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Noah's Animal House continues to help pets of domestic violence victims

Posted at 11:37 PM, Nov 19, 2017
and last updated 2017-11-20 02:37:21-05

It's been 10 years since the first animal shelter for victims of domestic violence opened here in Las Vegas. It was not only the first in town, but the first of its kind in the entire country!

Noah's Animal House is located directly next door to The Shade Tree which is a shelter aimed at helping women who are victims of domestic violence, and their children.

If the victim has pets, like Elena Saccapilltio, Noah's Animal House is for them!

Saccapilltio tried for years to escape her abusive relationship but the main thing stopping her was the fact she has three cats and two dogs.

She knew she couldn't live her life without them.

But who would take Saccapilltio, her four daughters, and her five pets?

Noah's Animal House and The Shade Tree did!

The Saccapilltio gang spent six weeks at the two shelters while they got back on their feet and bought a house.

"It was just a sigh of relief like a weight had been lifted...a heavy weight for a lot of years," she said.

Saccapilltio wants anyone in a boat similar to hers to know that you can get help and bring your pets with you just like she did.

"This is as real as it gets," said Saccapilltio. "It was a perfect opportunity for us to start a new life and be able to say I did it...when you feel at your lowest at times and you feel you can't do something...this place gave us the opportunity to say that we did it."

In the past 10 years, Noah's Animal House has housed 1,400 pets for a total of 90,000 nights.

They are opening a second shelter in Reno very soon.