Animal group wants deadline for new shelter selection extended

Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2002 | 9:18 a.m.

An animal welfare coalition wants Clark County to take additional time to consider potential regional animal shelters other than the Lied Animal Shelter, which it opposes.

But Jim Spinello, assistant director of administrative services for the county, said the county will stick to its Oct. 22 deadline for proposals.

The Southern Nevada Animal Welfare Coalition, which says it represents six local organizations, called a news conference Monday demanding that the county extend its October deadline by an additional five months.

Doug Duke, director of the Nevada Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, an animal adoption group, spoke out against the Lied Animal Shelter, where he was previously employed.

Duke said the Lied facility, the Las Vegas city shelter operated at 655 N. Mojave Road by the nonprofit Animal Foundation, has a poor track record and does not deserve to be the front-runner to become the county's new regional shelter in 2005. Duke repeated earlier allegations he has made that the Lied shelter has violated its own policy by killing healthy and friendly animals.

"They have a very long, scurrilous past," Duke said. "We just cannot imagine that the Clark County Commission will contract with an organization that has not cleared up its problems. We would rather have the county run the shelter. Almost any option would be better than the Animal Foundation."

Animal Foundation Vice President Diane Orgill said the coalition represents groups that have attacked the Lied shelter in the past but that their allegations are false. The Animal Foundation is chaired by Janie Greenspun Gale, a member of the family that owns the Las Vegas Sun.

"Our track record is good so I don't know how they can attack us," Orgill said. "We've done a tremendous job compared to shelters around the country."

Spinello said county staff is looking at three options: Contracting with Lied as a regional shelter; building a new regional shelter on vacant land owned by North Las Vegas; or soliciting other proposals. The county staff hopes to make its recommendations by the end of the year, he said.

Spinello said there has been plenty of time for other proposals to be submitted, given the fact the county announced two years ago that it was considering a new regional shelter.

The county and North Las Vegas are contracted with the for-profit Dewey Animal Care Center at 4800 W. Dewey Center through 2005 but both government entities have said they prefer a more centralized regional facility. Dewey is in the southwest part of the Las Vegas Valley.

"Extending this by five more months would be an unnecessary delay," Spinello said. "There have been meetings of the board of county commissioners and the animal advisory committee. Proposals have been investigated along the way. There has been plenty of time for people to bring forth proposals."

County animal control manager Joe Boteilho said the latest statistics show that more than five times as many stray animals are picked up within a five-mile radius of Lied than of Dewey.

"It's closer to the needs of constituents in the various cities," Boteilho said of Lied. "It has all the makings of a successful regional shelter."

But Judith Ruiz, president of the Las Vegas Valley Humane Society and a member of the coalition, said her preference would be for the county to run its own shelter. Ruiz said Henderson has had success running its own shelter.

In addition to the Nevada SPCA and the humane society, other coalition members are For the Love of Cats and Kittens, Media Partners for Pets, Shelter Dog Rescue and Spay our Strays.

But Susan Rice, co-founder of Spay our Strays, said her organization is neutral on the subject of a regional shelter and does not oppose the Lied shelter as do other members of the coalition. Spay our Strays, in fact, continues to use the Lied shelter for spay and neuter services.

Rice said her organization's inclusion in the press release opposing the Animal Foundation was based on a claim made by a volunteer member of Spay our Strays who does not speak for that organization, she said.

"We're neutral," Rice said. "We don't have time for political stuff."