Pets of Foreclosures

With so much attention given to people losing their homes, often the animals they leave behind are overlooked. Today my wife and I drove over to the West side of Vegas to pickup a dog that had been left behind. His owners lost their home to foreclosure and weren't able to take the dog with them. Unlike most people, the owner did show back up and help us get him into our van.

The dog whose name is Oso (Bear in Spanish) is now resting comfortably at the the Green Valley vet's office until tomorrow when he will be neutered. After that he'll go to German Shepard rescue in Pahrump for some training and socialization. Then he'll go up for adoption. So if you are looking to help a dog that has had a hard luck story, visit http://germanshepherdrescuelasvegas.com/.

Candlelight vigil anniversary

This Friday, February 22nd, there will be a candlelight vigil to remember the thousands of animals that lost their lives at the Lied shelter last year. Please feel free to come down to the shelter and meet the different rescue groups or take a tour of the shelter. Adoptions will be ongoing, so if you are looking for a pet, the shelter is giving tours and adoption counselors will be on hand. The shelter and rescue groups are also looking for volunteer foster homes as well.

The event will be from 6pm to 9pm at 655 N Mojave Road.

Canine rescue coalition

A quick kudo to Jocelyn Arter for putting together a rescue group coalition in Las Vegas. With the new management at Lied, there has been a fundamental change in the attitude towards rescue groups in Las Vegas. Before patronizing a pet store and helping to perpetuate puppy mills, check out this huge list of Las Vegas dog rescue groups that Jocelyn has put together. The site is brand new and being updated all of the time, so be sure to check back often.

Pictures with Santa

I'll be appearing again at PetSmart playing Santa. Last weekend I was at the PetSmart at Rainbow and US 95. This Sunday I'll be at the Silverado store from 11 am to 4 pm. The pictures are $9.95 or $8.95 if you have a PetSmart card and $5 of that goes to my favorite animal charity, Heaven Can Wait Sanctuary.

So bring the dog, the cat, bird, snake whatever in for a picture and get a great keepsake while helping out a deserving charity. See you there.

You have to love the holidays

With Christmas literally right around the corner, you would hope that more people would embrace the spirit of the holidays, regardless of your personal beliefs. What has happened to goodwill toward your fellow man? Just a few minutes ago I looked out my window and saw the Metro canine unit parked in front of my neighbor's house.

Apparently, a man was hiding in her backyard from the police. He had been shooting earlier up the street and had fled from police. Thankfully, my elderly neighbor was not home at the time. Unfortunately for him, we have a top notch police force with a great canine unit. He was quickly found and apprehended. First thing tomorrow I'm taking some food down to the Harmon substation and some treats for the dogs. I am truly thankful for the men, women and canine officers serving to keep us safe.

Microchip and toenail trimming event

This Saturday, the Lied animal shelter is having a low cost microchip and toenail trimming event. I'm a strong believer in microchipping, because without them, I never would have gotten my Pekingese, Toy back in 2005. You can read the original post here. The people at Lied were aware of Toy's story and asked permission to use her as the spokesperson for the event. Naturally, she acquiesed and had a small list of demands (private trailer, constant supply of Chicken Jerky and Pig ears, the usual).

But seriously, if your cat or dog hasn't been chipped yet, go down to Lied this Saturday and get it done. Aside from vacinating, its the best thing you can do for the welfare of your pet. google map

Vote for Pups On Parole

Today I received an email from my friend Harold, one of the founders of Heaven Can Wait Sanctuary where I do some volunteer and foster work. The National Geographic channel is having a poll on which Dog Whisperer episode is the best. The Pups on Parole is one that was selected.

Please go to the web site and vote for the Pups on Parole episode. Here is the link:

dog whisperer poll

Last time I looked they had a slim lead. I'd love to see their episode win and get shown again on National Geographic. It shows the hard work and dedication of the Las Vegas community and its volunteers.

