City of Henderson Animal Shelter beyond capacity as cold spell continues

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - Temperatures have been below normal lately and shelters are trying to keep strays off the streets and out of the cold, but that is hard to do when a shelter is beyond capacity.

The City of Henderson’s shelter has room for 60 or 70 dogs. Right now, they have about 100.

As the below normal temperatures continue, they will have to continue to take any stray that is turned in and they’ve had a lot lately.

“Our shelter is basically busting at the seams with dogs, so we definitely need the public to step up and adopt,” shared Danielle Harney, Animal Control Administrator with the City of Henderson. The shelter has seen an influx of animals come in during the last two weeks: 148 animals during the first 12 days of December.

“The holidays are always kind of a rough time for us. A lot of people are turning in their older pets. A lot of people are moving. We have actually seen a 13 percent increase in strays entering our shelter versus this time last year,” Harney explained.

For now, some dogs are doubling up and being put in kennels together, but the shelter can only make so much room.

“If we are full, we have to make some really hard life decisions for some of the pets here,” Harney stated. It’s not just Henderson facing an overcrowding challenges.

“Rescue groups are full, other shelters around the country are filling up too,” Harney revealed.

There are dogs of all types, temperaments, and sizes at the shelter waiting for new homes.

“Being that we have so many, the vets are just trying to get them spayed and neutered as quickly as possible so that we can get them to put out for adoption,” Harney added.

If you can open your home to a new pet, the shelter is offering half-off adoptions through the rest of the month.

“You don’t have to be a Henderson resident to adopt. You can be from Las Vegas, from Pahrump, and you can drive in from AZ, California. We are just looking to find as many homes for our dogs as possible,” said Harney.

To try and clear out some of the animals especially with the cold weather continuing, Henderson is doing something they have not done in years and will be open on Sunday between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Right now, with the special Henderson is offering it is only $45 to adopt a dog one year or older. That includes vaccines, spay or neuter, microchip and for Henderson residents, a pet license.

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