Local animal society to host adoption event

The executive director of Pahrump’s Never Forgotten Animal Society wants to put herself out of a job, and area residents can help her achieve that goal.

Pat Leming spoke about a special adoption event coming up on Monday, October 4, dubbed, “Empty the Shelters.”

“When I started this in 2018, my goal was to work my way out of a job because I wanted to make sure that every animal born, was born into a loving and kind home,” she said. “That will not happen in my lifetime, but I wanted to be part of the solution and not part of the problem, so that is why we put a very special emphasis on spaying and neutering because this has to stop.”

The event

Empty the Shelters, a national event, was developed by the Bissell Pet Foundation, and is scheduled to run from Oct. 4, through Oct. 10 at Never Forgotten Animal Society’s 520 East Street location.

Leming talked about how the adoption process works.

At present, there are 152 animals waiting for loving homes.

“As far as the breakdown of cats and dogs, it’s really even,” she said. “I have everything from Siberian Huskies to little Silver Chihuahuas, which are very, very rare. They are a genetic breed and I have four boys and one girl, and I expect that they’re going to go very quickly. The Bissell Foundation will pick up most of the adoption fees for any animals that comes out of our shelter during those days, so it is an opportunity for people that could not afford our normal adoption fees to come in and pick the animal of their choice. We’re charging a minimum of $25 per adoption, and that is just for us to recover some of our costs because Bissell will not pick up the full adoption fee, they’ll just pick up a portion of it.”

Ready to go

Leming also noted that all of the animals at the shelter are vaccinated and micro-chipped before they can be put up for adoption.

“That is our procedure when they walk through the front door,” she said. “Some are spayed and neutered, and some are not.”

Additionally, Leming spoke about a special program known as “Foster to Adopt.”

“The animals that are less than five months old are adopted out on a foster-to-adopt basis because they cannot be fixed, and nothing goes out of the shelter that is not fixed eventually,” she said. “This program allows you to take the animal home with you even though it’s not fixed, so the owner can integrate them into their family. When they reach five months, then we call and let you know that the animal is ready to be spayed or neutered and we make those arrangements for you. The person takes them to the animal hospital that’s working with us and at that particular time, they drop them off in the morning and they come here to sign the adoption documents. When they return to pick them up in the afternoon, we transfer over from a foster to a full adoption.”

National foundation

As stated in a news release, the Bissell Foundation has helped more than 61,787 pets find their forever homes throughout the United States since its inception in 2011, according to founder Cathy Bissell.

“Shelters are in dire need of support in the wake of natural disasters and overcrowding due to obstacles such as increased length of stay and slowed adoptions for mid-to large-sized dogs,” Bissell said. “Our fall ‘Empty the Shelters’ will support the adoption of thousands of pets across the country, helping shelters in this time of crisis. Opening your home to a shelter pet will save a life and create space to give another pet a chance.”

Adoption numbers

Leming, meanwhile, noted that her shelter has done quite well in terms of adoptions this year.

“We adopted out 500 pets this year, and we did 811 adoptions last year, so it looks like we’re going to be on track to either meet that or exceed it this year,” she said. “We’re getting 19 small dogs on Oct. 2.”

Burdensome adoption process

Interestingly, Leming noted that many people from Las Vegas make the drive to Pahrump to adopt a pet due to the complicated adoption process in Clark County.

“About 30 percent of our adoptions now are from Las Vegas, because, in my opinion, Las Vegas makes it so onerous to try and adopt an animal,” she said. “They make it so hard and people have to jump over so many hurdles and they just get tired of it.”

Later this month

On a final note, Leming spoke about additional upcoming events the shelter has scheduled for later this month, including a yard sale fundraiser coming up on Oct. 8 and 9, from 10 a.m to 3 p.m.

“We have our actual anniversary coming up on Nov. 4, which will be our third year,” she said. “This month we are having Halloween pictures on the 22nd and 23rd from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., so you can dress up and bring your animals in costumes to have your pictures taken with them. We do it on your cell phone, and there’s a $5 donation. We have a very nice backdrop and all kinds of stuff set up for that. We also have a costume party going on this month, on Oct. 24 at the Elks Club from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. It’s going to be $15 per ticket, but we’re also going to serve lunch and drinks, so it’s going to be a really fun affair.”

For additional information, call Never Forgotten Animal Society at 775-537-8674.

Business hours are Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes