Animal shelter lifesaving rate steady; cruelty, neglect cases rise

When the Nevada Humane Society took over Carson City Animal Services in 2014, the lifesaving rate of animals handled by the city was about 55 percent, according to NHS CEO Greg Hall.

Thursday, Hall presented an annual report to the Carson City Board of Supervisors outlining statistics in the animal shelter and control department from last year. A “no-kill” shelter must have a lifesaving rate of more than 90 percent, he said. That rate simply reflects the number of animals saved by an organization. Rates for the last three years in Carson City were about 95 percent.

Both 2020 and 2021 saw overall lifesaving rates of 95.6 percent. For 2022, the overall lifesaving rate was 94.8 percent. The rate for dogs increased from the previous year, from 96.4 percent to 97.3 percent, but the lifesaving rate for cats dropped from 95.4 percent in 2021 to 93.7 percent in 2022. Hall said panleukopenia, a sometimes-fatal virus that affects cats, could be responsible for the drop.

While Hall said overpopulation at shelters is an issue nationwide, overpopulation is not currently an issue in Carson.

“We have not been at or over capacity here,” he said.

Shelter intakes in 2022 were 2,337, down from 2,577 in 2021. Overall adoptions also dipped slightly. In 2021, 1,363 cats and 1,042 dogs were adopted. Last year, 1,113 cats and 1,056 dogs were adopted.

Hall estimated adoptions will be down this year as the organization tries harder to reunite animals with owners. This effort has created a positive trend in the animal control department: the return-to-owner rate increased nearly 10 percent last year.

Some negative trends showed up last year as well. Animal bites jumped 23 percent, from 124 in 2021 to 153 in 2022. Hall told supervisors bites are up nationally, but the animal service industry doesn’t know why. There is not enough data, he said.

Hall did offer an explanation for another negative trend in Carson City. Cruelty and neglect cases jumped 241 percent last year. Forty-nine cases were noted in 2021 versus 167 in 2022. Hall said the rise includes multiple factors. He said the community has more confidence in calling animal control services, so responses have increased. Calls for service in 2022 were 1,907 versus 1,836 in the previous year. Hall also said some people in the community are in difficult situations. He mentioned a hoarding case at Carson Pines Apartments off David Street. The job of NHS, he said, isn’t to judge, but to help.

Supervisor Lisa Schuette said animal-related issues don’t occur in a vacuum. She discussed how social issues, including housing, can affect animal welfare.

“Nobody wants to see animals suffer,” she said. “Nobody wants to see animals not cared for and loved and treated. People who don’t have money, they don’t love their pets any less.”

Hall said NHS struggles with the same labor challenges facing other governments and organizations, but he was optimistic about promoting community events and building a volunteer corps. He said the NHS volunteer base was somewhat depleted during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Carson City Shelter City Manager Clay Johnson is also getting more involved in the community. He said he’s joined the Chamber of Commerce’s leadership program and is organizing an internship for students at Carson High who are interested in working at the shelter.

Hall described the Carson City shelter as a beacon for the entire NHS organization. According to a Carson City Health and Human Services staff report, the city last contracted with NHS in 2019 for a 10-year term.

“We really appreciate the relationship we have with the city,” said Hall.

For information on NHS, visit https://nevadahumanesociety.org/.