Clark County Animal Advisory Committee

On May 1, 2007 at 6:30 P.M. the Clark County Animal Advisory Committee has scheduled a public meeting. One of the items on the agenda is to require that any dog or cat sold, traded, gifted, etc by any person or business must be spayed or neutered prior to the transfer, unless that person or company has a current Dog or Cat Fancier license. It also requires that the cat or dog be microchipped as well. This would go a long way to stopping the constant breeding of cats and dogs in Clark County as well as making local Pet Stores more responsible. I strongly urge everyone to attend or if you can't personally attend the meeting, write a letter to the board of County Commissioners in support of Title 10.24.030.

The meeting will be at the Sunset park administration building:

2601 E Sunset Road, Admin Conference Room
Las Vegas, NV 89120

Google map if you are driving up Sunset, take the first left into Sunset park at the light. Follow the road down, you'll see the building on the left hand side.

Lied still taking a beating

I was browsing through the Channel 3 website, when I found a video of an interview of Natalee Nounna. She had a adopted a pit mix from Lied. At the time, she was told that it had been spayed and had all of her shots. She named the dog Miya and a few months after adopting her, Miya gave birth to puppies. This isn't the first time that a resident in Las Vegas has adopted an altered dog from the shelter to only find out later that it had not been spayed. Several years ago, it happened to me. I had adopted a female Akita from the now defunct Dewey shelter.

The reason things like this happen are simple. People who turn in dogs don't necessarily tell the truth. With a male dog, its pretty obvious if he's been neutered. With a female dog, its a lot harder because to be absolutely sure, surgery is involved. The vet would have to open her up and look inside. Most techs rely on a surgical scar to determine if a dog has been spayed. If the dog has had another surgery, its possible that the scar from that may be mistaken for a spay scar. Things like this are very rare to say the least, and should not happen again. Last year Clark county instituted a mandatory spay/neuter law for all personal pets. Owners with unaltered animals will need to be licensed by animal control and only pedigree animals will be allowed to remain unaltered. Owners that fail to comply will be heavily fined and their animals confiscated.

Hopefully this will help curb the overcrowding at Lied and prevent the euthanization of so many animals in the future.

Why it won't get better

Day before yesterday Jacqui was out with a client during a home inspection. The owner of the home whom shall remain nameless, had three dogs. All were unfixed and allowed to breed. The youngest, a Chihuahua / Shitzu mix was pregnant by her father, the male Chihuahua. All of them were kept outside, 24/7, despite the fact that it has gotten below freezing at night. They had a dog house with no door on it, and the only attention they received was during poop clean up. Makes you wonder why they even bothered. Cici, the mother dog (Shitzu) is only 2 years old and already had 18 puppies. The owner would give them away at the grocery store to whomever. Needless to say, he doesn't own the female dogs any more. Clark County now has a mandatory spay/neuter law in place. Owners can be fined if they don't fix their animals or get a special breeding permit. Verdella, the Chihuahua/Shitzu mix, will be getting spayed this weekend as well as Cici. Both are wonderful, sweet dogs. If you are interested in meeting them, please feel free to contact me. I'll be posting pictures of them on my wife's site, on the dog rescue page.

More real estate

I have been slacking lately on adding the newest projects---but I have a good excuse, I bought a new car. Well, not a new - new car, but new to me at least. So I buckled down and added page about V, a development at Lake Las Vegas, Parkline Lofts and some general information pages as well. The Las Vegas market is still speeding up, with several new communities announced in some of the existing masterplanned communites, like Southern Highlands and The Lakes.

This week I placed two of my fosters that I have had for months. Strangely enough, both are named Duchess. One is a Doberman Pinscher and the other is a miniature pinscher. The similarities continue---both have had their tails docked and have floppy ears! Speaking of animals, one of my wife's partners while showing property stumbled on to two cats abandoned at a property. A note left by the owner stated she couldn't bear to take them to the shelter. Leaving them instead in a vacant condo to starve because the listing agent can't be bothered to feed them.... We are trying to find a place for them, so if anyone out there is willing to foster/adopt two beautiful adult cats please contact me.

