The harebrained homeless man who boosted a bunny from a SoHo shop took the floppy-eared creature only because he is a “very lonely’’ person who “wanted a pet and couldn’t afford one,” his lawyer claimed yesterday.

Thomas Smith, 62, snatched the rabbit last week “because he loved [it],’’ his lawyer, John Carney, said.

Smith, who has 16 prior arrests, was held on $500 bail.