County audit finds Animal Foundation inflated population numbers

A newly released Clark County audit of the embattled Animal Foundation found the nonprofit shelter inflated its population projections to dissuade animal protection officers from dropping off new animals.

“We believe The Animal Foundation overstated capacity to Clark County Animal Protection Services to discourage drop-offs to the shelter,” auditors said.

But overall, auditors found that the shelter “is complying with the care, operational, and financial requirements” outlined in the contract, which expires in 2025.

“During each of our visits we found the grounds, kennels and general areas of the Lied Animal Shelter to be in clean and sanitary conditions,” the audit of the nonprofit, which is partially funded by tax dollars, said.

Auditors sampled population figures from three weeks in December 2022 and found that the projections were overstated by a daily average of 22 animals.

Auditors acknowledged that “staffing challenges” at the shelter could have affected projections.

The shelter has since discontinued the use of a daily color-coded “capacity for care” calculation, and instead is coaching officers to access internal databases so they can check for capacity in real time.

Previously, code red signified a “crisis,” in which officers only dropped off dangerous animals or those in need of veterinary care. The inflated numbers pushed the status to code red in all but four of the December days sampled.

“We thank Clark County for the thorough and comprehensive audit they performed and are pleased that the findings overwhelmingly support that The Animal Foundation is in compliance with the Shelter Services Agreement,” an Animal Foundation spokesperson wrote in a statement. “This audit confirms the high standard of care provided by The Animal Foundation in pursuit of our mission to save the lives of all healthy and treatable animals in the Las Vegas Valley.”

The nonprofit has been plagued by staffing shortages, resignations and allegations of delayed animal intakes.

While a total of 4,205 animals were put down in 2022, “The Animal Foundation is not “needlessly euthanizing animals, despite the challenges of operating an urban shelter,” according to auditors who examined the deaths.

The county, which provides about half of the roughly $5 million in public funding the shelter receives yearly, is considering giving additional money for a call center the shelter says will fast-track its customer service, and therefore ease the population crisis.

North Las Vegas and the city of Las Vegas also contract with the nonprofit for law-mandated holds of animals found on the street or taken from pet owners.

Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com. Follow @rickytwrites on Twitter.