Animal welfare

Over the past few years, has there been a more poorly run, taxpayer-financed organization than the Lied Animal Shelter? Until this summer, the place probably showed torture/slasher flicks like “The Hills Have Eyes” as employee training videos. On the operations side, it made the Nevada Department of Transportation seem like Google.

The horror stories of lost pets being put down upon arrival and adopted animals dropping dead on living room floors have circulated the valley for years. Some of those critters were lucky; thousands of others were forced to live in cages and runs full of vomit and feces alongside diseased animals for weeks before being euthanized. Many animal lovers who dared enter the facility were, quite literally, reduced to tears.

Only when a team of investigators from the Humane Society of the United States declared a state of emergency in February did the shelter, which is run by the nonprofit Animal Foundation and funded by local governments, begin to reverse course. The place was closed for a week. New policies to prevent the spread of disease and suffering were put in place. A new executive director, Christine Robinson, was hired.

The cleanup continues. Earlier this month, Ms. Robinson fired 28 employees after forcing everyone who handled animals to undergo a drug test. Seven workers who refused to take the drug tests were let go, while 21 tested positive for either methamphetamine, cocaine or marijuana.

“We want a work force committed to the mission of the shelter,” Ms. Robinson said. “You can do that well with good, quality people, and fewer of them.”

Indeed, weeding the garden was certainly justified. Especially after Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman launched an investigation to determine direct responsibility for the ghastly conditions that once prevailed at the shelter.

“Anything that goes to address a bad situation is good, rather than to let it fester and leave it unchanged,” Mayor Goodman said in response to the firings.

Ms. Robinson intends to apply the $627,000 in payroll savings to the wages of retained workers with the hope the raises will decrease turnover.

These are positive developments for a place that has generated little positive news over the years.

And that can only help animal welfare in Southern Nevada.