Animal lovers around the world have expressed outrage at a website whose owner has threatened to butcher, cook and eat a pet bunny called Toby unless he receives $50,000 (£27,000) in donations by the end of June.

The website, SaveToby.com, features photographs of the wheat-coloured, innocent-eyed rabbit and claims that his owner found him injured on the roadside and nursed him back to health.

It then adds: "Unfortunately, on June 30, 2005, Toby will die. I am going to eat him. I am going to take Toby to a butcher to have him slaughter this cute bunny. I will then prepare Toby for a midsummer feast."

Leaving little to the imagination, there are pages of recipes on the site. Lapin Braisé (take "One Toby cut in serving-sized pieces, flour for dusting with salt and pepper"), Moroccan Hare Tagine ("Ingredients: Toby, olive oil, cinnamon, ginger, saffron") and Toby Confit ("Place Toby's legs together with the sliced garlic and rock salt in a bowl overnight").

The recipes are illustrated with pictures of a startled-looking Toby in a cooking pot surrounded by vegetables, on a chopping board, and on a plate surrounded by lettuce tomatoes and salad.

His owner, who does not give his name, claims: "I don't want to eat Toby, he is my friend, and he has always been the most loving, adorable pet.

"However, God as my witness, I will devour this little guy unless I receive $50,000 into my account from donations or purchase of merchandise."

Among the 90 items on offer at the site are "Save Toby" T-shirts, sweatshirts and mugs.

It is unclear whether Toby's owner is serious about his threat or whether he is simply running a money-making hoax, but the send-money-or-Fluffy-gets-it scheme appears to be working.

The site claims to have received almost $20,000 (nearly £11,000) since it began a couple of months ago.

Whether it is a hoax or blackmail, animal welfare groups have reacted with outrage, describing the scam as "disturbing and heartless".

The Rabbit Welfare Association, Britain's largest rabbit charity, said that the website was "disturbing" and has appealed to the public not to make donations to such sites.

Rae Todd, the association's spokesman, said: "The best course of action is to do nothing."

The Humane Society of America agreed. "A site like this promotes, glamorises and trivialises animal cruelty, and could influence impressionable people.

"People could look at this site and think, this guy's making a profit - let's do similar things to make money."

A spokesman for the United Kingdom branch of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) said: "Such sites are in very poor taste but, unfortunately, are usually legal.

"Since these heartless people are encouraged by attention, the most effective way to discourage them is to avoid visiting their sites and to urge others to do the same.

"Websites that either depict or suggest cruelty to animals are typically created by people who feel threatened by animal rights or who simply want to get attention."

Although both Peta and the Rabbit Welfare Trust suggested that the scheme could be a hoax, the site's operator, who identified himself as "James" in an interview with The Washington Post, said that he and his business partner were in their twenties and lived on the East Coast of America.

"We've received hundreds of death threats," said "James", who admitted that it was not his real name. Asked if he was going to eat Toby, he replied: "There's no doubt about it."

SaveToby.com's money-making days may be at an end however. After receiving a flood of complaints from animal-lovers, PayPal, the on-line payment service the website was using to get donations, decided last month that the site violated its "offensive-materials" standards.

"I get a little sick to my stomach every time I look at that site," admitted Amanda Pires, a PayPal spokesman.