![]() “As we move forward, our board of directors, devoted staff and dedicated volunteers will honor Harold’s legacy by continuing to provide the Las Vegas community with an unending love for animals and a relentless pursuit of Harold’s dreams,” Heaven Can Wait board member Laura Eisenberg said in a statement. With few donations rolling in, Harold Vosko funded much of the organization using his own money. Eastern Ave., directly across the street from Henderson’s practice so he could run over and help in an emergency. Heaven Can Wait’s first spay and neuter clinic opened in 2009 at 546 N. Eventually it was like I was using their practice to see my patients,” Henderson said. “We did all the work out of my small practice, and we just kept doing more and more. The organization started putting on feral cat clinics, but were kicked out of every veterinary facility they set up in until Henderson became involved. Instead, he decided the quickest way to solve Las Vegas’ feral dog and cat problem was to curb the numbers of feral animals born in the first place. “And he did the research and figured out that it was probably a waste of $6 million.” “Now, Harold was a pretty smart guy,” Henderson said. The whole thing would have cost upward of $6 million, Heaven Can Wait medical director Dr. The initial plan for Heaven Can Wait was to buy property in Sloan and build a shelter that could house about 300 animals. The first things he’d pull out of his suitcase were photos of his dogs, Clarke said. The only vacations Vosko took during his time at Heaven Can Wait were yearly trips with Clarke to the Red Sox Fantasy Camp. In 1994, Harold Vosko retired to his 10,000-square-foot home in Spanish Trail with his wife and his many dogs. The chain grew to 31 stores across the country. “We wanted the challenge, and we wanted the competition.” “We were never in it for the money,” Clarke said. The name was later changed to Major Video - “He got a promotion,” Clarke said - before opening their first 24-hour Video Park store in 1986 on West Flamingo Road and Decatur Boulevard. They called it Captain Video because Clarke had been a captain in the Marine Corps. The pair opened one of Las Vegas’ first video stores in 1980 with a $20,000 investment. “Then one day he tells me he bought this VCR thing.” “We would work 6 to 2 in the morning, or 7 to 3 in the morning, and afterward we’d sit in my van and flip through magazines, looking for ideas,” Clarke said. They got along right away and knew they had to go into business together. The Detroit native met his future best friend, Dale Clarke, when they both worked as croupiers at the Aladdin. “If the people in the Congress and Senate, if they had one-tenth of the compassion toward people that Harold had toward dogs and cats, heaven wouldn’t even have to wait - it would be here,” his cousin, Mark Vosko, said. He, his wife and three others founded Heaven Can Wait in 2000, and the organization has since spayed or neutered more than 140,000 animals and placed more than 8,600 in loving homes, according to the society. The former craps dealer-turned-video rental mogul retired young and wealthy after selling off most of his business, but he still wasn’t done. The Las Vegas man died Monday night of a heart attack. Harold Vosko, president and co-founder of Heaven Can Wait Animal Society, was as dedicated and compassionate about his work as he was quick with a joke, friends and family said Tuesday. (Courtesy of Heaven Can Wait Animal Society) Harold Vosko poses with his late rescue dog, Grizzly.
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