Heaven Can Wait Animal Society, a non-profit 501 (c)(3) animal humane organization, was formed in 2000 by a group of 5 concerned citizens with the idea of building a beautiful 20 acre sanctuary to house all of the unwanted animals in our community.  In the meantime, though, animals were and still are dying at rate of around 30,000 per year in our local shelters with even more just dying in the streets.  Therefore, we decided to refocus our efforts slightly away from rescue and more toward promoting spay/neuter as the solution to the tragic pet overpopulation problem here in Las Vegas.

As we took the time to research how other communities dealt with and ultimately reduced their impound and euthanasia rates we discovered a common denominator: spay/neuter. Heaven Can Wait now focuses the majority of it's efforts in this area. Through our targeted and aggressive spay/neuter programs, we prevent thousands of unwanted litters each year in our community. 

On June 19,2009 Heaven Can Wait took a giant leap forward by opening a high-volume/high-quality, low-cost/no-cost spay/neuter clinic near Eastern & 95. This clinic will serve as a much-needed resource for those who aren’t able to afford sterilization services at regular veterinary prices.  We have also secured a piece of property adjacent to the Henderson shelter for our even larger, permanent clinic. This 2.4 acre parcel of land was a generous donation from the City of Henderson, we are planning to begin construction within the next 5 years. Amazingly, over the past 10 years we have spay/neutered close to 50,000 cats and dogs, and last year, because of the added space of the new clinic, we reached an all-time high of 9,331 sterilizations!

In addition to focusing on animal spay and neuter programs, Heaven Can Wait successfully operates several additional programs aimed at reducing animal suffering and euthanizations through educational and rehabilitation programs throughout the community.

Tales to Tails is a children’s literacy program that utilizes animals to assist children who are having a difficult time reading. Children will read aloud to Heaven Can Wait animals, many of which were rescued.  The animals serve as a calm, non-judgmental audience and the special bond that forms between the children and the animals help the kids overcome a number of speech, reading and self-confidence issues.  On average, children’s reading skills advance two grade levels after participating in the Tails to Tales program.  To learn more about Tales to Tails, click here.

Pups on Parole (as seen on “The Dog Whisperer” and voted best episode of year) has proven to be an incredibly successful program for not only animals in need but also for the community as a whole.  Inmates are trained to rehabilitate “problem” dogs and in turn the animals help rehabilitate the inmates by teaching them essential life skills such as structure, discipline and affection.  Many inmates who have completed the Pups on Parole program have obtained careers in related fields such as groomers and trainers.  And through the program, over 600 obedience trained dogs, which were once seen as having little chance of being adopted due to behavioral issues, have been placed into permanent, loving homes.  The Pups on Parole program currently operates in The Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Center and The Jean Conservation Camp.  To learn more about Pups on Parole, click here.

Feral Cat Clinic has been the flagship program in Heaven Can Wait’s W.A.R. (War Against Reproduction) aimed at controlling the overpopulation of feral (wild) cats and eliminate their suffering.  We are pleased to report that since this project has been underway, 7,459 feral cats have been spayed or neutered.  To learn more about the Feral Cat Clinic click here.

Ground Zero is our second W.A.R. program aimed at providing spay and neuter options for people who want to be responsible pet owners, but cannot because of cost or transportation problems.  Utilizing a mobile veterinary clinic, Heaven Can Wait can bring these essential services to the communities that need it most.  To learn more about Ground Zero, click here.

It’s The Pits is a program aimed at helping the largely misunderstood pit bull breed.  While the properly trained pit bull is loving, intelligent and very loyal, untrained pit bulls or worse yet pit bulls trained to be aggressive have given this breed a bad name.  And their reputation has only gotten worse in recent times with events such as the Michael Vick dog fighting incidents.  Because of this, pit bulls in shelters have very little chance of being adopted and every day in the Las Vegas area 15 pit bulls are put down.  To learn about the It’s the Pits program and how we can help this misunderstood breed, click here.

Pet Adoptions – While the majority of our efforts are on spay & neuter programs, Heaven Can Wait does house and prepare a limited number of cats and dogs for adoptions into permanent loving homes.  Heaven Can Wait is also assisted with adoptions through a partnership with PetSmart.  We placed close to 600 happy cats and dogs into loving, forever homes in 2009. To browse the available cats and dogs or to learn how to help, click here.

Heaven Can Wait and its programs are made possible with generous donations from the community and the relentless spirit of our wonderful volunteers to make a difference every day in the lives of animals.  If you would like to donate to Heaven Can Wait, click here.