Nevada Humane Society (NHS) told the Washoe County advisory board on May 16 that the organization continues to take in a large share of unclaimed animals from Washoe County and is expanding community spay/neuter services after winning a county-administered ARPA reimbursement grant.

"In the first quarter of 2025, Nevada Humane Society transferred in 90% of unclaimed dogs and an astounding 96% of unclaimed cats from WCRAS," CEO Jerlene Bryant said. She described NHS as a donor-funded public-surrender facility that handles owned-animal relinquishments and Good Samaritan intakes; NHS does not receive city or county taxpayer funding for this work, she said.

NHS reported a shift in intake patterns: the organization saw a large rise in owner relinquishments in Q1 2025 — 272 owner surrenders in the quarter — a 64% increase versus the same quarter last year, Bryant said. NHS said kitten season was already well under way and that foster resources were supporting hundreds of kittens; at the time of the presentation NHS reported about 350 kittens in foster care that morning.

On outcomes, NHS described progress lowering length of stay: the organization reported an 8.4-day average for cats in March and a 14.7-day average for dogs, metrics Bryant said are used to measure operational efficiency and support adoptions. NHS noted high public demand for adoptable cats and dogs and said shorter length of stay helps move more animals through the system.

NHS also described a client-case example it used to illustrate foster and medical support: "Nightshade," a critically ill newborn kitten that received emergency foster and clinical support and was later adopted, was presented as an example of the cradle-to-adoption support NHS provides.

Spay/neuter expansion: Bryant described the ARPA-funded spay-and-neuter expansion, which NHS began staffing and equipping in early 2025. NHS hired Dr. Jennifer Fitzpatrick to lead community medicine and surgery, repaired a mobile surgical van, purchased medical equipment and increased scheduling capacity. Bryant reported that NHS had completed 677 sterilizations to date as part of the initiative and is targeting 4,000 additional surgeries under the two-year grant. The grant is a county-administered reimbursement award; Hospice said NHS has not yet received reimbursement and that the organization is covering startup costs while the county grant reimbursement process continues.

Bryant said the spay/neuter expansion will increase affordable access to surgery, vaccines and microchipping for owned pets and support rescue and TNR partners. She said the new surgery capacity will be used for public appointments, foster support and partnership surgeries to reduce community intake.

Ending — Financial note and next steps: NHS said the ARPA award is a reimbursement grant; the organization is advancing program costs and will submit invoices to Washoe County. NHS pledged to report back to the advisory board with updated surgery volumes and data that separate TNR, owner-surrender and other sources of surgery demand.