SHELTER FOR FRIENDS

Brenda Dizon sees too many women delay leaving an abusive relationship because they can't bear to leave behind beloved pets.

The Shade Tree shelter's executive director is hoping that won't happen again now that Noah's Animal House has opened.

The 1,500-square-foot facility for the pets of homeless and abused women and children is situated next door to the shelter.

The facility will help the shelter provide for more of the needs of women who stay there, Dizon said.

"For so many of them, their pets are all they have left."

Dizon and others who work with domestic violence victims said they often see women and children who are devastated by having to leave their pets to seek help.

Noah's Animal House was the brainchild of Staci Columbo, The Shade Tree board member and the vice president of marketing and advertising for Station Casinos. The facility, which she said is the first of its kind in the nation, is named after her 6-year-old son, Noah.

Columbo's passion for animals also inspired her in recent years to collect and drive truckloads of emergency pet supplies to makeshift animal shelters set up in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina and in California after San Bernardino County forest fires.

"Katrina opened the nation's eyes" to the powerful bond between pets and their owners, she said.

With the opening of Noah's Animal House, "women won't have to stay in crisis, children won't have to stay in abusive situations and neither do their pets."

For her work helping animals, Columbo was chosen as one of several Nevadans featured last year in a Review-Journal series called "Profiles in Courage."

She led the fundraising effort for the $500,000 needed to construct the animal shelter on Shade Tree's campus.

The facility, to be staffed by a manager and volunteers, has room for 14 dogs and 15 cats. They can stay for free as long as their owners are at The Shade Tree.

Women and children need only walk across the parking lot to visit their pets.

Noah's Animal House includes a dog run and two "cuddle rooms" for pets and their owners.

Dogs are housed on the east side of the building, while cats are on the west side, so they can take the afternoon sun. Veterinarians are expected to donate their services.

Contact reporter Lynnette Curtis at lcurtis@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0285.