FYI I’m moving this to the Lounge section as it’s a bit more in line with that section.

This is really tough. I personally love watching his videos and have also been really upset by the patterns with the rabbits, so it’s very conflicting. At his old property he had them in an enclosure and the situation was much better. I do know that recently the rabbits he was given were re-homed right away, and one of the ones that was free-roaming after Vinny was dumped on his property. It’s frustrating because he has better enclosures for the capybaras and prairie dogs, so why not the rabbits? Honestly I think Queen probably ran Vinny off because she did used to chase her a lot, which is upsetting.

I know there is a discord server for the channel, have you tried posting there? I know I have as well… but you are right, there isn’t much of a response.

My interpretation is that most of the rabbit “care” in Texas (in his world of ranching) is rabbits crammed into small wire cages for breeding. So in that sense I can understand why he might view his practices as “better”. I don’t agree with them, because he does have the means to provide enough space AND a safe environment, which I think is what’s most upsetting. But, I can sort of understand where he’s coming from.

I really think all people can do is push him to provide safe runs for the rabbits, as he has done for the other animals, and help promote safer and better rabbit care.

It may be more fruitful to reach out to actual rabbit welfare groups if you can find one local to him… but maybe the problem is that there isn’t one? Rabbit rescues tend to be more focused on improving the situations for existing rabbits. Lorelei’s channel is demonstrating a standard of care that is not necessarily achievable (having a 100% free-roam rabbit that travels around with you is not a good fit for most rabbits or people), so it one sense she represents the other extreme.

Sorry I don’t have a great solution, just wanted to say I share your frustrations!

I don’t think there is anything you can do other than contact animal welfare services or the Humane Society but they might just say there is nothing they can do. There are so many youtubers out there and so called rabbit rescue people out there. Its not just rabbits but other animals like a certain youtuber who claims to rescue puppies and just so happens to find one in a dumpster each time he is out filming and all his videos are the same and staged. Those poor puppies are abused for the sake of making fake youtube rescue videos..

I called around Waco vets and they never heard of the TURR rehabilitation. It’s listed on Google as the top rehabilitation in Waco but all the comments are just from fans of the YouTube.There are no accounts of using its service. However, I called the Humane Society of Waco and they had also never heard of it. I asked the director if they would look at their YouTube channel and they were really upset about the thumbnails and video titles. They asked me what I wanted them to do about it and I just told them that I wanted to simply know if they interacted with TURR or familiar with them. They said there wasn’t anything they could do. One of the fans of TURR’s channel said that Ben Christie did allow a warden to check out his facility but I couldn’t find anything about that. It’s all sketchy. Ben’s father raised kangaroo for meat. Ben is hubris which is not appropriate for animal rehabilitation. He and another YouTuber were petting and playing with a fawn Ben had taken in recently. He lacks research and is pushing the acreage limit on animals he intakes. He is not a licensed vet. I don’t think Ben is an awful  person but his mix of animal rehabilitation, hoarding, farming (eggs, Rheas, capybara?), memeing, and driving an anthropomorphic sitcom narrative for the animals is not a good look for animal rehabilitation. His original capybaras came from a Florida auction he won of an estate that had to forfeit their animals. He mishandles and neglects the animals sometimes but it’s harder to see because the videos are usually edited with a lot of fast chopped shots and his form of comedy. Fans ask when he’s going to get more exotic animals and I realize they don’t understand that his facility isn’t a zoo.

Appreciate your forum engagement @Rhea, however, since this is an older topic, I will be locking it, as the original poster is unlikely to reply and continue an active dialogue. Of note, please keep in mind Forum Rule 3-I, which states “ No Witch Hunts:  Do not use BinkyBunny to persecute and/or to recruite others to contact a person, business or group you disagree with”– not saying that is necessarily what your reply does, but just keep it in mind for the future if contributing to topics/conversations similar to this older post.