AN abandoned pet rabbit has made a remarkable recovery from a potentially deadly disease.

A motorist spotted Friday, the mini lop-eared rabbit, sitting next to a dead guinea pig in a field near Harrogate.

The man transported the animal to a nearby vet on the front seat of his car.

The rabbit then went to recover at the Bunny Burrows rescue centre, in Richmond, North Yorkshire.

A week later Friday was diagnosed with myxomatosis, probably caught from a wild rabbit. The highly contagious infection usually causes its victims to suffer a slow, painful death, but Friday pulled through after intensive care from Bunny Burrows owner Gwen Butler.

She said: "He's a very special rabbit.

"I thought from the start he might pull through. I really do believe rabbits can tell if they are loved and I think this gave him a great will to live."

Mrs Butler is using Friday's plight to encourage rabbit owners to vaccinate their pets against myxomatosis.

She is also urging parents to think twice before buying their young child a rabbit as a pet.

Mrs Butler said: "Rabbits aren't cheap pets. Basic vaccinations cost about £60 a year, dental bills can be very high and neutering can cost up to £100."

One owner recently contacted the rescue centre after her eight-month-old female rabbit gave birth to 36 young in just three months.

Among the rabbits being treated at the centre is one animal thrown at a passing car by youths in Sunderland and another found with knife wounds in Darlington.