A new home

Last April, we rescued a darling Shar-Pei/German Shepard mix that we named Princess Leah. She wasn't being adopted out of the Dewey shelter because she entropia-inverted eyelids, a common problem for Chow and Shar-Pei dogs. The surgery can be expensive, so apparently despite her being adorable, no one would take her. It was her last day on earth when Jacqulyn rescued her. Despite the pain in her eyes, she wiggled her tail constantly. She is probably the happiest dog I've ever met. Over the course of the year, Leah needed some additional surgeries. Her spay had to be re-done, her eyes were fixed, one of them twice and she had to have an orthopedic surgeon fix her elbow after she broke it. Saturday, a nice family from Boulder City adopted her as a family companion and playmate for their other Shar-Pei mix. Leah is now living the good life as an indoor dog, with three children to love (she LOVES kids) and another dog to play with. When getting a pet, PLEASE visit your local shelter first! Do not support puppy mills by buying a pet from a pet store. Most don't know where their puppies come from and do not check out the breeding facilities. In the Las Vegas area, visit the Lied Animal Shelter or contact Heaven Can Wait Sanctuary 227-5555 for great adoptable dogs and cats.

Toy Story or the Miracle chip

In October of 2003, our Pekingese, Toyneka managed to squeeze out a tiny opening between our fence and the wall. She had had eye surgery earlier in the month and had lost a little weigh as a result of having to wear an E collar. Frantically we looked for her, put up hundreds of flyers, ran ads in the paper and contacted every veterinarian's office in a 25 mile radius...and never found her. After Christmas I put up more flyers farther away from my house and still nothing. In February, my wife was at the Dewey animal shelter and had thought she had found her. After getting a better look, she knew it wasn't Toy. But we ended up taking her home anyway. The Peke who we named Harriett was in very bad shape. Dewey animal shelter doesn't do any vet work unless a dog is adopted during the 3 days they are eligible. After the three days, they are euthanized. Harriett was on her last day when we adopted her. Her eye had ruptured and was oozing fluid, her nails were curved under and growing into the pads of her feet. She also needed three teeth pulled. The Black mountain VCA hospital in Henderson did an excellent job of fixing her up. She lived with us for the next 14 months. On Friday, April 22nd, she had to be put down due to kidney failure. She wouldn't eat and was wasting away. Sunday, April 24, we received a call from the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, stating that they have found a Pekingese with a microchip registered to us. One of the staff contacted Mr. Smith, the gentleman who found her and turned her in. His wife emailed us some pictures they took of her. Some how, she got 1400 hundred miles away.

I flew to Phoenix with a connecting flight to Iowa yesterday. Heather Starr, from the Animal rescue league, met me at the airport with the local news. We drove out to their facility where I was reunited with Toy. The local paper also carried the story and she was front page news. I can't thank Mr. Smith and the staff at the rescue league enough for their kindness. They not only took care of her, but they had her groomed and gave her everything necessary for the trip home. Today she is getting reacquainted with our other pets at our home in Las Vegas. If you are thinking your pet doesn't need a chip because they are an indoor only animal, think again. That is exactly what Toy is. She is an indoor dog. Don't chance fate. Get them chipped. You can get a low cost chip from the Lied animal shelter on Mojave 702-384-3333 if you are in the Las Vegas area, in Des Moines at the Animal Rescue League or at your local shelter.

For microchip information, visit Homeagainid.com, or ask your vetrinarian.

Click here for the Des Moines Register story.

Some dogs get a new home

Over the weekend there was an art festival at the town square out by Summerlin. We went Saturday and Sunday with some of our foster dogs to see if we could find them permanent homes. We ended up placing two dogs, a terrier mix named Casper on Saturday and a Beagle named Snoopy the following day. Today I received a call from someone we met on Saturday about Coco. Coco is a Shepard mix we first placed over a year ago. She had a run of bad luck, first being her original adoptive family ended up divorced and dumping her at the Henderson animal shelter. Then second, she was living with friends of ours, until their condo association told them that according to the CCNR's a "medium" dog is a dog that weighs less than 30 pounds. Thankfully a nice couple from California on vacation ended up adopting her. She is now living in Carson, about twenty minutes from Redondo beach. Next weekend we are doing another adoption clinic at Pet Servant on E Tropicana. Hopefully our remaining foster dogs will also be adopted. You can see them on this Las Vegas Dog adoption page.