|
February 9, 2007 will long be
remembered in the city of Las Vegas as the largest mass
euthanasia in their history - 1,000 dogs and cats were culled
after an outbreak of Parvovirus, distemper and panleukopenia
were discovered by Humane Society officials during their visit
to the Lied Animal Shelter.
"It's unforgivable in light of
the fact that it was absolutely preventable," said Holly
Stoberski, legal counsel for Heaven Can Wait Sanctuary, a group
that has worked with Lied to find homes for impounded animals.
"They were not properly vaccinating the dogs and cats in a
timely manner."
Culling 1,000 dogs and cats is
odd, considering the shelter adopts out only 7,000 animals a
year. Just as odd, shelter officials stated that about 1,800
animals were housed there at the time of the Humane Society's
visit, but on any given day there are up to 3,000 dogs and cats.
The 'numbers' just don't add up according the various news
reports on this tragedy.
As a footnote, the Billy and
Susan Walters Endowed Scholarship Fund was set up with an
extremely generous donation of $250,000 - veterinary recipients
of the scholarship fund would work at the shelter for a year
afterwards. Mary Herro, President of the Animal Foundation
which oversees the Lied Animal Shelter, acknowledged this gift
would provide the shelter with the additional staff they needed
to continue their work. This is contrary to the statement
made by Holly Stoberski, who stated the Lied Shelter was not
vaccinating the animals in a timely manner.
The Lied Animal Shelter has
been the recipient of many other kind gifts and time from other
members of the community, such as the Veterinary Technical
students of Pima Medical Institute, who conducted a 'doggy wash
& bath' campaign last October (2006). |
Read more on this topic
|
|
In addition, June 6, 2006 was
marked by an event to benefit the shelter, the 'Best in Show'.
Well wishes from Neiman Marcus, Graff Diamonds, The Wynn Resort,
the Palms Resort, Siegfried and Roy, Wolfgang Puck and Dale and
Kenn Wynn to name a few were recognized at the event. Greetings
even came in from Arnold Schwarzenegger, Audrey Hepburn and
Angelina Jolie. Generous donations for the silent auction came
from the Montage Resort & Spa, Neiman Marcus, Cartier, Agassi
Foundation, Tiffany & Co., Bellagio, Le Cirque, Saks Firth
Avenue, Bloomingdales, Polo Ralph Lauren, Four Seasons,
Ferragamo and Hedy Manon.
According to Ms. Herro via KDBC4,
a new position was created at the Animal Foundation to handle
the outbreak crisis - a 34-year veteran of the Clark County's
Animal Control Unit. The shelter partially reopened its doors on
Tuesday (February 20, 2007), after cleaning every square inch of
the facility.
The Animal Foundation broke
ground on a new 14.5 million dollar, 74,000 square foot facility
on August 18, 2004 which promised to provide to cut down on the
facility's operating costs considerably (about $1.2 million a
year). The facility reportedly is almost completely
self-sustaining and 'green' - recycling 80% of its water.
The prior 35,000-square foot
facility was opened in February, 2001. The city and county
awarded their contract to the Lied Animal Shelter in May of
2005, with animals arriving on June 1st, 2005.
Lied Animal Shelter is the
official impound facility for Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and
Clark County. The facility reopened February 16, 2007 with
new policies: the shelter will vaccinate animals when they
arrive and will keep those considered adoptable alive up to 120
days. Animals deemed unfit for adoption, such as those that are
old or sick, will be euthanized after 72 hours.
This new 72-hour policy will
assuredly remove the 'no-kill' policy of the facility.
However, it is common in most shelters and animal facilities to
vaccinate animals immediately upon arrival to prevent outbreaks
of these common diseases in cats and dogs.
This is not the first time dogs
contracting kennel cough was an issue for the Lied Animal
Shelter. Owner Brenda Schmalfeldt disappeared in January
2006 - a week later her body was found stuffed into a dumpster.
Her three dearly beloved dogs (Tinker, Sassy and Baby) were
taken to the shelter and held for nine days until they were
rescued by Janet Adams. Tinker passed away the day after
the rescue; the other two dogs struggled to recuperate from the
kennel cough.
Outrage has been expressed
across the Internet as the news spread and major wire services
picked up the story - but after the cull was performed and not
before. A candlelit vigil was also held to honor the
memory of those killed in the cull by animal lovers in the area.
The Nevada Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals stepped forward on their
website, asking for understanding while Las Vegas remains in a
state of emergency over this issue.
 1
- 2 - 3... <growl> "Shame on you!"
 |
