At death’s door, 62 dogs get lucky

Many of the people who have lost homes in foreclosures lately evacuated their houses and left their pets behind to die, says Dale Wynn, the Lied Animal Shelter's executive director.

"We find dogs in garages with no food or water, and the people have moved away," Wynn says.

Other pet owners discard their animals to the shelter merely because their pets need their teeth cleaned.

"We've had people drop off dogs because they redecorated their house, and the dogs don't match," Wynn says.

Yes, some people really, really, really suck.

So the Animal Foundation launched its sixth annual Best in Show at the Orleans on Sunday to take 62 of those shelter dogs to a fancy-looking red carpet, where puppies paraded, kissed John O'Hurley's forehead, and looked super duper cute for American Kennel Club judges.

The truth was, of course, this was the last chance for these dogs. If they hadn't been adopted, they would have died, which is a very hard thing to think about while you're sitting in the stands and watching them wag their tails while licking little kids' faces.

John Fredericks minced no words as one of the guest hosts/dog walkers.

"Do you think any are going out (and getting adopted)? No," Fredericks said. "These animals are killed."

The crowd gasped when he told them 150 to 200 animals are taken in at the shelter each day. That's 50,000 animals a year. Nationally, millions of dogs and cats, puppies and kittens are killed at shelters. It is a silent genocide of pets, partly because of pet owners' worst instincts. And locally, it's also in some measure because of the lack of spay and neutering laws and practices around here.

Only North Las Vegas requires pets to be fixed. Obviously, politicians in Las Vegas, the county and the state can't find five minutes to consider some solutions to the mass killing of abused and neglected animals.

As for Sunday's Best in Show, it raised around a quarter-million dollars for the Animal Foundation. The who's-who started with Robin Leach, who announced. O'Hurley emceed for several hours. Louie Anderson performed stand-up comedy and walked a dog. And there were performances by Zowie Bowie and dog-walking by TV newsers Fredericks, Luis Felipe Godinez, John Huck, Tiffany Sargent, Denise Valdez and Kimberly Wagner.

Despite bad financial times, a record 93 people, hotels and restaurants tossed in sponsoring money, from Siegfried and Roy to Mayor Oscar Goodman, Andre Agassi, chefs and showroom acts.

All the stars seemed truly devoted to the cause, though Fredericks, Anderson and O'Hurley were especially passionate. O'Hurley is an avid dog lover who has written books about pups. He pitched each dog's case like a pro.

"He's looking for someone who likes to sit on a couch and watch soap operas," O'Hurley said about Duke the pug.

"She'd make for a beautiful family dog," he said of one canine, then promoted another, "I can see this dog chasing a Frisbee."

I know some of you desire a purebred animal that comes with papers. But a lot of animals at the shelter and Humane Society are pure breeds that come housebroken and with papers. They're just about $1,000 cheaper. Why are they in the shelter? Because some spoiled person changed the drapes and the dog doesn't match? Seriously, someone go save those dogs already.

There were plenty of Best in Show types of stars on the buying block: a fox terrier, a toy poodle, a Pekingese, a beagle, Jack Russell terriers, a border collie, a Manchester terrier, a Lhasa apso, a springer spaniel, an Australian shepherd, a boxer and a Rottweiler that was so pretty, it won the final ribbon.

A main message was that people who care about animals can take action if they want. They can volunteer at the shelter, foster-parent animals, adopt them and donate money. At the very least, you should vaccinate and spay or neuter your own animals.

By the end, the Animal Foundation sold all 62 dogs.

Next question: What is the destiny of the 1,000 dogs that will be dropped off at the shelter within the next week?

Unless you or someone else does something, the odds are: death.

Doug Elfman's column appears on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Contact him at 702-383-0391 or e-mail him at delfman@reviewjournal.com. He also blogs at reviewjournal.com/elfman.