Dozens of Animals Pulled from North Las Vegas Home | News

NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Sitting in the driveway of her condemned home with some of her belongings, Joan is embarrassed.

"I've lost all my animals, my place to live, my dignity," she said. "I had a nosy neighbor that called Animal Control, and they came out, and they went through all my closets and saw the animals. So of course, I was going to hide them."

Animal Control officials retrieved 56 animals in total - 50 cats and 6 dogs.

"I was trying to stop them from going to the pound and getting killed," Joan said.

North Las Vegas Police, Animal Control, and the Animal Foundation say many of the cats found were sick anyway, and Joan was doing more harm than good.

"The most important thing here is that the living conditions of this home were absolutely indescribable," said North Las Vegas Police Officer Chrissie Coon. "It was really important for the safety of the family and the safety of the animals to get everybody relocated."

Joan and her 24-year-old daughter have lived at the house near Martin Luther King Boulevard and Carey Avenue for four years.

"Sometimes it's tough. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't," Joan said.

She says veterinarians gave her free medicine and shots for the cats. Various animal groups helped with food. She claims she had no choice but to sign her pets away, even though she fears the worst for them.

"They made us sign papers saying we wouldn't come back after them, so they wouldn't press charges against us for animal neglect or something like that," she said.

The Animal Foundation says all but ten of the animals have been put to sleep. Of those ten animals, one cat was returned to its rightful owner. The remaining nine animals - one dog and eight cats - remain at Lied Animal Shelter. They have been exposed to ringworm and are suffering from minor medical issues.

The Animal Foundation says those eight animals have some form of identification indicating they belong to other owners. The Foundation is trying to return those animals to their rightful owners.