County extends contract to shelter stray animals

By Conor Shine

Published Tuesday, March 17, 2015 | 2:34 p.m.

Updated Tuesday, March 17, 2015 | 6:30 p.m.

After nearly a year of debate, the Clark County Commission voted today to extend its contract with the Animal Foundation to shelter stray animals for five years.

The approval came despite opposition from a group of animal advocates called No Kill Las Vegas, which made a competing bid to take over the contract. The group contends the Animal Foundation hasn’t done enough to reduce euthanasia rates for animals in its care.

Bryce Henderson, president of No Kill Las Vegas, said his group's proposed shelter would take "a different mentality on how a shelter is run," taking a more proactive approach to finding homes for animals in order to drive animal euthanasia rates down to 10 percent or less. The group proposed that the county extend the Animal Foundation's contract for one year, allowing No Kill Las Vegas time to build a shelter in the southwest valley before taking over the contract.

But commissioners worried that No Kill Las Vegas’ lack of a building, proven financing or experience running a large shelter made it too risky to entrust with the 30,000-plus animals that arrive at the shelter each year.

“I think they were well-intentioned, but just because you have good intentions doesn’t mean it will pan out,” said Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani, who called No Kill Las Vegas’s bid for the contract “premature.”

Instead, the commission went with the proven option of the Animal Foundation, which has contracted with the county for animal sheltering services for the last decade. The nonprofit Animal Foundation has made major progress in reducing the number of animal intakes into its shelter, which in turn led to a 52 percent reduction in animals that need to be euthanized over the last five years.

Last year, the shelter took in 18,500 dogs, about 75 percent of which found homes while the remaining 25 percent were euthanized. Of the 12,397 cats the shelter took in during 2014, about one-third were adopted or returned to their owners, with the remainder being euthanized.

Christine Robinson, executive director of the Animal Foundation, said her group shares the same goal as No Kill Las Vegas of reducing euthanasia rates to below 10 percent, but she said getting there will take time and will require greater community involvement.

"We don't object to that. That's exactly what we want," she said.

Before approving the contract with the Animal Foundation, commissioners made several alterations to the proposed deal. The contract is worth about $4.1 million annually, with costs split among Clark County, Las Vegas and North Las Vegas.

The original term of 10 years was reduced to five years, with the option to extend the contract to a maximum of 20 years with future action by the commission.

Other changes include a mandatory annual report by the Animal Foundation on its operations and progress reducing euthanasia rates.

Giunchigliani said she’ll also work to put together a group of shelters, rescue organizations and animal advocates to tackle issues that have led to pet overpopulation, like illegal breeding, puppy mills and the community's large feral cat population.

After the vote, Henderson said he was disappointed with the commission's decision, but said No Kill Las Vegas will continue with plans to build an adoption center and position itself to bid on the sheltering contract in five years.

"We're not quitting here," he said. "We're going to continue to watch (the Animal Foundation). Continue to make sure they are taking care of the animals and trying to adopt out as many as possible."

One issue that was left unsettled today was financing needed for repairs at the Lied Animal Shelter, the region's main animal shelter.

The Animal Foundation has asked local governments to chip in $13 million for the project, of which Clark County would provide about half of the funding. The county has already set aside $3 million for the project, but needs to find $3 million more.

If a deal can't be struck with the Animal Foundation by October, either side could walk away from the sheltering contract approved today.