Puppy Mills and Animal Overcrowding
Last summer, Henderson police went to a house to investigate a complaint from a neighbor. Police found the owners were running a puppy mill. That is, they were breeding young, female dogs and selling their pups for $2,000-$5,000.
The residents had 39 dogs. 34 of them were French Bulldogs. Four of them were pregnant.
There were also two horses, over 100 chickens and a couple of goats, according to Clark County Animal Protection Services - which most people just call Animal Control
All of those animals were taken to the Animal Foundation. This made overcrowding at the Foundation a lot worse. And it’s been pretty bad for a while.
The team decided to look at this topic because... well... PUPPIES! But also because it is a demonstration of how civics work when neighboring municipalities don't coordinate. It's hard to ban pet stores - as Clark County and North Las Vegas did - when pet stores are perfectly legal in Henderson and Las Vegas.
Guests:
Jerrica Owen, National Care and Control Association
Lori Heeren, Nevada SPCA
Hilarie Grey, Las Vegas Animal Foundation
Pet Hotline: 702.955.5932 (Lost or Found)
Petco Love Lost
The team decided to look at this topic because... well... PUPPIES! But also because it is a demonstration of how civics work when neighboring municipalities don't coordinate. It's hard to ban pet stores - as Clark County and North Las Vegas did - when pet stores are perfectly legal in Henderson and Las Vegas.
Guests:
Jerrica Owen, National Care and Control Association
Lori Heeren, Nevada SPCA
Hilarie Grey, Las Vegas Animal Foundation
Pet Hotline: 702.955.5932 (Lost or Found)
Petco Love Lost
Creators and Guests

Producer
Carrie Kaufman
Carrie Kaufman is the director and driving force behind the Civics Radio Network, which came about when her then-teen daughter exhorted her to do a better job teaching young people about the city we live in. She is veteran print and radio journalist who has always been more interested in what people are avoiding than what they are talking about. She founded and published PerformInk, a Chicago theatre and film industry trade paper, which covered economics, jobs, politics, racism, sexism, power, real estate - all through the lens of the artist. She then moved on to public radio, where she hosted talk shows in Vegas and Wisconsin, which is when she realized she was too old to do bad journalism. So now she is helping students understand that good civics makes good journalism and good journalism makes good civics. She also writes a Substack, "You're Overthinking It," that looks at the rules we live by and explores who benefits.
