I just heard a story on my local news about this. People were told not to do it when I was a kid in the 1970s.
C’mon, who does this nowadays?
The common clay of the new world.
I have never in my whole entire life heard of anyone actually getting a live bunny or chick for Easter. I’m convinced this is manufactured by the same people who imagined people putting razor blades in Halloween candy.
I don’t think you should give kids a dead bunny either.
My thoughts exactly.
My mother used to get chicks for Easter when she was a kid. They’d keep them warm by the radiator and when they got too big, they’d take them over to her grandparents’ farm. It wasn’t until years later that she realized what exactly happened to them. 
Of course, that was back in the fifties, so I’m guessing they don’t do that anymore.
When I was growing up in the early 1960s, chicks were sold every year at Easter time. They came dyed in various colors, for example yellow, blue or pink. We only got them once. We kept them for a week or two, then our parents gave them to some family friends who were farmers. I’m pretty sure we knew exactly what would happen to them when they grew up.
My mother grew up on a chicken farm in the 50s and 60s. Probably explains why I’ve never heard stories about special Easter chicks from her.
I didn’t realize people other than farm kids got chicks or bunnies for Easter until I started volunteering at the municipal animal shelter. A couple of weeks after Easter they start showing up. They are either surrendered by their owners who didn’t realize what it took to take care of them or they are picked up by citizens who found them dumped somewhere, who bring them to the shelter. I’m guessing a large number never make it to the shelter because they died.
So no, not an urban legend.
Some simply end up being adopted by a passer-by.
No, it is not an urban legend. It is still a thing that is done around here.
Every year, my neighbor increases her livestock count by advertising good homes for your Easter bunnies & chicks. She places the ads about one week after Easter & runs them for about one month. One Saturday last year, I helped her gather 15 chicks & eleven rabbits. That was just one day! People are just nuts.
I got a baby chick for Easter in the 60’s, and we lived in a suburban neighborhood. “Linda” would snuggle up against us, and our very-maternal dog would watch over her every night as she clucked herself to sleep. 
Back in the '60s, when I was in college, someone gave me four little chicks for Easter . . . dyed in pastel colors. They didn’t stay little very long, and holy crap did their shit stink! I eventually donated them to a psychologist who used them for non-harmful psych experiments.
And yes, some people have put razor blades in Halloween candy.
For the most part, not really. At least not in the sense of Halloween candy being given out to neighborhood kids.
I’ve talked to at least two people who had pet chickens that were originally Easter chicks. Both enjoyed their pet chickens, and ate the eggs. I guess a rooster would be more of a nuisance and not give you eggs.
I can accept that some people are stupid enough to buy them. But who are the pet store owners who are selling them?
As long as any significant number of people are buying anything, there will be no shortage of willing sellers. Are chicks and bunnies so different from puppies, kittens, rodents, birds, reptiles, and others? Chicks and bunnies have a season, so you notice it differently. All of these are acquired on whims by people with little clue, and then often (not always) dumped.
Not long ago, my local newspaper ran an article about diseases and parasites that the critters can carry. The headline read, “Cute chicks may have cooties”.
My kids have already forgotten to feed the live leprechaun I got them for St. Patrick’s Day.
Here’s a nice, glurgey story about a lion that loves blankets. He also skateboards! Adorbs!
I mention it here because of this part:
HE BOUGHT A LION FOR HIS KIDS! A FUCKING LION!
And you have trouble believing people do this with bunnies?