Complaint Review: Great Lakes Rabbit Sanctuary - Willis MIchigan

GLRS board of directors knew Tony (formerly Tawny) had white discharge coming out of his nose in early October 2020 and FAILED TO TAKE HIM TO THE VET! The board directors KNOW that when rabbits are ill or injured they need to be seen by a rabbit savvy vet within 24 hours or less. 

You surely do NOT ignore white discharge coming out of a rabbit's nose and only do nebulizer treatments. He NEEDED TO BE THOROUGHLY EXAMINED FOR PROPER DIAGNOSIS RANGING FROM PNEUMONIA, PASTEURELLA, ETC. AND THEY FAILED TO DO SO!!!

And since they had the money to put a billboard up on I94 recently, "Make mine chocolate," with their web address, they CERTAINLY have the money to fully reimburse me the remaining $1400 for Tony's (formerly Tawny) vet bills.

GLRS did NOTHING, did NOT take him to the vet until November 2020, claiming the discharge "cleared up," per notes in the vet records they failed to provide me when I picked him up. 

Tony ended up with Conjunctivitis that spiraled out of control due to their negligence in taking him to the vet in October. That caused him to develop a nasty ear infection, his eyes were swollen shut, he stopped eating on his own, and was barely pooping. Their vet did not provide Critical Care feeding instructions, other than "as needed." 

He needed NO LESS THAN 125ml per day divided into several small meals. They underfed him; 90 mls.

The board knew for close to a week he wasn't eating on his own, but told a staff member who kept trying to reach them, they'd try to get him to the vet two days later, "if we can find someone to take him.' The board president minimized and lied about Tony's condition and claimed he was fine, when he NEEDED TO BE SEEN BY AN ER VET!!!

I had to do an emergency rescue to which my rabbit savvy vet found their vet prescribed eye drops you NEVER use on rabbits, that his eyes, ears, and teeth were all bad shape, and his nose was full of snot making it difficult for him to breath.

And on top of all of that, he tested positive for parasites Giardia and Coccidia, along with yeast.

The board president claims no wrong doing, that the cruelty investigator found no wrongdoing. That's because HVHS is BIASED and  has transferred several rabbits to GLRS and took two weeks before investigation, giving GLRS ample time to ensure pristine conditions. 

Had the investigator acted promptly, he would've found the shelter reeking of urine, an abundance of poop in the aisles, water and food bowls NEVER washed out with soap and water and NEVER sterilized due.

Rescues and shelters OWE a duty to the animals in their care to PROPERLY AND CORRECTLY run the rescue shelter right. In this case,  GLRS is grossly understaffed with only 2 part-time employees (that do NOT work together on the same shift) per day to care for well over 70 rabbits. It would take ALL four part-time employees working EVERY day/7 days a week to even come close to properly taking care of all of these rabbits; especially when approximately a dozen are in the hospital requiring daily nebulizer treatments for chronic respiratory issues they try to claim would clear up if the rabbits were adopted out and didn't have exposure to other rabbits, dust, etc. 

This rescue also has NO way of preventing rabbits in their care from contracting E. Cuniculi, with the pens side by side. All it takes is for one EC infected bunny to pee that runs into adjoining pen and it's a domino effect because EC is shed through urine spores.

Whether the board tested all the hospital rabbits for parasites once informed, is questionable.

Again, Tony's vet records were NOT provided to me, and only a few of his medications were provided when I requested ALL of it in picking him up.

In reading Tony's vet records that were later emailed to me by the vets who examined him, I discovered GLRS failed to disclose material facts about Tony's health, which is unconscionable!

Apparently the only way GLRS will reimburse me the remaining $1400 is filing suit since the board president refuses to do so. The board president is well aware and made NO objections when I emailed the invoices for reimbursement. And because GLRS cannot represent themselves in court, they'll have both their attorney fees and mine, along with court costs. They're in breach of contract, they CANNOT hide behind the adoption contract when they've acted in bad faith and failed to disclose material facts about Tony's health.

I'm all for adoption, but do your homework and THOROUGHLY research rescues and shelters before adopting. Request to see their vet records BEFORE adopting; if they refuse, look for another rescue/shelter.