The Las Vegas Valley Humane Society works with North Las Vegas to deal with citizen complaints concerning the sale of animals at swap meet; ordinance approved by all Council members...read more>

Las Vegas City Council passes spay/neuter ordinance by a 4 to 2 vote!

In a lengthy hearing on the ordinance requiring spaying and neutering of animals four months or older with exceptions, the Las Vegas City Council voted to support the ordinance with two minor changes even though one council member refused to vote for the bill unless the age was moved to six months. Councilman Steve Ross, the sponsor of the ordinance, noted that he had been thinking about changing the age to a later time, but after listening to the testimony, he was convinced that four months should stand. He pointed out that veterinarians could write a letter if they felt that a four month old client should not be spayed.

The chamber was filled with supporters of the ordinance and some against the bill to the point that five people were selected to speak in favor of the bill or against it. Only three people spoke in opposition to the ordinance. Councilman Ross did add a requirement that the data on what was happening as a result of the bill be presented on an annual basis. The ordinance will actually go into effect April 1, 2010.

The Chief of Enforcement and Detention Karen Coyne did an excellent job in presenting testimony in favor of the bill and provided both animal control officials from other localities as well as testimony from Director Christine Robinson and Dr. Amy Mitchell with the Animal Foundation. All of the local animal control agencies showed up in support of the bill.  It was an impressive sight.

Our thanks to all of you who came to the City Council meeting, who wrote or emailed in favor of the bill. We can’t do it without you. On to Clark County!!! 

Important Animal Laws
Effective October 1, 2009

The 2009 Nevada State Legislature passed important animal related laws which take effect October 1, 2009. The complete code changes are available at the following links:

SB132: Limits the amount of time a dog can be tethered or chained to a total of 14 hours out of a 24 hour day and determines how it can be tethered; requires that ties and chains must be at least 12 feet.

AB199: Makes it unlawful to own a fighting dog.

AB15: Requires signage in a veterinarian’s office when a locality requires spaying/neutering; requires localities to post at parks signage if the locality legislates spaying and neuter; requires pet stores to provide the name and address of the breeder and to post local regulations regarding spay and neuter; requires that puppies and kittens be 8 weeks old before they can be sold or transferred.