LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – The Animal Foundation has taken in more than 900 animals in the last two weeks alone.
“We’ve had a big influx of animals, unusual for this time of year,” said Animal Foundation CEO Hilarie Grey.
FOX5 asked why that is, and Grey said two hoarding cases are partially to blame.
“One case was about 36 dogs that came in all from the same source and all at once, so that’s a lot of processing to do,” she said. “And then we had a 100-cat hoarding case come from one house last week, too.”
The shelter shared video exclusively with FOX5 showing the 37 dogs after North Las Vegas Animal Protection Services confiscated them on February 2.
North Las Vegas Police told FOX5 that the case involved an elderly man, who was taken to the hospital and said he wanted to surrender 37 dogs to animal control. Police said the owner is now potentially facing misdemeanor criminal charges of animal hoarding.
Animal Foundation issues urgent call for fosters as 6 dogs test positive for canine influenza (fox5vegas.com)
“Sometimes animals come in in really rough condition that have been neglected, that may have imminent medical needs, so our veterinary team is taking care of those things,” said Grey. “It really is heartbreaking when you see cruelty cases, neglect cases, but it also galvanizes the staff to help.”
Last week, about a hundred cats were brought in from a hoarding case handled by Clark County. FOX5 reached out to the Clark County Animal Protection Services for more details on this case as well, but we’re still waiting to hear back.
Even with daily adoptions, fosters and transfers to other shelters, Grey said it’s still hard to keep the Animal Foundation’s numbers in balance.
“Like in January, I want to say that we adopted out close to 800 animals, but when you think about how quickly that tide can turn when we have more animals that are coming in, when you have these hoarding cases and severe things.”
The high intake numbers combined with a recent canine influenza outbreak has shelter staff scrambling to get dogs out of the building and into foster homes in order to make room for isolation and even more animals coming into the shelter.
The Animal Foundation continues to ask for foster homes for medium and large. Tuesday morning, the shelter says they have 432 dogs in the shelter. 100 of those are symptomatic for infectious respiratory disease and six confirmed cases of Canine Influenza.
For more information, visit this website provided.
Copyright 2024 KVVU. All rights reserved.
