Summerlin lawyer gives part of dog-shooting settlement to shelter

Jennifer Braster went into law with a goal of helping animals.

So when an opportunity arose to represent a client whose dog was fatally shot by a North Las Vegas police officer, the Summerlin resident couldn’t pass it up.

Braster represented the family that owned a pitbull shot in 2013 by an officer while police were executing a search warrant at another home. The family, also represented by Maggie McLetchie, and the city settled the suit in October for more than $125,000. McLetchie also serves as the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s outside counsel.

Braster donated $7,500 from her portion of the settlement to Hearts Alive Village in Las Vegas, for which she serves as a board member.

“I had always wanted to give back to Hearts Alive when I had the opportunity,” she said.

Braster said she volunteered with other animal rescue groups before starting her law firm, Naylor & Braster. The donation will go toward medical bills for dogs and cats rescued from animal shelters that are at a high risk for euthanasia.

Many of the animals saved have physical issues and may have been neglected for years, said Hearts Alive executive director and founder Christy Stevens.

‘It’s my dream’

Stevens started her animal rescue after her daughter Kendall wrote about starting an animal sanctuary in her fifth-grade journal for English class.

“She wrote, ‘It’s my dream; I want it more than anything,’” Stevens said, adding Kendall didn’t think it was possible for Stevens to open one because she worked so much.

Hearts Alive Village rescued its first dogs in 2014 and now has saved and rehomed over 3,100 dogs and cats, according to the group.

During the first year of operation, Stevens put all of her funds into starting it and one of her children postponed college. The family of six had to cut costs.

“Our family looked at what we had to do to take less,” Stevens said. “Everyone agreed.”

What started as a small family operation quickly grew. With financial donations, Stevens was able to leave her full-time job and focus all her time on Hearts Alive.

The nonprofit is spread across several spaces in a strip mall off South Rainbow Road and near Bonanza High School — where Christy graduated. Customers can purchase dog food, secondhand clothes and other items to support its operation. Between the aisles of the secondhand store, dogs are allowed to wander and interact with customers.

There’s Abby the Chihuahua, who, despite not being able to use her back legs, is full of energy and tries to jump. Her chiropractor and Stevens say they believe she will be able to fully walk someday.

Then there’s Tootsie, an overweight miniature pinscher who has already lost five pounds.

And there’s Heidi, who used to express aggression — until a vet diagnosed she had a thyroid problem.

With the help of a few inexpensive medications, Heidi’s personality has completely changed and she is now down for as many tummy rubs and pats as she can get, Stevens said.

Stories like these keep Stevens and the team of volunteers going, she said.

Large donations like Braster’s don’t come often, Stevens said, estimating the nonprofit spends over $200,000 on vet bills a year.

Financial help will help vitalize the next phase of Steven’s dream: a low-cost veterinary clinic.

That will help people with fixed incomes give their animals the medical help they need, Stevens said, noting there are more animals without homes than families who would like to adopt.

City’s animal encounter policy

North Las Vegas police didn’t alter policies related to dog interactions after the 2013 case, public information officer Sandy Lopez said in an email.

“As it relates specifically to SWAT warrant services, tactics have been changed for officer safety reasons, and provide for more callouts and fewer door knocks, leading to less interaction with dogs,” she wrote in an email. “More recently, SWAT officers have received training on using tranquilizer guns to subdue animals, when the safety of officers and the public is not put at risk by using that method.”

All officers go through training to recognize and address dog behavior, Lopez said.

An officer’s response to a situation involving an animal is dictated by his or her observations of any dangers, Lopez said. If an animal is preventing an officer from responding, Animal Control could be called, or if it creates an immediate danger, “an officer may use whatever force is necessary to protect himself from injury by the dog.”

Contact Alex Chhith at achhith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0290. Follow @alexchhith on Twitter.

How to help

Hearts Alive Village is at 1750 S. Rainbow Blvd., Suite 4. For more information on adoption or to donate, visit heartsalivevillage.org.

About the shooting

On Sept. 20, 2013, then-Officer Travis Snyder was standing guard in a lot behind Wheeler’s home while assisting Henderson police in serving a search warrant at another residence, the Las Vegas Review-Journal has reported. He shot 2-year-old Miracle in the head from the other side of a block wall, according to the lawsuit.

The city claimed in its defense to the lawsuit that the officer shot the dog because of “the officers’ reasonable fear for their own safety and the safety of others.”

Snyder has since been promoted to sergeant.