During the Holiday Season it is very common to give animals as gifts, but this is only a good idea if you are giving the animal to someone in your household.
It is difficult to ensure a good match between a new pet and owner for someone else. Instead of giving a pet that might not be a good fit for their new home, give a gift certificate to the Animal Foundation, the non-profit operator of the Lied Animal Shelter at 655 N. Mojave Road near Bonanza Road. Their gift certificate in called the Critter Card and is available at www.animalfoundation.com/critter-card/. Or one could bring the gift recipient to the shelter so the new pet owner can find the right pet to fit their home and lifestyle.
“Pets are as different from each other as people are, so finding the right pet-owner match can be very difficult,” Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani said. “It is always best to let someone who will be living with the new pet to personally select this newest member of their household.”
Every year, more than 30,000 cats and dogs are killed in Clark County due to pet overpopulation. Increased pet adoptions will help save some pets, but the real answer to this problem is making sure all pets are spayed or neutered.
Earlier this year Clark County and all the other local governments in Southern Nevada except Boulder City adopted a mandatory spay-neuter ordinance for dogs and cats over 4 months old. If your pet still needs to be sterilized please contact your veterinarian or Heaven Can Wait Animal Society information about getting your pet spayed or neutered. Pet owners are also reminded to make sure their animals always have proper identification – implanted microchips and collars with name tags – so they can be easily identified if they get away. If your pet does become lost, please check with the local shelters every two or three days to see if your pet has been caught by animal control officers.
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Clark County is a dynamic and innovative organization dedicated to providing top-quality service with integrity, respect and accountability. With jurisdiction over the world-famous Las Vegas Strip and covering an area the size of New Jersey, Clark is the nation’s 14th-largest county and provides extensive regional services to more than 2 million citizens and 40 million visitors a year. Included are the nation’s 7th-busiest airport, air quality compliance, social services and the state’s largest public hospital, University Medical Center. The county also provides municipal services that are traditionally provided by cities to almost 900,000 residents in the unincorporated area. Those include fire protection, roads and other public works, parks and recreation, and planning and development.