Clark County commissioners on Tuesday will receive a report on conditions that led to the outbreak of contagious diseases at Lied Animal Shelter.
County Chief Administrative Officer Donald Burnette said commissioners also will learn what's being done to prevent another crisis at Southern Nevada's regional pound.
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"We're going to talk about the changes that have been made so far and where we go from here," Burnette said.
The report on Lied will be presented by Burnette and Joe Boteilho, the county's animal control chief.
Lied spokesman Mark Fierro did not return several calls Friday inquiring whether the shelter would have a representative at Tuesday's meeting to address commissioners' questions.
Lied reopened Friday after closing Feb. 9, when a team of visiting veterinary experts from the Humane Society of the United States declared a state of emergency at the shelter after discovering an outbreak of Parvovirus and distemper in dogs and panleukopenia in cats.
The veterinary experts had been invited by Lied to perform a four-day site inspection and provide advice on improving operations. But Humane Society officials discovered a severe outbreak of contagious diseases in the overcrowded facility.
About 150 infected dogs and cats were euthanized, as were an additional 850 exposed to parvovirus, distemper and panleukopenia.
Officials with the Animal Foundation, the private non-profit group that operates the shelter, acknowledged Wednesday that they should have euthanized more animals to control the shelter's population rather than keeping them alive indefinitely.
The foundation, which contracts with Clark County and the cities of Las Vegas and North Las Vegas to provide animal shelter services, has adopted a new policy for dealing with animals taken there by the public and animal control officers.
Formerly, the shelter kept animals alive indefinitely. Now, animals deemed adoptable will be kept alive up to 120 days. Animals deemed unfit for adoption, such as those that are old or sick, will be euthanized after 72 hours.
