海角大神

A teary-eyed woman guides a dog with sad brown eyes into a crate as the woofs of other canines fill the room.

鈥淢ommy loves you,鈥� the woman reassures the dog.

This isn鈥檛 what the woman wants. It doesn鈥檛 seem to be what the dog, Vino, wants either. But the woman recently lost her home and has to move into a camper 鈥� without Vino. A Path 4 Paws, a rescue organization in Las Vegas, has offered to help find him a new family.

Minutes earlier, Marleen Szalay, a volunteer, had coached the woman through filling out intake paperwork with Vino鈥檚 best interests in mind. With enough information, 鈥淲e鈥檒l be able to get him in the right home,鈥� she says.

As the Sunday morning progresses, a van full of dogs coming from the organization鈥檚 sanctuary arrives. Volunteers lead the animals into the adoption center and prepare them to meet prospective new owners. This is the scene every Saturday and Sunday, and on a good weekend, A Path 4 Paws will find 鈥渓oving homes鈥� for 20 dogs, Ms. Szalay says.

A Path 4 Paws is just one in a constellation of animal welfare organizations that exists in communities across the United States. Some organizations play a behind-the-scenes role, providing extra capacity, foster homes, and a pathway to adoption for animals of all shapes and sizes. Others address a root cause of overpopulation by spaying and neutering animals. Many organizations are run by people like Ms. Szalay 鈥� dedicated volunteers whose passion for animals鈥� well-being motivates their unpaid work.

Here in Las Vegas, The Animal Foundation 鈥� a high-volume shelter that receives about a third of its funding from local governments 鈥� regularly works with dozens of animal rescue organizations. Betsy Laakso, the shelter鈥檚 director of community engagement, says they are 鈥減aw partners鈥� who help save the lives of vulnerable animals.

鈥淥ur relationship with them is pretty vital,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t helps us with the population of animals coming in here and is one more positive pathway that we can give the animals.鈥�

And that population is booming. Through the end of October, The Animal Foundation alone had taken in 21,899 animals 鈥� more than two-thirds of whom were deemed to be strays 鈥� and transferred 2,323 to other rescue organizations last year. Large dogs are sitting at the shelter the longest, waiting an average of two weeks to get adopted, according to Animal Foundation data.

A Path 4 Paws, which relies entirely on donations, regularly picks up dogs from the shelter and independently tries to secure new homes for them. That鈥檚 where the volunteers come into play, fostering the dogs, ushering them to veterinary appointments, running the adoption center on weekends, and, of course, providing frequent cuddles. One person even donates carpet squares to be used in the crates.

The organization routinely has 150 dogs at its sanctuary in a rural area outside Las Vegas. Owners surrender them for reasons such as moves, financial difficulties, or health conditions affecting their ability to care for the animals. Other dogs wind up at shelters, which reach out to rescue organizations when they鈥檙e overflowing.

An adoption fee covers the cost of ensuring the dogs are spayed or neutered, dewormed, microchipped, and up to date on their shots, Ms. Szalay says, adding that the organization鈥檚 veterinary bills still end up being thousands of dollars each month.

鈥淪o many people help us in so many weird, different ways,鈥� says Ms. Szalay, a former hotel executive who decided helping dogs would be her retirement purpose. She calls the work 鈥渞ewarding鈥� but also 鈥渉eartbreaking.鈥�

The volunteers running Bunnies Matter, another animal rescue organization in Las Vegas, feel much the same. On a Saturday morning, they鈥檙e arguably doing more hopping than the domesticated rabbits in their care as they facilitate adoptions, clean pens, provide snacks, and give attention.

Dave Schweiger, president of Bunnies Matter, says the rescue group started with six bunnies that had been dumped in his neighborhood. The six quickly turned into 24 bunnies. When Mr. Schweiger sought help, he couldn鈥檛 find any.

Eventually, the donation-funded group moved into space provided by the city at a park. The small building with wall-mounted air conditioners has 23 pens housing roughly 40 bunnies total 鈥� all of whom had been dumped or injured. The group鈥檚 volunteers have even more bunnies at their homes.

Mr. Schweiger says the goal is to find them homes but not before educating potential adopters about all that pet ownership entails. In 2023, the group adopted out 119 rabbits.

鈥淭he biggest problem is people not thinking they鈥檙e forever pets,鈥� he says.

Rescue groups can provide an additional 鈥減ressure valve release鈥� by providing more homes for animals in their communities, says Stephanie Filer, executive director of Shelter Animals Count, a national database. But success hinges on cooperation among various entities.

鈥淲e are best as an industry when we are all collaborating and working well together for the benefit of the animals,鈥� she says.

In Las Vegas, cooperation is also occurring on the population-control front. It鈥檚 on display in late July at the Heaven Can Wait Animal Society, a nonprofit focusing on spay and neuter services. Cats under anesthesia, slated for the minor surgical procedure, sleep soundly in a row.

On its highest-volume days, the clinic can spay or neuter 100 community cats brought in by volunteer trappers, partner nonprofit groups, foster programs, local residents, or the animal shelter, says Kelly Sheehan, the organization鈥檚 communications and development manager.

鈥淲e can鈥檛 do what we do without them,鈥� she says.

The Community Cat Coalition of Clark County is one of the volunteer organizations routinely bringing cats to the nonprofit clinic. C5, as it鈥檚 known, traps community cats that are part of street colonies and returns them after they have been spayed or neutered.

Keith Williams, president of C5, performed system and data analysis for the aerospace industry before retiring. He approaches his nonprofit鈥檚 work with the same numbers-oriented mindset. 鈥淚f we can go upstream and deal with the root problem, which is vastly too many being born, then the burden on the rescue world will be diminished,鈥� he says.

For volunteers, success also means saying goodbye. Jill Jones, a volunteer at A Path 4 Paws, gives a cattle dog named Art ample belly rubs on a patch of artificial turf. He squirms in delight. Will this be their final interaction? For Art鈥檚 sake, she hopes so.

鈥淵ou get attached to them, but then it鈥檚 nice when you don鈥檛 see them because they got a home,鈥� she says.

Within weeks, Art and Vino had both found homes. They posed for photos, tongues hanging out in canine smiles, with their new families.