Beginning at the first of the year, the Seattle Animal Shelter Spay and Neuter Clinic will provide spay and neuter services to Seattle’s third most-popular pet, the rabbit.
The Shelter says the clinic’s Medical Director, Dr. MaryEllen Zoulas, and her team have been providing this service to the rabbits adopted from the Seattle Animal Shelter for nearly 15 years, and are now opening up their practice to any rabbit in need of spay or neuter surgery.
Zoulas says spayed and neutered rabbits live longer, healthier lives and have less risk of cancer and urinary tract infections. Also, behavior problems such as spraying and aggressiveness are often reduced in these rabbits.
The Shelter says rabbits are the third most common animal to end up at the shelter in need of a new home; several litters of unexpected baby bunnies were dropped off at the shelter in 2012.
The Spay and Neuter Clinic at the Seattle Animal Shelter will begin scheduling 2013 rabbit spay/neuter appointments immediately. Please call 206-386-4260 to schedule your rabbit’s appointment and go to http://www.seattle.gov/animalshelter/rabbit.htm to learn more. The clinic is available to any pet owner, regardless of residency or income status.
The fee for surgery will be $75 and includes:
- Pre-emptive pain management
- General gas anesthesia during surgery
- Spay/neuter surgery
- Tender, loving care
For pet owners who are unable to afford the cost of their rabbit’s spay or neuter surgery, the shelter’s Pet Population Control Fund is available to subsidize that cost. Donations can be made to this fund to support pet owners of dogs, cats and rabbits that cannot afford to have their pet spayed or neutered.
For more information about spay and neuter services, to make a donation to the Pet Population Control Fund, or to learn more about other Seattle Animal Shelter services, call (206) 386-7387, or visit www.seattleanimalshelter.org.
