The MSPCA-Angell’s Jamaica Plain adoption center received 25 rabbits from a single home in December, one of the largest single surrender of rabbits in the organization’s recent history, which prompted adoption center officials to schedule a fee-waived adoption weekend in mid-January, according to a press release.
The new additions bring the rabbit population at the center to 47. There are now so many rabbits that many have been placed in the cat colony rooms, occupying the space that cats can occupy in the shelter until they can be adopted.
The MSPCA usually can re-distribute animals to other adoption centers when one center becomes overwhelmed, but the nearby MSPCAs are already housing a large capacity of rabbits. An excess of rabbits at the MSPCA-Cape Cod location in Centerville are living in the center’s front lobby. The MSPCA-Nevins Farm in Methuen is already housing 35 rabbits, which, according to director Mike Keiley, is about 25 percent more than normal for this time of year.
“We’re doing the best we can to ensure all animals are safe and comfortable, and hopefully adopters will step forward to open their homes to these pets,” Keiley said.
The standard adoption fees, which range from $55 to $75, will be waived on Jan. 16 and Jan. 17 at all three adoption centers. The shelter veterinary team will spay and neuter all of the rabbits prior to the fee-waived adoption weekend. The MSPCA will still require the standard adoption qualifying process, and adoption staff will provide all adopters with counseling and rabbit care education.