We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kirstin Tyler a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Kirstin, thanks for joining us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?

Running a nonprofit that rescues rabbits is meaningful to me because it allows me to combine my passion for animal welfare with tangible, positive outcomes for these vulnerable creatures. Rabbits, often overlooked in the pet world, can suffer from neglect or abandonment, and our organization provides them with the care and love they desperately need. Seeing a rabbit transition from a situation of neglect to finding a loving forever home is incredibly rewarding. It’s not just about saving individual animals; it’s about advocating for better treatment and understanding of rabbits as pets. Through our work, we educate the community on responsible rabbit care and work to change perceptions, ensuring that these gentle animals receive the respect and compassion they deserve.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I always say “I didn’t choose the bunny life, the bunny life chose me.”

In January of 2016, 2 months after moving to Albuquerque, NM, I filled out an application to be a fosterer for the city animal shelter. I requested rats and guinea pigs, but they asked me to take five rabbits instead. In need of supplies, I contacted the New Mexico House Rabbit Society (NMHRS) and immediately became integrated with their volunteer group. I continued fostering heavily and after a year I became an Educator, which required passing a grueling test on rabbit care, and joined the NMHRS Board of Directors. A year after that, I was elected President of the Board and became the Chapter Manager. NMHRS is the only rabbit rescue in the state of New Mexico.

As Chapter Manager, I lead the entire organization and am at the center of every activity. There are two main pillars of NMHRS: Education and Rescue. We help educate the public on proper rabbit care through social media, community events, email, and a phone line (known as our “hopline”). One of the things I’m most proud of when it comes to education is my college class that I teach every year at Central New Mexico Community College as part of their vet tech program. I give a two-hour presentation/lecture on rabbits that ranges in topics from physiology to proper medical procedures and then do a one-hour lab with rabbits (brought with me) where I coach the students through techniques such as nail trims, taking their temperature, and administering oral medications.

When it comes to rescue, our number one impact is fostering rabbits who need medical attention. Rabbits are not taught by default in vet school, so students need to pursue an exotics path in order to learn how to treat them. Because of this, most vets are not comfortable caring for rabbits which means that whenever the local animal shelters have a sick or injured rabbit, they call me. NMHRS places the rabbit in a foster home and takes care of all necessary vet care (using our rabbit-savvy veterinarian). I specialize in caring for medical fosters and have helped rabbits recover from broken bones, amputations, infections, pneumonia, abscesses, wounds, amputations, enucleations, and in one very special case, I was able to get a quadriplegic rabbit to run again. Once the rabbits are fully recovered, we adopt them into their forever home. I’ve had over 100 fosters since I started volunteering and despite some very challenging medical cases, I always find myself eager to continue as soon as the next one comes along.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Resilience in the nonprofit animal rescue sector means not just surviving challenges, but continuing to thrive and make a meaningful impact despite them. It’s about having a deep sense of purpose, a commitment to the cause, and the emotional strength to guide the organization through difficult moments while staying true to the mission of helping rabbits.

New Mexico House Rabbit Society is 100% powered by volunteers, which means that everything I do is unpaid and in my spare time. As the only rabbit rescue in New Mexico, we are often a rabbit’s only hope at getting the care they need, and we see a lot of cases of overpopulation and where rabbits have been abused. Compassion fatigue is a constant battle.

My resilience is demonstrated through my leadership, problem-solving abilities, and emotional fortitude. Leading a rescue organization can be challenging, as it involves navigating unexpected obstacles, handling difficult emotional situations, and managing limited resources. There are many times (and will be many more) where I had to face a crisis situation of responding to an emergency intake of a large number of rabbits. During a crisis, I remain adaptable by thinking on my feet, developing contingency plans, and finding solutions when the organization is under pressure.

The emotional strain of dealing with sick or injured rabbits, sometimes involving difficult decisions like euthanasia, can be hard for any leader. I demonstrate resilience by handling these moments with compassion and composure, and providing support to the team while also ensuring that the rescue’s operations continue smoothly.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Back in March of 2020 when the world was beginning to grapple with COVID, the rabbit community was hit with Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus (RHDV). RHDV is a highly contagious and often fatal virus that affects both wild and domesticated rabbits. The only symptom is sudden death.
While this virus exists in other parts of the world, there had never been an outbreak in the US. The epicenter was right here in New Mexico, which meant that while the whole world was in an epidemic, I had to quickly become an expert in this virus that was wiping out entire populations and figure out how to protect not just NMHRS’s foster rabbits, but all pet rabbits across the state.

I worked with both my veterinarian and the New Mexico State Livestock Board to get a permit from the USDA for an emergency import of a vaccine from France. I then planned, organized, and executed the first-ever RHDV Vaccine Community Clinic in the country. I now host a low-cost vaccine clinic annually so that rabbits all across New Mexico can get this life-saving protection from such a contagious and fatal virus. Before 2020, rabbits did not need any vaccines, but after pivoting to tackle this new threat, hundreds of rabbits have been vaccinated over the last 5 years through my annual clinic.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.newmexicohrs.org
• Instagram: @newmexicohrs
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nmhrs