County sending animals to Lied

Wednesday, June 1, 2005 | 8:24 a.m.

Scores of displaced animals will have a new -- hopefully temporary -- home starting today, Clark County Animal Control officials said Tuesday.

The move means animals once sent to the Dewey Animal Care Center, one of several shelters once contracted by the county to keep found animals, will now be going to the Animal Foundation's Lied Animal Shelter in the 600 block of North Mojave Road.

Dewey, whose contract with the county is ending, will continue to have animals available for adoption through June, county officials said. Lied, meanwhile, is undergoing a four-phase expansion that will include an extended-stay adoption center, veterinarian technical school and dog show arena.

The change will create a single, centralized facility where pet owners can retrieve lost pets, county officials said. Owners trying to find their lost animals previously had to travel to several different shelters around the valley. All animals in unincorporated Clark County and Las Vegas and North Las Vegas will now be taken to Lied.

Under its new contract, Lied will receive $5 for every animal it adopts out, county officials said. The county could also fine the facility $3,000 a day if air condition is broken longer than one day.

Lied's first phase in its $14 million expansion is expected to be completed next year. The no-kill shelter works with other nonprofit organizations to increase adoptions and encourage owners to spay and neuter their animals.