Golden Knights forward Gage Quinney visits Henderson animal shelter

Sheryl Smith came to Henderson Animal Care and Control Saturday morning to adopt a new dog. It had been two years since her last furry companion passed away, and the shelter was offering half-off adoptions all month.

But Smith left the building with more than just her new pup, Ashley. She had pictures of the new family member posing next to Golden Knights forward Gage Quinney, who Smith and her daughter were able to meet while adopting Ashley.

Quinney was at the facility Saturday morning to meet locals and bring attention to the “Clear the Shelter” initiative going on until the end of August, where all adoptions will be half off.

“I think shelters are wonderful. But that’s not a good place for an animal,” Smith said as she walked out of the shelter with Ashley by her side. “You know, they need love. And I have an awful lot of it to give.”

Henderson Animal Control Administrator Danielle Harney said Henderson’s shelter is still getting more animals given to them than are being adopted, even with the discounts on adoption. But the meet and greet with Quinney brought some much-needed attention to the shelter.

“Having someone like Gage come and do a promo event in the middle of the month has been huge for us,” Harney said. “We’ve had as many animals adopted already this morning that sometimes we have, in a whole day.”

Harney said about half the shelter’s capacity is also dedicated to animals that are waiting for medical procedures or strays being rehabilitated. Even though the shelter started the day with 45 dogs available for adoption, it was still nearing capacity for dogs throughout the month.

She said more animals have been brought to the shelter recently due to many people no longer being able to afford to take care of them.

Quinney said it means a lot to be able to help the shelter. His family has a lot of animals, and he and his wife own two rescue dogs themselves.

“It’s just a beautiful thing,” Quinney said. “We’ve always loved animals and wanted to help out the shelter, so when we saw we could help out with the overcrowding, it was a big, big deal to us.”

Harney said people who want to help Henderson Animal Care and Control can do so by adopting an animal, volunteering, donating, helping at any of the local animal rescue organizations and sharing the shelter’s posts on social media.

Contact Mark Credico at mcredico@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Instagram @writermark2.