Animal Protection New Mexico’s 2018 New Mexico Animal Shelter Survey is the result of more than a year of inquiry and research designed to provide comprehensive, updated data reflecting the current state of animal sheltering in New Mexico. Animal Protection New Mexico conducted its first statewide survey in 2008 (covering 2007 data), its second, more comprehensive survey in 2012 (covering 2011 data), and this third survey in 2018 and 2019 (covering 2017 data).

OVERVIEW

Collecting and sharing data and statistics from New Mexico’s public and private animal shelters are absolute necessities in order to:

• Track trends for dogs and cats in key categories, such as intake (stray, owner-surrendered, transferred-in), live exits (adopted, returned-to-owners, transferred-out), and euthanasia;
• Evaluate the efficacy of local programs for dogs and cats;
• Provide useful comparisons of facility size and staffing within similar geographic populations;
• Identify challenges within shelters and communities;
• Spotlight the continuing urgent need for more affordable and accessible spay/neuter funding.

THE GOOD, BETTER, AND BEST NEWS

The top three takeaways compared with our last statewide survey indicate steady progress, thanks to ceaseless dedication and hard work on the frontlines of animal care and control in New Mexico:

• The number of shelter intakes decreased by 27.4%.
• The number of live exits (animals adopted, returned-to-owners, or transferred-out) increased by 16.5%.
• The number of animals euthanized decreased by 68%.

2017 Statewide Totals

Notes: 40 facilities reported intakes; 36 of 40 facilities reported euthanasia.

2011 Statewide Totals

Notes: 44 facilities reported intakes; 37 of 44 facilities reported euthanasia.

THE URGENT CASE FOR MORE SPAY/NEUTER

The following statistics are of grave concern because they reveal a reality that threatens to keep New Mexico in the tragic cycle of admitting over 100,000 dogs and cats to its shelters annually.

Consider the numbers of unsterilized male and female dogs and cats reported below that likely already produced offspring before they entered the shelters:

• 58% of all shelters reporting (23 out of 40) track whether their intakes are unsterilized.
• Of their total 27,441 stray/abandoned/lost dogs and cats, 88% were unsterilized.
• Of their total 10,154 owner-surrendered dogs and cats, 82% were unsterilized.

While New Mexico’s shelter intake and euthanasia rates have declined since 2011, the problem of dog and cat overpopulation is still extreme in New Mexico. Consider the following upswing in shelter animal transfers: 35 of 40 New Mexico animal shelters (88%) reported transferring over 23,400 animals (16,674 dogs and 6,770 cats) to other shelters and rescue organizations, almost exclusively out of state, in an effort to increase the animals’ chances of being adopted into good, loving homes. This is more than double the approximately 10,000 animals reported as transferred out in 2011. Animals transferred out of state accounted for more than 1/3 of 2017’s total reported live exits (68,723). But ultimately, transporting our state’s excess animals to other states is not a long-term, sustainable approach to dog and cat overpopulation. New Mexico must be able to provide its own strong safety net for animals.

The highest numbers of animals being transferred out of shelters originated in 12 New Mexico counties: Bernalillo, Chaves, Cibola, Curry, Doña Ana, Eddy, Lea, McKinley, Rio Arriba, San Juan, San Miguel, and Valencia.