Las Vegans who love pets probably know local animal shelters are in crisis. The problem of pet abandonment is so heartbreaking and complex — with its constellation of socioeconomic causes — that it’s hard to think about, let alone solve. One obvious solution? More shelters. And yet, not all experts agree this is the most humane option. Some believe a focus on prevention is more important.
Las Vegas’ increased population over recent decades has meant more people with pets. Meanwhile, the city’s main shelter, operated by the beleaguered Animal Foundation, is overcrowded, understaffed, and, by some measures, underfunded. It’s led one advocacy group to push for a new municipal shelter.
“I have not talked to one person who can’t see the logic of another shelter,” says Bryce Henderson, the local behind Give Me Shelter Las Vegas, the group petitioning for a new facility. “Some have issues with how shelters are run, but not whether we need another shelter.”
The city in January said a new shelter on land next to The Animal Foundation facility on North Mojave Road would cost $35 million and have an annual operating budget of $6 million.
Still, there’s opposition. Several furry friend advocates say such expensive-to-build, expensive-to-run shelters can be overcrowded, with animals neglected by an overwhelmed staff depending on far too many volunteers. Shelters, an unnatural environment for animals, also can alter pet behavior.
Instead, they urge using resources for more spay and neuter programs, owner education, animal control officers, and microchipping pets, as well as stricter ordinance enforcement.
Former city veterinarian David Henderson (no relation to Bryce), who now runs Sunrise Veterinary Clinic and is medical director for Heaven Can Wait Animal Society, says the issue municipalities face is overpopulation — too many animals and not enough homes for them. Shelters don’t address that problem.
“It still boils down to number of animals that need homes and homes available,” David Henderson says. “You can decrease population, the number of animals who need homes, with spay and neuter. Or you can increase the number of homes, but I don’t know how to do that.”
Former Clark County commissioner Chris Giunchigliani, a longtime pet advocate, agrees. She is among those who believe another shelter is not the answer. Overcrowding and surrenders will continue, even with a new shelter, she says.
“Policy, enforcement, and education are the missing links that local governments have to look into,” Giunchigliani says. “Adding something like a shelter won’t deal with what policy should be.”
Annoula Wylderich, founder of Las Vegas-based Animal Protection Affiliates, and Karen Layne, a former president of the Las Vegas Valley Humane Society, also pick policy over a new facility.
Like Giunchigliani, they say Las Vegas’ issues with controlling its animal population mirror those of most cities nationwide; a National Public Radio story in January found rising costs in rent, pet food, and veterinary care were forcing owners to surrender their pets at alarming rates.
Wylderich says a new shelter is a Band-Aid, skirting the reason for overpopulation. Plus, “shelters don’t serve the animal,” she says. “In shelters, their conditions deteriorate.” Like David Henderson, she believes more spay and neuter programs, plus a crackdown on illegal dog breeding, are better options.
Layne says a shelter could even reduce per-animal funding. “If you build a new shelter, then split the money for funding The Animal Foundation, with half to them and half to the new facility, you haven’t accomplished anything.”
Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, and the county contribute about $5 million annually to The Animal Foundation, about one-third of its budget (the rest comes from philanthropic sources). Critics constantly bombard the low-kill shelter with bad press, most recently because of a minimum two-week wait for those wanting to surrender animals.
However, a Clark County audit released in July said the foundation is mostly complying with its contract, which expires in 2025. The audit found the foundation is not “needlessly euthanizing animals” but did say it inflated population projections to discourage control officers from bringing animals to the shelter. The audit also found insufficient staffing and a lack of service agreements with outside veterinarians, which could hinder emergency care.
Las Vegas Councilwoman Victoria Seaman (Ward 2), an Animal Foundation critic, believes a new facility is a part of the solution; the city would have more oversight and could better manage its own facility. “Completely agree on education, (and) spay and neuter programs. Agree on all of it, but we still need our own shelter with proper adoption as well,” Seaman says.
Since 2019, the Animal Foundation’s average yearly intake — strays, abandonments and drop-offs — is 23,219, with average euthanasias at 1,533 for dogs and 1,056 for cats. Adoptions for dogs were 3,996 in 2021 and 5,788 in 2022 and for cats 2,405 in 2021 and 4,037 in 2022.
The foundation said it did not want to “participate” in this story, but its chief executive, Hilarie Grey, in April admitted in a Las Vegas Review-Journal article that overpopulation is a major obstacle.
“We cannot, physically, or through our capacity for care, take (in) infinite animals,” Grey said. “That’s when you see staff burnout; that’s when you see bad conditions in the shelter.”
Give Me Shelter’s Bryce Henderson is also president of No Kill Las Vegas, an animal rights nonprofit that has filed a lawsuit against The Animal Foundation accusing it of contract violations. He says the lawsuit and Give Me Shelter’s drive for a new city shelter are separate and unrelated.
David Henderson says the pet population issue evokes passion, much like discussions of abortion and immigration. The Animal Foundation, no matter what it does, faces an impossible task, he says.
He recalls a vet ethics lecture from the early 1980s where a speaker quizzed the audience on the leading cause of death in cats and dogs. “It was euthanasia in shelters because of overpopulation,” Henderson says. “Forty odd years later, we’re still in the same boat.”