A group of animal rights protesters carried signs at two major Pahrump intersections Friday morning with messages like, "Commissioners don't care, thousands will die."

Another sign called upon sympathizers to "Be the voice for the animals."

The picketers were supporting New Leash on Life, a kennel on the northwest side of Pahrump Valley that is the subject of numerous complaints by neighbors.

Nye County Commissioner Joni Eastley wants to close the kennel, due to the barrage of complaints.

One protester threatened to bring the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PETA, to Pahrump.

Joe Burns, a neighbor whose fence abuts the kennel, planned to retire at the end of September from his job with JT3, a Nevada Test Site contractor, and live on his Pahrump property. But he doesn't want to live next to the sound of barking dogs, especially at 3:30 a.m.

"We knew it was vacant property. A guy could come in and put a junk yard next to us," Burns said. "But I never in a million years expected all that noise."

Burns said he's most upset about the picketers' effort to play on the sympathy of animal lovers in the area.

"The county commission made a bad choice, and it was based on bad information. That organization and Vy Keller did not tell them what they wanted to use the land for," he said. "What aggravates me is they're taking the approach they're going to euthanise dogs, and they're not."

Burns said Pahrump residents would be glad to take all the pets that would be displaced by the kennel.

"This shelter they've moved from two other locations where they've been a problem," Burns said.