Facebook and it immediately struck me as something concerning,” she said.

“I have a bunny myself, and the organisers of the cafe were telling people how they could come by and pet the rabbits, and even take one home.

“Rabbits don’t respond well to strangers and can die from stress, and I’m extremely concerned about their welfare.”

But the wording of the event was amended after the petition picked up and now states no one will be able to take the animals home – or, indeed, touch them in any way.

Fears had already been raised by both the RSPCA and the Rabbit Welfare Association, with Rabbit Resident Rescue taking to Twitter to say: “All very odd. We’ve never heard of these people and bunny rescues are quite close knit! Who are they???”

Little is known about the mysterious organisation running the event, with the Chapel Market address – which appears to be shared with the Rhino Ridge shoe shop – the only information contained in e-mail responses seen by the Gazette.

In a statement made earlier today the RSPCA warned of the dangers of stressing out rabbits, adding: “If people want to have the companionship of a pet, we would recommend people go to their nearest rescue centre instead and meet some of the rabbits looking for new homes.”

Rhino Ridge could not be immediately reached for comment.