Hi everyone,
I am a former volunteer from the FL lmrr in 2009. I left their as a volunteer on MY own...was not fired or told to leave. I'm not a different rabbit rescue w/ a vendetta. I left because the pres. Kristie Corson aka Christie Corson, Bunny Rescue, was not caring for the rescue and abusing the donations. I agree w/ everyone, that these situations need to be researched carefully...and I'm at fault for not researching LMRR more before I started donating time and money. Because I'm so gullible when it comes to rabbits...I fell for lmrr! I found lmrr on the web and began following the rescue. I went to FL grand opening in 2009 and everything looked great!!! I was impressed....not too many rabbits, clean cages, ect. I started volunteering...driving 2 hours to get there. The first time I went to vol....things were different!! Before I even opened the door to the rescue...I could smell the urine. Inside was a mess. The number of rabbits in the rescue building grew! I just thought to myself...ok, she's busy and got behind. Ex-volunteers tried to warn us in the beginning....but we thought they were wrong. Every time I went there conditioned were the same. The rabbits lived in their own waste. The rabbits would be standing on their tippy toes begging for food and water. Many had fleas and ear mites. Many were sick! I would donate money, food, hay & litter. I kept going because there to help the rabbits!! not Kristie!! A group of volunteers would spend over 8 hours there just doing the basics. Kristieâs own pets were in the same conditions in her house! There were dead rabbits in the freezer!!
PETA, The Humane Society, North Port and Sarasota police and animal control were all contacted. Kristie at that time was a Police Officer...and she used that to her power.
Why would I want to shut down this rabbit rescue? Because those rabbits are suffering!
To address some of the other comments:
"This campaign against Little Miracles has been going on for quite some time, and it appears to originate with one person, or a small group, the ever-present disgruntled ex-volunteer segment of the rescue world." "EVERY rescue has passionate people volunteering who always think things can/should be done better. The most reputable groups will have detractors. If a detractor just happens to have a lot of time on their hands and a great sense of marketing, the results can be a pretty massive - and very one-sided - hostile campaign. Like this one." This "campaign" originates from Ex- volunteers and concerned citizens. We are not "detractors" with a lot of free time...yes we are passionate...passionate about the rabbits at the rescue just being cared for properly...passionate for the rights of the rabbits!
"I'm sure pictures of most rescues taken at inopportune moments will look the same as any of these." The pictures being shown were the normal, everyday conditions at the rescue until volunteers cleaned or an event was happening w/ the rescue. I agree that rescues aren't going to be picture perfect all the time.
"Kris appears to be good at getting vet care and caring for the rabbits, she gets them spayed/neutered" ASK Kris to show ALL the records to the public??? ASK her to show ALL receipts from every spay & Neuter or vet care in the last 2 years??? Count all the rabbits she claimed to have s/n in the past yr...Where is the proof...receipts from the vet?? If your going to run a rescue and depend on public donations....then show the ACTUAL Vet receipts and Vet records. Kristie can't!!! Show all original receipts for food and supplies...not just a few...she had over 70 rabbits in FL!!
"What people have to ask themselves is what is best for the rabbits. I'm sure many of her rescues (if not most) were abandoned in the streets or on death row at shelters. If they weren't with Kris, where would they be?" true...a lot were abandoned, on death row, and surrenders. Some were also purchased from Breeders. People have to ask themselves what is better for the rabbits....dying humanely or dying from neglect at the rescue? We can't save every unwanted animal in todayâs society.
"If people are concerned about the accusations re: misuse of funding, then donate food and supplies, donate/open an account at her vet clinic or round up volunteers to go help clean, feed and water. They can also monitor the situation. " Everyone donates/donated food and supplies. Volunteers did help...there was never enough. lmrr just keeps taking in rabbits, kittens, gp's, everything...more than she could care for. If anyone would ever question Kristie....crap would hit the ceiling!! A volunteer can only do so much! A person can only be treated like crap for a short time. Lmrr could never keep the volunteers for a long time because Kristie treated them like crap.
"Your best bet will be contacting the local SPCA or Humane Society to have someone visit. I would find out what the county is that the rescue is in, mention that you've heard a great deal of bad stuff, and ask that they do a check-up. Alternatively, if they're very far from you geographically, try to convince an ex-volunteer to make a report with the local SPCA/Humane Society/county animal control officers." it's all been done...there is a lot of "red tape" with bigger orgs.
In any case, even if one person runs the shelter... If there are volunteers, wouldn't they have been taking care of the animals? How would it have gotten like that? Kristie couldnât keep her vols...try taking care of 70+ rabbits w/ even 2 or 3 vols...
"I'm attending the open house this weekend to check out the situation myself. The vet that my rescue uses is also involved with this rescue. I doubt she would be involved if the situation is as bad as others have alleged." The shelter will be perfect...go back unexpectedly in a few months. It's all repeated behavior w/ lmrr. It will always look great for events. She will fall back into the bad conditions again and again. Now maybe all of this exposure will change Kristie and she can run a rescue...that would be great!!! I'd be happy for her...I hope that happens.
"You'd think photos, as a visual form of evidence, would be useful but they can be very misleading.
Take photo1, for example, that cage is bare of any litter but look top and right, those have fairly clean looking wood shavings down. If the cage was Thatâs a lot of poop but buns poop a lot and that's probably a weeks worth at most. It looks like a cage mid clean. An empty food bowl isn't really an issue (mine rabbits don't even have food bowls let alone empty ones) and the water bowl can't have been empty long as there is water pooled on top that looks like its from being tipped over recently. The bun doesn't look particularly underweight in this. There is also a toy and a clean looking blanket." lmrr doesnât use wood shavings...that's dried hay, urine, hair, and feces. Empty food bowls are an issue when they are empty for days. If you look closely the bowls have urine in them..that wet spot could be fresh urine, lmrr uses water BOTTLES. The Fleece blanket repels liquids..(I use those w/ my bunns). yes lmrr does put toys in the cages.
Pic 2: A skinny rabbit - good rescues have those all the time too as they come in that way, and it's pictured on a lovely fresh looking tray of hay. That tray is actually the litter box w/ hay on top.
Pic 3: Long tails yes, but fluffy white feet - that suggests a cage that has been keep very clean. If it was living in a cage that looked like pic 1 it would have stainned toes. Again rescues have buns with long nails come in all the time. Same with pic 3. A rabbit with an issue like this make take several week to resolve or be that way permenatly depending on the cause." That could have been a surrender or could have been a rabbit kept in an x-pen on the floor or in her house?
I understand your points...all rescues are struggling and it's hard. With that said...The rescues need to be responsible. Don't take in more than you can handle and afford. We all want to save all the animals....but that is not realistic in todayâs society.
I understand It is my word against hers....but I'm not the only person making the claims. YES, pictures can be misguided or misleading. I volunteered there and witnessed these conditions...even worse than what is shown.
I just care about the rabbits and they don't deserve to live this way.
ray:
