No Splitting Hares Rabbit Rescue

I think this is a rescue that just got too big, too fast without enough funding to properly care for the rabbits. They might have started out with good intentions but it’s not working any more.
We went to adopt a friend for our bunny… The place is messy, the people are rude and many of the bunnies seem sick. A bunny that sneezes occasionally is normal, one that’s sneezing constantly with visible drainage and constant face cleaning is not. Mine developed a runny nose and sneezing within a week of being exposed to their bunnies. His nasal swab from the vet came back gram positive; he said it was likely pasturella, an incredibly difficult to treat bacterial infection that took a month of strong abx. It happens sometimes in large herd situations, especially in areas with poor ventilation like the farmhouse the bunnies were in. Both volunteers and Lisa, the «owner,» are rough with the rabbits. I’ve grown up in 4-​H and with rabbits so I understand that they are wiggly and you need to hold them firmly but there is no time when it is ever appropriate to grab a rabbit from above just in front of the back legs and lift them off the ground to pull them to you. We left without a friend for ours and will not be back.

I agree with what another reviewer wrote. I commend them for their effort to save all of these bunnies. I’m sure it’s a lot of hard work. But the place is absolutely filthy and if I had known that before coming, we wouldn’t have driven 45 minutes to get there. The cages definitely are small but that wasn’t the most bothersome part to me. It was the filth. The lady that was cutting the rabbits nails kept making them bleed because she was cutting them too short and then tried to tell us it was normal (it’s not). I heard them telling other patrons that they are shutting down in a few weeks and I can see why. The whole place just really gave me the creeps and it’s hard to even figure out how you get inside the building, which is an old, run-​down house.
I, too, don’t want to sound like I’m bashing this place because in my opinion I believe they have the best intentions. But I would advise if you are thinking about coming here either to drop off an unwanted bunny or adopt… don’t. Find someplace a little cleaner.

Alright first off I want to say I COMMEND them on their effort because let’s face it they are still taking unwanted rabbits and giving them food, water, and shelter and there are a lot of buns out there not getting those basic needs. The people there were nice as well. SO PLEASE ADOPT FROM THEM BEFORE YOU SHOP! HOWEVER… My low review comes in because I can’t even explain how small the cages are for the poor buns. I was told they do get out about twice a week to run around the house (pretty dirty), but I can’t even imagine leaving a rabbit in that «box» for half a day. They are also stacked on top of each other pretty high. I did see some buns that had urine soaked butts with matted tails, but I can’t say wether or not they are being treated so who knows. I don’t know if they are vet checked but I do know that they don’t spay or neuter some of the rabbits there before they go out to homes. That being said, to me that seems to create a vicious cycle… Rescue a rabbit give it to someone not fixed… oops it has babies and boom the babies are now homeless or at least adding to the overload of rabbits available out there. Seems like they need to be given a large amount of money to be able to really help the buns in a proper way. It really broke my heart but I was THANKFUL like I said that they are getting some basic needs meet. I’m in NO WAY TRASHING anyone just giving the public an idea of what I saw and how I felt.

Sweet beautiful rabbits but our visit today was incredibly disappointing. We were there for an hour trying to get someone to help us adopt a rabbit or possibly two and we were rudely ignored and customers coming in after us were greeted warmly and graciously helped. The cages were disgusting considering you’re only open to the public one day a week. Also, my 64 year old mother tried to tell one of the employees how she felt and got eyes rolled at her. Sad.

My nightmare started back in 2009. I went in because I wanted to adopt a lop eared rabbit and red door animal shelter didn’t have one at the moment. I took my chance and drove out around an hour something to this place.
I picked out a bunny and took her home after making sure with the owner that the bunny has been spayed since it can cause cancer later. The owner firmly assured me that the bunny was already spayed.
Needless to say, the bunny wasn’t spayed and it would cost me $ 400 to do so. On top of that, the owner was so rude and what a nightmare that was.

My first and last experience with No Splitting Hares has left me heartbroken and scarred. I had been excited at first. I only found raving reviews of this rescue and was very eager to adopt a rabbit in much need of a home. When my boyfriend and I entered the rescue, the first thing that struck me was not the amount or rabbits, but how dirty the place looked. Tufts of fur rolling across the floor, bad odor throughout the place. Against my better judgement, I stuck around as my boyfriend and I looked over the rabbits. We decided against quite a few rabbits due to how skinny they were. We could see their hip bones. When we mentioned something to the volunteer, she threw a small handful of hay into a cage of five rabbits. This same volunteer dropped three rabbits from at least 3.5 feet in the air when showing them to us. We were happy to find that they had plenty of lop-​eared rabbits (what we were looking for), and fell in love with a black lop eared girl that they guessed was under six months. They didn’t even know if she was a girl at first, and it took three of the volunteers to figure it out. They clipped her nails for us, and managed to cut one too much, so it started bleeding. They treated her for fleas with a spray intended for carpets.
As I said, I had been excited to go. I’d read that they were very knowledgeable about their rabbits, but that didn’t shine true, either. None of them were referred to by any sort of name outside of «this one» or «that one». The most we were told was that a particular set of rabbits may need to be adopted together, as they’d been bonded. On top of that, they seemed to parrot any and all information about caring for rabbits that I’d already seen online. Nothing they told me was new to me.
We were impressed by the prices of the cage and other materials, but I was still disgusted at the dirt and fur coating the cages. The volunteer (a different one than before) said she’d clean up the cage we selected, which amounted to a quick wipe down with a wet paper towel.
When we left with our new rabbit, we immediately stopped to wash our hands and arms, as the grime from inside just seemed to stick to us. We brought her into the vet right away for a check up, and were told that she was underweight, had definitely had fleas (so much so, she was slightly anemic), had a bacterial infection, and parasites in her stomach. An unexpected $ 250 vet bill later, we went home with a sickly, unhealthy rabbit. Something the rescue never mentioned to us. So much for knowing the rabbits in your care.
She later formed a lump behind her left front leg. We brought her into the vet and were informed that it was an abscess caused by the bacterial infection she came home from the rescue with. They drained it, another $ 216 later and instructions to return to have the rest of the abscess surgically removed at a later time, we brought her home, hoping this would be the last of these troubles. The next day, she wouldn’t eat or drink, and when we tried to give her some painkillers to help her feel better, she had a seizure and died right in front of us. It was the most violent thing I’ve ever seen in my life. We will never go back to No Splitting Hairs.
Edit: We never fully disclosed where our rabbit came from to the vet outside of «a rescue», we didn’t think to and they didn’t ask. We were so heartbroken over the death of our rabbit, we just wanted to put the experience behind us and not look back. I’m glad to read that things have changed some and others have had a more positive experience than I. I do believe the rabbits in their care deserve a good home, and I am glad such a place exists for them to find refuge before being adopted. It’s just unfortunate my experience was so sour, but doesn’t seem to be uncommon when adopting rescue pets sometimes from ANY shelter/​rescue. I’ve changed my rating from 1 star to 3 in light of the recent replies. I do hope no one else has an experience like mine.