I’m mixed on this. I can see where setting an animal raised in captivity free could be cruelty if the animal is not capable of fending for itself. But I’m not sure that rabbits not have enough instinct to fend for themselves? And I’m not sure the average rabbit owner would know that they couldn’t, if they can’t.
Rabbits have been domesticated for centuries and do not usually live long when released. Predators get most of them and starvation gets the rest. Their European ancestors lived in groups in underground warrens, unlike the more territorial open-living cottontail of this country.
Believe me, the average owner knows diddlysquat about their animal--even what gender it is--and let them go all the time. It IS animal cruelty. Cats and dogs have retained more survival instincts than rabbits, which have traditionally been kept locked in a cage and fed pellets that don't resemble anything growing in the woods.