Wednesday, July 19, 2023 | 2 a.m.
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A group of about a half-dozen of us animal lovers spent the evening of July 4 at the Animal Foundation in Las Vegas. Our goal was to calm and soothe the 217 dogs at the shelter. We used a calming odiferous spray, Adaptil, as well as various treats to distract the animals from the noise and commotion.
The shelter had reached capacity. There were no more empty kennels. Yet the public expects it to provide space for the estimated 400, mostly runaway, dogs which Animal Control was expected to deliver to it in the week following the holiday.
Reports blame the shelter for its “heartless killing” of homeless dogs. But the high euthanasia rates, though heartbreaking, are not the shelter’s fault. It is a community problem created by the very people doing the blaming.
People continue to buy from breeders or they breed their own pets. This contributes to the high death rate in shelters. Owners don’t train their pets, which results in behavior problems and people surrendering their pets to shelters. They fail to microchip their pets. Worst of all, they fail to get their pets spayed or neutered. Overflowing animal shelters and high euthanasia rates are the fault of irresponsible pet owners, not our nation’s animal shelters.
