Council member says she saw ‘horrible’ conditions after surprise inspection of the Animal Foundation
By Joe Vigil
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LAS VEGAS, Nevada (KVVU) — Las Vegas City Council member Victoria Seaman used the word “horrible” a few times when describing what she saw in an intake area of the Animal Foundation on Monday morning.
“It was really a horrific sight. I saw multiple cages with just feces everywhere; dried feces all over the place in several of the cages. Just dogs that were not taken care of,” said Seaman.
Councilwoman Seaman took photos of the dog kennels in an intake area. She said feces was in food and water. She sayid she went to the Animal Foundation with a public safety chief and met the head of Animal Control and an inspector there after getting a tip. Seaman says there was just one worker taking care of more than 30 dogs Monday morning.
“But we all know there’s insufficient employees in that area. There’s insufficient employees that are not taking care of these animals. And this has been my biggest complaint for months,” said Seaman.
Seaman said she wants to move forward with an audit of Animal Foundation operations.
“I will continue to shine the light on their inability to take care of those animals until something is done,” she said.
Daryl Sprague, Chief Development and Marketing Officer with the Animal Foundation said council member Seaman’s account is not an accurate representation of the situation. He told FOX5 Seaman came during the middle of the morning cleaning process and it’s likely crews had not yet made their way to those dogs, but did eventually. He also said the worker Seaman was referring to is not responsible for feeding and cleaning up after the dogs.
Seaman said she is not criticizing that employee but is complaining about a lack of staff. The Animal Foundation said there were 11 Animal Welfare team members scheduled for Monday. He says the foundation currently has four open Animal Welfare Associate positions.
The Foundation also provided an Animal Control inspection report from Aug. 23, which included the intake areas. Several areas received “A” marks or approved. But there are a couple instances where it received “X” marks, or attention recommended. The report indicated a couple instances of no water and some kennels that “were full of feces.” However, the report indicated “staff was cleaning.”
Sprague said animals do go to the bathroom in kennels overnight and there is no one there from seven at night until 6:30 in the morning. He said Animal Control has access to the foundation 24 hours a day.
Sprague said shelters all over are crowded with animals. He said people can help the situation by adopting, fostering an animal, or volunteering with the Animal Foundation.
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