Who We Are
Washoe County Regional Animal Services (WCRAS) is a regional operation providing 
WCRAS impounds an average of 9,900 animals annually, either brought in by citizens or picked up by field staff. Approximately 75% of the animals that come through the shelter are lost animals. The remaining 25% are bite quarantines, cruelty case animals, deceased animals, etc. WCRAS' regional facility includes 110 dog kennels, 76 cat condos, a six-stall barn for livestock, and a four-stall coop for fowl. Our facility routinely houses other animals such as reptiles, birds, rabbits, and livestock.
Animal Services works diligently to reunite lost pets with their families. For calendar year 2024, we reunited 60% of the lost dogs that came into our care and 9% of the cats! Our philosophy is that every animal has a home and we want to help find it, whether it is a lost animal that needs help being reunited with its family or if it has been abandoned and in need of a new place to call home. Our FREE microchip program and diligent efforts by WCRAS staff contribute to our successful reunification of nearly 40% of lost animals.
Animal Services and Nevada Humane Society (NHS) are co-located on one campus, but we are two separate entities, providing focused programs to our community. Animal Services is a lost/found animal shelter, with limited capacity intended for a lost animal's short stay. Animal Services provides field services 365 days per year, 8 am- 10pm, (775-322-dogs 3647) to investigate animal cruelty, confine loose animals, investigate animal bites, provide reunification services, and disaster and emergency response, as just a few of our focus areas.
Through our partnership and a Professional Services Agreement (PSA), NHS provides adoption services for many of the unclaimed animals from Animal Services. NHS also provides owner relinquishment services for Washoe County residents. Animal Services does not have an adoption or animal relinquishment program, by design, since the partnership with Nevada Humane Society is intended to fulfill those service needs. For the animals that NHS does not transfer for adoption, Animal Services also partners with SPCA of Northern Nevada, Res-Que, Pet Network, and several other extremely valuable rescue partners.
MISSION
Promoting responsible care of animals through education, proactive outreach and regulation making Washoe County a safe community.
AREAS SERVED
WCRAS provides services across the Cities of Reno and Sparks as well as unincorporated Washoe County, totaling 6,600 square miles. It is estimated that over 116,000 dogs and 90,000 cats reside in Washoe County. (https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/Statistics/Pages/US-pet-ownership-calculator.aspx )
HISTORY
In 2002, voters in Washoe County passed a referendum to fund the construction of a new Regional Animal Service facility through a 30-year bond, levied by a 3% property tax increase. Animal service departments from the cities of Reno and Sparks consolidated with Washoe County. As part of the referendum, it included a partnership with Nevada Humane Society. Though each organization is separately funded, this public-private partnership allows both agencies to cost share by co-locating and sharing the same 60,000 sq. ft facility. The facility was designed by Gather Melby LLC and George Miers & Associates and is state of the art in both form and function.
WCRAS became a standalone department in 2014. The department is comprised of approximately 42 full-time employees that make up outreach, field services, dispatch, shelter caretakers, and administrative staff. WCRAS provides field services 7 days per week from 8 a.m. – 10 p.m. and the office is open Monday-Friday, 8-5 and Saturday 9-3 to meet the needs of our community.
CAREER OPTIONS
If you are interested in a career with WCRAS, click here and keep an eye out for job openings!
