The Animal Foundation, Clear team up for pet adoptions

By Paul Takahashi (contact)

Friday, Nov. 12, 2010 | 1:55 a.m.

Scott Harrison/Retna/www.harrisonphotos.com

Holly Madison at The Animal Foundation's Best in Show at The Orleans on May 23, 2010.

In June, The Animal Foundation set a nationwide record for the most cats and dogs brought into an animal shelter in one day: 234.

“We have an overpopulation problem in this county,” said Jason Smith, the director of operations at the county animal shelter. “The scale of our problem is greater, and our resources are less.”

Clear, a national provider of wireless broadband services, is hoping to change that by donating 15 laptops and 15 high-speed mobile Internet access USB modems to The Animal Foundation, the nonprofit organization contracted by Clark County to run Lied Animal Shelter.

Although Clear has partnerships with schools around the country, including the Clark County Virtual High School, this is the first partnership between Clear and an animal shelter, said Scott Fleming, area vice president for sales at Clear. The much-needed technology will help streamline the shelter’s adoption process, helping the foundation find homes for hundreds of adoption-ready animals.

“It’s a unique application for our mobile technology,” Fleming said, adding that Clear has been operating its 4G network in Las Vegas for the past year.

Before the donation, if a customer in the adoption center wanted to get more information about an animal, a counselor had to radio the shelter in another building or walk 300 feet to the nearest computer to get it.

“It’s wasteful in time and doesn’t inspire confidence in our customers,” Smith said. “This (technology) will drastically improve our services.”

As the only open-admission shelter in the valley, The Animal Foundation’s Lied Animal Shelter, 655 N. Mojave Road, is contractually obligated to accept any animal from the public or its animal control partners. Because of its policy, the non-profit has become one of the highest-volume animal shelters in the country.

In 2009, the foundation took in 45,000 cats and dogs, 2,000 more than the Animal Care and Control in New York City, the nation’s largest city with a population four times greater than that of Las Vegas, according to Smith.

Despite the large demand, the county funds only one shelter. In comparison, New York City has five, and Los Angeles has six, Smith said.

The donations from the 4G-network operator mean the shelter can hold more mobile adoption and community events throughout the valley to raise greater awareness about shelter animals.

“Our goal is to drive more people down to the shelter and highlight our services,” Smith said. “But we also want to distill the myth of the animal shelter as a dark and dingy place.”

The 75,000-square-foot facility is “bright with open areas” and is solar-powered, Smith said. People can use the foundation’s website to set up alerts for particular animals they are interested in adopting, report lost pets and check the shelter’s inventory, which is updated every hour.

“We try to take advantage of all these resources,” Smith said.

Residents are invited to the 8-acre campus for a special community event from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday to celebrate the partnership. The first 200 pet owners to arrive with their dog, cat or rabbit will receive free microchip services. Those in the market for a new animal can tour the facilities and select pets for adoption.

Holly Madison, star of “Holly’s World” and Planet Hollywood’s “Peepshow,” is scheduled to attend the Clear Adoption Day Celebration between noon and 1 p.m. to sign autographs and pose for photographs with fans.