Anicira, a nonprofit veterinary hospital based in Harrisonburg, has stopped providing spay and neuter services to the local animal shelter. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
Earlier this month, the director of the Rockingham-Harrisonburg SPCA, Huck Nawaz, sent a letter to local veterinarians. The letter explains that the SPCA had previously partnered with a "high-volume" medical provider that could perform 50 spay-neuter surgeries per week.
"On December 11, this provider unexpectedly terminated services, creating an immediate surgical capacity gap. Even during this slower time of year, we are facing a shortfall of roughly 30 surgeries per week. As a result, animals are remaining in care longer," Nawaz writes in the appeal to vets, asking them to accept vouchers for post-adoption spay and neuter surgeries.
Mary Golden-Hughes, Anicira's marketing and communications manager, confirmed that the nonprofit hospital has been one of the RHSPCA's chief veterinary partners since around 2019, and Anicira decided to end the relationship at the end of last year.
MARY GOLDEN-HUGHES: Mainly we're seeing an uptick in the need for critical care … things that are beyond spay-neuter services – although they are so important to the community – we needed to open up more space within our schedule to provide things like amputations, enucleations, pyometras.
She said Anicira's hospital has been under renovation since July, so they were already operating on a reduced schedule in late 2025.
GOLDEN-HUGHES: Spay-neuter surgeries, while core to our mission, obviously, and extremely important services to a pet's wellbeing and their overall health, they are elective procedures, and it is not unusual … to adopt out and spay-neuter later.
Nawaz declined an interview with WMRA. The SPCA letter states they plan to open their own in-house veterinary center this spring.
