Sad lessons learned at Lied Animal Shelter

I knew this type of story was inevitable, I just had no idea how bad it would be.  Our local “no-kill” shelter invited the Humane Society of the United States to come and inspect them (this may have been in preparation for applying for some sort of grant, or asking for more money from the city).  The result of that visit was that HSUS declared the shelter an emergency, shut it down, and hundreds of animals were euthanized because dangerous diseases like parvo and distemper were running rampant all over the facility.  The shelter manager then came up with the brilliant conclusion that they should vaccinate all incoming animals when they arrive at the shelter, not at some point down the road (or never, which also happened).  I wonder how many people around Las Vegas today realized that their dear little Fido or Fluffy that they surrendered to the shelter for some stupid reason ("we have a new baby and just don’t have time for a dog anymore"), may have been euthanized?  Many people get the idea that a no-kill shelter means their pets are guaranteed to find a home, and that’s just not the case.  Today also verified our suspicion that that the stray cat we took to the shelter a couple of years ago probably died of disease and not from being euthanized.

Here’s the link to the whole, horrible story:  Disease shuts animal shelter

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 02/11 at 05:51 AM

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  1. Oh dear. :( :(
    I know “no-kill” shelters aren’t as sweet and fluffy as many believe, but that is awful.
    How on earth could nobody at the shelter know that there was such an epidemic of sick animals? Even after reading the article I find that hard to understand.

    Posted by Carina  on  02/12  at  02:00 PM

  2. How awful for the poor animals. And, like you said, people who surrendered pets with good intentions…

    In Wisconsin a couple years ago, one of the county shelters was in trouble. I guess shelter mgmnt had run out of money and abandoned the shelter. Someone contacted another county shelter for help. What they found was horrible, but they took in all the animals, quarantined and treated them. Money came in to help care for the animals, and management from Shelter 1 actually tried to sue to get that money into their hands. Last I heard, County 1 had no shelter and County 2 was overcrowded but coping.

    Posted by Victor Tabbycat's Mom  on  02/12  at  02:28 PM

  3. One of the frustrating things about the situation is that the management of The Animal Foundation (they run Lied Animal Shelter), specifically placed bids a few years ago for the right to be the city’s official shelter.  The city of Las Vegas pays them a great deal of money to do they job properly, and it’s obviously not happening.  It’s also frustrating because there were a number of complaints against the shelter a few years ago, when their contract with the city was up for renewal, but the city went ahead and granted another contract to them anyway.  A second shelter that used to be here was closed down because Lied guaranteed they could handle everything.  Granted, the shelter that closed down was rather hideous, and the problem here has its roots in people who don’t spay and neuter, but there are still lots and lots of people who must have turned a blind eye to problems.

    I know vets who’ve attempted to volunteer at the shelter and have despised it, because their suggestions/pleas for healthier conditions were ignored by management.

    I would much rather the city maintain a “kill shelter” with something like a 30 day maximum stay than have an improperly run no-kill.  Once a cat or dog has spent two years confined in a shelter environment (and there are animals who’ve been there that long), would they even be suitable pets?

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  02/13  at  01:53 AM

  4. A very sad question. I’d hope that pets are fostered out rather than sitting in the shelter forever, but that’s unrealistic. Country Animal Haven (where I got Victor) has a barn the cats live in, not cages. Angel’s Wish uses fosters, but most of the fostered cats seem to become permanent residents. BTW, Victor was transferred from an over-crowded county shelter to CAH. Those they can’t transfer…

    Posted by Victor Tabbycat's Mom  on  02/14  at  11:07 AM

  5. This is a very sad story, indeed.

    Posted by Coll  on  02/16  at  10:56 AM

  6. i am a 2 year old bouvier des flandres from las vegas. one of my brothers, border collie, is from lied and the other is from spca. i just set up a blog to help with this horrible situation...southern nevada spca is doing all they can to help but they’re short of resources. to think that my furry friends are dying is really sad.

    would you mind adding me to your blogroll? i would appreciate it oh so much. woof woof!

    love you,
    -e

    Posted by ernie  on  02/18  at  05:37 PM

  7. Leigh-Ann, I have fallen terribly behind on my blog reading and writing, but just popped over because a conversation going on on my blog reminded me of you and your rescue efforts.

    I am so saddened by this story. People can be so idiotic… we have let overpopulation of companion animals get so completely out of control and it is so, SO unfair to the animals that are mistreated, abandoned and euthanized every day.

    Posted by jg  on  02/21  at  08:40 AM

  8. PS Thank you for everything that you and Flippy do every day to help.

    Posted by jg  on  02/21  at  08:40 AM

  9. This is such a horrible and preventable tragedy.  I’m shocked it is on our local news here in Southern California.  I’ve added it to our ‘Doggy Wall of Shame’ at the website.
    http://www.caninescorner.org/topics/wallofshame/1000killedinVegas.htm

    Posted by Linda Nelson  on  02/22  at  01:01 AM
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