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The Caresse d’Orylag medium sleeping dog is described on Harrods’ website as being “incredibly soft to the touch” and “a companion that you won’t resist cuddling”.

It has large, cartoonish eyes and a soft nose as well as large, flappy ears.

But few youngsters who play with the soft toy will realise its fur has been taken from the corpse of a rabbit bred just to manufacture it.

(Image: GETTY)

Last night spokesperson for animal rights group Peta, Mimi Bekhechi, told the Daily Star Sunday: “It’s abominable to give young children, who naturally view animals as their brothers, sisters, and friends, the skin of a defenceless animal to play with.

“Most children’s hearts would break if they knew that ‘toys’ like this began as real animals with real feelings who were kept inside tiny wire cages on fur factory farms and denied fresh air, sunlight, and everything else that is natural and important to them – all before being slaughtered via electrocution.

“If parents can’t tell children the truth, they should at least stop pretending that such gifts aren’t the product of extreme cruelty to animals.”

(Image: HARRODS)

Caresse D’Orylag’s website says its toys offer “a tactile journey, a unique sensory experience, an exceptional moment.”

They add: “What makes it so unique are the soothing qualities of this ‘Extraordinary feel’, which leaves the traveller of the senses with a true feeling of well-being and calmness.”

Caresse D’Orylag also offer rich shoppers three different types of cuddly rabbit toy – made from the fur of the same living creature they’re based on.

The Paris-based company says it follows the World Organisation for Animal Health’s charter on animal welfare, to ensure the rabbits it uses are treated humanely.

(Image: GETTY)

An earlier report by the Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade [CAFT] on rabbit fur claimed Orylag rabbits are kept indoors, individually, in wire cages.

Harrods and Caresse D’Orylag did not respond to our requests for a comment. Animal rights protesters have previously targeted Harrods over its sale of real fur.

In 2013 the High Court clamped down on anti-fur pickets outside the London shop amid claims visitors had been “harassed” during a performance by Lady Gaga.