This is really hard for me, guys.

I went to a local animal sanctuary (not rabbit specific) to volunteer and these people have NO IDEA what they are doing. I'm going to TRY to work with them - but geez man. I feel like I'm so glad I started doing SOMETHING in my area because this is what I found around here.... *sigh*

The rabbits are being housed ... no wait, hoarded outdoors. One of them has head tilt that is not being treated. Another with a weepy eye, again not being treated.

These buns have urine scald all over their bodies - lack of litter boxes. Just hay everywhere - they go where they sleep.

Feeding time: A volunteer just dumps a bunch of food in a few different spots and the stronger buns get the food.

I brought them cilantro and parsley this morning and made sure everyone got at least a little bit.

This is the water supply:

I was crying the whole way home. A mix between that and wanting to hurl.

I even lifted up some wood panels and I found a litter of babies under there that are about 6 weeks old I think? They didn't even KNOW about them AHHGHHH!!! 

I also wanted to add that I brought one of the babies home - the mom isn't there..

It seemed to have wonky legs and needing veterinary care so I am taking him/her on tuesday for full bloodwork. If they find anything, I'll know more about the rest of the litter too, hopefully. I'll talk more with my vet about that.

This is Kramer:

We call him/her Cosmo right now because we don't really know the sex.

His wonky sea legs are seeming to be a bit better - we even got a few binkies! So I'm hoping for good news at the vet.

WHAT?? How does that even qualify as an animal sanctuary? Are these rabbits fixed at all??  Also, head tilt can be contagious...did you let them know to separate that rabbit?

I spoke with the owner. She seemed quite taken aback, saying things like 'oh my gosh, no one's ever told me that. none of my rabbit vets ever told me that.'

The weird part is .. she mentioned she had talked to all these vets about it. I told her she needs to talk to a vet that is experienced specifically with rabbits. I told her who mine was and she said she had seen him and told her the same thing. There is no way that my vet would ever tell her anything like that.

The other vet she mentioned, is on the House Rabbit Society website. So this made me feel like it was mostly an act. I'm going to speak with both vets. I think she sort of knows that she isn't doing things right.

Here's the bun with tilt:

We talked for a little bit and I explained to her about how head tilt can be contagious but she just thinks that it was dropped on it's head... uhh, okay? And I told her most of those rabbits have urine scald. She said she thought it was from the hay being wet. I told her she needed to house them indoors for starters, and they need to be using litterboxes. They also need to be seperated... they can't keep having litters she doesn't even know about! And sadly, I'm pretty sure one of them is pregnant again.

I gave them fresh water and herbs yesterday because no one else does anything for them .. there are loooooooots of flies around their cage. I tried to tell her about fly strike, too. Especially if they are living in wet hay, and most having urine scald.. ahhhhhhh

Contact animal services again immediately. This is NOT a rescue nor shelter. It is a hording/abuse situation.  It is people like this - who think they're doing something good for the animals, that winds up causing such massive detriment and suffering for the animals.

If the animals are capable of reproducing freely, then they are NOT, I repeat NOT a licensed shelter or rescue. This is just someone who likes rabbits and collects them from other places. She thinks it's better than having them euthanized but truthfully, in the long run, it isn't.

I'm holding my breath for you, hoping things turn out for the best .

Most cities have a limit on how many animals can be kept at a residence, with exceptions you need to apply for. If this "sanctuary" does have one of those exceptions, I'm pretty sure they're violating all sorts of rules for it...I feel like there should at least be some way to get those animals out of there.