Officials with Nye County and the town of Pahrump were joined by shelter staff and community animal lovers this past Wednesday for a celebration marking the grand opening of the new Nye County Animal Shelter, which was completed this summer and is now open to the public.
Nye County Animal Shelter Manager Tasha Crabtree led the ceremony, gathering attendees on the steps before the shelter for the formal ribbon cutting.
“Thank you everybody for joining us, I really appreciate you celebrating this monumental moment. It’s really exciting that we’re able to open up the Nye County Animal Shelter and have this resource for the community… Let’s cut this ribbon!” Crabtree enthused.
The scissors slicing through the ribbon triggered an eruption of cheering and applause before everyone eagerly headed inside for a first-hand look at the state-of-the-art facility.
“The grand opening was a great success,” Crabtree told the Pahrump Valley Times once the event came to a close. “It was wonderful welcoming the community into the new building and introducing them to our animals.”
While offering tours of the facility to residents was a focus of the celebration, so too was arranging adoptions between attendees and the pets looking for their forever homes. Crabtree was delighted to report that shelter staff were able to find loving families for four dogs, but of course, there are always more animals in need of an owner to call their own.
“We currently have about 25 available dogs and 10 available cats,” Crabtree detailed. She and her staff are optimistic that many of these shelter residents will soon be adopted out, however, and one endeavor they are undertaking to help with that goal is participation in a Clear the Shelters event.
“We are hoping to ‘Clear the Shelter’ this Friday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.,” Crabtree explained. “All altered animals over the age of six months will have their adoption fee waived, meaning they will be free to approved adopters!”
It’s been a long and hard struggle to get the new shelter built and operating and Crabtree was quick to acknowledge those whose effort played a major role in the project.
“I am extremely appreciative of our shelter staff, Joe, Jim, Kat, Olive and Gilbert, the trustees, and the wonderful Nye County Buildings and Grounds and IT departments that have put in so much work and elbow-grease to get things up and running,” Crabtree said. “I would like to extend my greatest gratitude to our volunteers as they are always so eager to jump in and help out. We couldn’t have done this without you!
“Thank you to our dedicated community rescue and veterinary partners that have helped us more than ever: Tails of Nye County; Never Forgotten Animal Society; NSPCA; Spay and Neuter Center of Southern Nevada; Heaven Can Wait; and All Creatures Animal Hospital,” Crabtree continued. “Lastly, a sincere thank you to Commissioner Frank Carbone, county manager Tim Sutton, Sheriff Sharon Wehrly and Capt. David Boruchowitz for their continued support of the shelter and their dedication to animal welfare.”
The Nye County Animal Shelter is located at 1580 E. Siri Lane. For more information call 775-751-7020.
Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com