Businesses step in to assist overcrowded animal shelter

Tails End Animal Shelter received some good news this week with two area businesses providing much needed donations to the overcrowded shelter.

Jiffy Simpson of Pahrump’s Suddenlink Communications said this week that the company will make a donation to the shelter, which will provide for food and additional provisions necessary for the shelter’s day-to-day operations.

Suddenlink, which offers internet and satellite television services in Pahrump, is based in Kingman, Arizona.

“I asked my company to make a donation and they have obliged,” she said. “Right now, I’m just waiting for an amount so that we can make arrangements to get it up there to them.”

As a local resident and animal lover, Simpson said the thought of knowing pets huddled inside a facility that has exceeded its capacity, prompted her to act.

“We all here have a love for animals and Suddenlink Communications likes to give back to the community,” she said. “I don’t have an exact amount just yet, but the donations will help them out with certain items they need in order to make it easier for them to care for the overabundance of animals.”

Tails End is also receiving support from a business in Las Vegas as well.

Officials at Altus Hospice heard about the shelter’s dilemma through media reports.

Angela Ricker said not only will the hospice provide a monetary donation, the company is also issuing a challenge to other businesses to step up and contribute.

“Through our hospice, we have contracted agreements with Southern Nevada Oxygen, One Point Patient Care Pharmacy and Medical Transport Company and they stepped right up and donated as well,” she said. “Right now, we have $1,250 dollars and what we want to do is challenge the community. It’s like an ‘Ice Bucket Challenge,’ without the ice, where they match our donation.”

Overcrowding aside, the shelter took a big financial hit this month when county commissioners voted to discontinue funding the facility at $225,000 a year.

The action renewed the director of the shelter, Susan Cronin’s efforts to find a larger facility that meets planning and zoning regulations.

A property on the far north end of town just may suit the shelter’s needs.

The four-acre site is located along the 1800 block of Hays Street, with additional room for expansion. The listed price is $249,000.

Ricker, who also volunteers for a Las Vegas animal facility, feels the dollar amount can be raised through community support and compassion for the animals.

“It really wouldn’t take that much to get the housing and land that Susan Cronin needs to get that shelter up and running,” she said. “Susan does such a great job.”

The shelter was at maximum capacity with more than 30 animals when 67 dogs were seized from a home in Tonopah last month.

The dogs were transported to Pahrump because Tonopah’s animal shelter has a capacity of roughly 10 animals.

Bette Lynne Fuchsel, 69, was arrested Feb. 24 after Nye County Animal Control and Sheriff’s deputies responded to her home at 24 Cody St. Fuchsel was charged with alleged torture and failing to provide adequate shelter for the animals.

She was cited by Tonopah Animal Control Supervisor Tim McCarty on Jan. 15, for failure to vaccinate and license the dogs.

She was also cited for failing to remove animal waste and odors on her property.

Fuchsel is free on $10,000 bail and was scheduled to appear in Tonopah Justice Court on Thursday.