Humane Society – St. Paul, MN … Questions

[Bunbun500]

Today I went to the humane society to look at the bunnies they had up for adoption. I was very concerned with what I had observed and I wanted to get some clarification on here before I possibly call this employee’s boss to complain. 

We had fallen in love with two bonded buns, Dora and Fluffy. They were both 3 months old. Of course when an employee asked if we wanted to spend time time them in the adoption room with them we couldn’t refuse We went into the adoption room with Dora first and held her and played with her, then Fluffy. We asked if the buns were spayed, and the employee informed us that their spays were completed yesterday. I felt terrible for handling these buns when they just got out of surgery, and I was pretty mad at the employee for not telling us before we started to handle them.

When our buns had the surgery, our vet recommended not to handle them for 24 hours and not to let them out for free roam/hopping time for at least 3 days. Also, I thought 3 months is way too early for a spay/neuter? Isn’t it recommended around 5/6 months? 

I am really disappointed about this, and I would just like some confirmation that the information that my vet has told me is accurate so I am prepared when I called the company. 

[Sarita]

Remember that this is a humane society and they are trying to adopt out their animals and get them in good homes – this is their main priority.

I don’t think this employee is in the wrong at all. I suspect too that they don’t know the exact age of their rabbits and they probably spay/neuter at an early age as they have a policy not to adopt out unaltered animals – what is recommended cannot always be done in a shelter situation.

I hope that you adopt them if you fall in love with them.

[Snowytoshi]

As someone who works at a Humane Society: we do not take rabbits to be spayed until they are ready. Once a rabbit is spayed they can not be handled for at least twenty four hours and we observe them carefully. A rabbit is not even put up for adoption until they are spayed and settled in

I do think the behavior of the shelter was odd, but their vets may spay rabbits at a younger age.

[MyPets1031]

I also work at a humane society but we don’t have any rabbits. I know there is a reccomended age for rabbits to be altered same with cats and dogs but like Sarita said, humane societys just want the pets adopted so they can help more. I know at our shelter, the vet will spay and neuter by weight rather than age so we can get them adopted faster. Is that a possibility with these bunnies?

I do think you should have been informed about their surgery. He is just an employee and not the vet so maybe he didn’t know what he was doing. Either way, if you love these bunnies and are looking to adopt, you should get them. Don’t punish the bunnies for what their shelter did wrong as long as they’re healthy.

[Bunbun500]

I was in no way trying to punish the bunnies for something the shelter did. What part of my comment lead you to believe that? I absolutely love my bunnies and would love to adopt another one, hence why we were at the shelter (2 hours away). We decided not to get these two because we already have 2 buns in a 1 bedroom apartment, so we decided a bonded pair was not suitable for our situation, as much as I would have loved to have them. The other two buns there were in the adoption rooms with two other couples who were in the process of signing papers to take them home.

I understand the purpose of a humane society is to find forever homes, but I just thought it was a little strange to let everyone handle the buns and let them hop around, etc. when their surgery was completed less than 24 hours ago, a full day of rest should have been in order first :\

[Snowytoshi]

I understand the purpose of a humane society is to find forever homes, but I just thought it was a little strange to let everyone handle the buns and let them hop around, etc. when their surgery was completed less than 24 hours ago, a full day of rest should have been in order first :\

I completely agree, however the volunteer may have been misinformed?

[Bunbun500]

That’s what it seemed like anyways. The important thing is the buns got their spays and I hope they find forever homes soon

[Isabelle]

I live about an hour from St. Paul myself, and the humane societies around here are connected. Dutchess was spayed at 4 months at a sister shelter to the St. Paul one, and I adopted her the next day. She did fabulously, and a week later at her first vet visit the surgery site was healing perfectly, fur was even growing back. Many volunteers don’t always know exact days for spays and neuters since there can be hundreds of animals in the shelter. Their main priority is adoption. I do know they have a 24 hour policy, after the surgery the pet cannot be adopted for the first day, they have little symbols they use on their websites that indicate an animal is due to have surgery/had surgery and is on hold for that day/coming days. Their surgeries could have been early in the morning the previous day as well. Many shelters will spay/neuter early simply because they cannot hold the animal until it is at recommended age, and they can’t guarantee the new owners will have the procedure done. I would suggest you not complain, but if you feel strongly then please voice your concerns in a positive way and remember to thank the volunteers for their hard work

[Bunbun500]

Thanks for sharing your experience with Dutchess Are you talking about the golden valley site? I have only visited those two, but I know the golden valley one is much bigger, but thought they all do an amazing job. I never called, and I feel bad for getting so worked up about it, but I just wanted to make sure that the info I knew was right

[Isabelle]

Yes, the Golden Valley one. I take her to Hoppy Hour and Rabbit Agility there. Don’t feel bad about being worked up at all! Having concern for the welfare and treatments of all animals is awesome. We sometimes take for granted that for most people shelters and rescues are safe and caring places, but we have to make sure that they are keeping good standards. You didn’t say if the rabbits seemed to be in pain when you were playing with them, so that could have been an indication that they weren’t ready if you experienced that. I’m learning a ton about rabbits on here myself, so when in doubt, ask away! We have had stories of buns that weren’t in the best conditions in pet stores and such, so keep your eyes peeled for those little ones that need a voice!

[MerlinsMom]

I work at a rescue centre however I’m in the UK so our policies may be different but the vets we work with like to neuter our animals ASAP as like a previous poster has mentioned, we can’t always keep an animal until it reaches the appropriate age due to space and resources etc.
There may have been a reason the bunnies were neutered early, for example my female bun was speyed at four months because the siblings she lived with were sexed wrong on entry to the centre.
It’s also a possibility that the rabbits had been at the centre for a while and their info card hadn’t been updated – they could actually have been closer to 6 months but the staff member may not have known that if only reading the info off the card.
As another previous poster has also mentioned some vets will neuter once an animal has reached a certain weight rather than age for example I know with kittens our vets like them to weigh at least 1.2kg regardless of how old they are.
With all this in mind it might still be an idea to call the centre and discuss with a manager – perhaps they can look at making sure the staff know all the information about an animal before showing it to a potential adopter.

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