Tails of Nye County is celebrating its new office location with a grand opening and Pahrump Valley Chamber of Commerce ribbon-cutting ceremony today, Friday, Nov. 2.
The excitement is not set to stop until Saturday afternoon, with a yard sale fundraiser scheduled to help bring in money to support the nonprofit’s efforts.
“Tails of Nye County is a 501(c)3 spay and neuter nonprofit. We assist people that cannot otherwise afford to spay and neuter their cats and dogs,” Tails of Nye County volunteer Nancy Guin detailed. “We secure a reduced fee for the procedure from a veterinarian. Some people can pay the entire reduced fee and some cannot. We then pay the amount the pet owner cannot afford to pay.”
In addition to assisting residents in getting their animals spayed and neutered and thereby aiding in controlling the pet population, Tails of Nye County also focuses on reducing the overall stray cat population too. Just one homeless feline and her offspring can collectively contribute hundreds or even thousands of additional cats to the valley and a male cat can begin impregnating females as early as four months old, figures that highlight the importance of the work Tails of Nye County is doing.
“We also offer TNR (trap-neuter-return) for feral cats. This is a huge problem in Pahrump. The cats are taken into Vegas, where they receive shots, are spayed or neutered and receive an ear tip,” Guin explained, referring to the common practice of clipping the tip of a fixed feline’s ear. This visually demonstrates that the cat has already been spayed or neutered, helping prevent wasted efforts by those who are operating TNR programs. Once the feline has been fixed, “They are then returned to their community,” Guin stated.
So far in 2018, Tails of Nye County has successful spayed or neutered an astonishing 1,000-plus feral cats.
Performing these activities comes with a cost, however, and raising funds to boost the program is imperative for the nonprofit. The next big fundraising undertaking for Tails of Nye County will be the yard sale, which is set to take place today from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and continue Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
“We have such a wide variety of items in the sale. We have a lot of kitchenware, paintings, tools, linens, furniture and just about anything else anyone could want,” Guin said, encouraging residents to head to the new office to check everything out.
“Several housefuls of items were donated by Pahrump Valley Properties and Nevada Realty. The rest of the items were donated by the community,” Guin added with gratitude, noting, “And I want to include Do It Best Pahrump Rentals in the list of people that donated. They are loaning us 15 tables free of charge to use at the yard sale. They are amazing.”
There will also be two raffle prizes available at the yard sale, including a quilt decorated with cats and a box of assorted fireworks. Patrons can purchase raffle tickets for $1 each or they can buy in bulk at six for $5, 13 for $10 and 30 for $20.
The grand opening, ribbon cutting and yard sale will take place at the new Tails of Nye County office, 520 East Street in Pahrump.
For more information on Tails of Nye County visit www.tailsofnyecounty.com
Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com