Animal Foundation to run shelter

Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2003 | 11:21 a.m.

The Clark County Commission, by a 6-1 vote Tuesday, tabbed the Animal Foundation to run a centralized shelter for dogs and cats in Las Vegas beginning in two years.

Dewey Animal Clinic now has the county contract to house, feed and either destroy or find adoptive homes for stray animals, but that contract expires in 2005. Dewey had sought a contract extension.

County staff and a citizens advisory committee had recommended the Animal Foundation receive the new contract. Jim Spinello, Clark County assistant director for administrative services, said past problems at the Animal Foundation shelter -- which has had the city of Las Vegas' contract for years -- have been corrected.

Spinello described a "high level of satisfaction with the Animal Foundation" among city officials and noted that North Las Vegas also is in negotiations with the nonprofit group to handle the other city's shelter needs.

One principal benefit will be that the Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Clark County animal services will be grouped in one central shelter with the Animal Foundation, he said. That means that someone looking for a lost pet will only have to go to one shelter, officials have said.

Commission Chairwoman Mary Kincaid-Chauncey cast the lone "no" vote. Kincaid-Chauncey said she supports the idea of decentralized shelters throughout the community.

The relationship between the two organizations has been has been contentious. The Animal Foundation, which is chaired by Janie Greenspun Gale, a member of the Greenspun family which owns the Sun, has been running a shelter in the city of Las Vegas since 1995, when the city discontinued its relationship with Dewey. Dewey sued to regain the contract but lost.

Last year, the Animal Foundation sued Dewey for defamation and racketeering over issues rising from the latest battle.

A few minutes after Tuesday's vote, Kincaid-Chauncey opened up the floor to comments from the public. About three dozen people, most of them in opposition to the Animal Foundation contract, had asked to speak on the issue. One woman brought a cat to the hearing.

Kincaid said a public hearing Jan. 6 already included vehement arguments for and against the contract. However, dozens took the opportunity to revisit their arguments Tuesday.

Many of those citizens represented animal-welfare groups that criticized the Animal Foundation for killing some of the animals that the foundation takes in.

"We now know that all of our animals are so unsafe because this contract is going to the Animal Foundation," said Morgan Solomon, a volunteer with the Nevada Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Commissioner Myrna Williams, however, noted that the Dewey Animal Clinic -- which also puts down unwanted and unadoptable animals -- has generated many complaints over the eight years it has had the county contract.

"The calls against Dewey have been overwhelming for eight years," she said, adding that she received many calls in support of the Animal Foundation.

Mark Fierro, a spokesman for the Animal Foundation, said his group has a 97.3 percent adoption rate for healthy animals that are not aggressive. He said the contract decision, debated for a year, "is long overdue."

Fierro pledged to work with animal rescue groups but noted that much of the animosity between backers of Dewey and backers of the Animal Foundation appears to be personal.

"It's difficult to describe the gulf between the two operations," he said.

The cost for the first six years with the Animal Foundation is about the same as the current cost for Dewey's services -- about $1.2 million annually. However, the Animal Foundation plans to use the funding to build a new, central animal shelter. Once it is built and paid for, in six years, the cost of the service to the county would come down by an unspecified amount, officials said.

County staff members said in their report to the commission the contract would likely take several months to negotiate and bring back before the board for final approval.