Animal Foundation to begin neutering program again

Monday, Dec. 24, 2001 | 10:25 a.m.

The Animal Foundation, which last week suspended its low-cost, spay-neuter clinic at its shelter that serves as the Las Vegas city pound, said today it has begun making spay-neuter appointments for Jan. 15 and beyond.

Mary Herro, president of the Animal Foundation, said her organization has received no notice from the city of Las Vegas that it has violated terms of its contract by suspending spay-neuter operations, despite published reports.

"No one from the city has told us that what we are doing is wrong or expressed any problem with what we are doing," Herro said. "We have closed the spay-neuter clinic for short periods in the past during slow periods or to give our employees vacations.

"We are directing people who need to have their animals spayed and neutered in emergency situations to a private vet who will charge what we charge. Also, no taxpayer money is used to run our spay-neuter program."

Attempts to reach the city for comment early today were not successful.

The Animal Foundation spays and neuters 10,000 animals a year.

Herro said the city, when it contracted the Animal Foundation to serve as its pound, required a low-cost, spay-neuter program because the organization was doing business in a city-owned building on Mojave Road. The Animal Foundation this year moved its services to the private Lied facility, built with $3.5 million in donated money, across the street from the old pound.

The spay-neuter clinic was closed in the wake of the state veterinary board reprimanding the facility in the anesthesia-related death of a yellow Labrador in September -- a death in which the Animal Foundation admits it was at fault.

"It was the first spay-neuter of the day on Sept. 11 and our people like Americans everywhere were shaken, and we made a mistake," Herro said, referring to the terrorist attacks that morning on New York City and Washington.

"We offered the family two yellow Lab puppies and we offered to pay the balance owed on the dog that died, but they would not accept our offer."

Herro said that the Animal Foundation stands behind its safety record, which averages out to about one anesthesia-related death per 1,000 animals, when, according to international statistics, the average is one-in-500 operations.

Herro said that while the spay-neuter clinic has been closed to public operations, it is still busy spaying and neutering stray animals in its adoption program, which also is not taxpayer-funded.

"Taxpayer money pays for us to keep an animal alive for three days," Herro said, noting that once an animal survives that period and makes it into the adoption program it is fed and treated privately for 30 to 60 days while a new home is sought.

The Animal Foundation is in the process of trying to reach a goal of adopting out 1,000 animals between Thanksgiving and New Year's. Herro said the organization has found homes for more than 600 animals through that campaign.