About 30 dogs and a dozen birds were seized for cruelty and welfare reasons within just one week.
This influx has put Washoe County Regional Animal Services at capacity for dogs.
Tammy Jennings, the assistant director for Washoe County Regional Animal Services, discussed their process when issues like this arise.
"Well, the first thing we do is give them veterinary exams to make sure they're healthy. All their needs are being met, and assess what is going on with them," she said.
The next thing they do is get them safely housed in the facility. However, they say, since these cases were cruelty and welfare-based, these animals will be there for an extended amount of time, which has a huge impact on their availability to bring in other animals.
Jennings explains, "One of the first things we do is to contact all of our rescue partners to see if they have any availability for the other animals that are available to go out to rescue groups. We put messaging out to the community to encourage the community to take any stray animals that they might find to one of our microchip scanning stations within the community, and maybe they can reunite the animals on their own without bringing the animals here, and to encourage people to come and get their animals that are already here as soon as possible."
With this issue, they say fostering and adopting are really important during this time of year.
They say the more animals that go through our rescue partners or adoption means more space for them to house the animals that need it.
Organizations that frequently help them are the Nevada Humane Society, SPCA of Northern Nevada, and some of their foster-based rescue groups like Rescue Boxers and Buddies.
Jennings says if you have concerns about welfare issues with animals, you can call their dispatch line at (775) 322-3647 to make a report. Those reports will get sent out to their officers to conduct an investigation.
She adds, "They don't have a voice. They can't tell us what's going on. So, it's up to us in the community to make those calls. So, we can do a proper investigation and see what needs to be done for those animals so we can be there to help them."
