BernCo breaks ground on shelter
Officials say $7.8M project will reduce costs of transferring animals
By the end of summer 2018, Bernalillo County’s first-ever animal care and resource center will be completed in the South Valley.
The county broke ground on the center on Thursday at 3001 Second Street SW, just north of Rio Bravo. The stateof-the-art facility will be 17,143 square feet and will have room for about 120 dogs, 67 cats and several other types of animals, including larger ones like horses. It will also offer veterinary care, pet adoption, microchipping, spaying and neutering in addition to other services.
Misha Goodman, the animal care services director for Bernalillo County, said at the ground breaking that the county plans to have several other volunteer and recre-
ational opportunities made available to residents, including a possible camp for children.
“I really want it to be a destination spot in Bernalillo County that people come to,” she said.
County Commissioner Steven Michael Quezada, who represents District 2, where the center will be located, said the project will cost $7.8 million in total. It was approved by voters in the form of a series public safety general obligation bonds that were on the ballot in the 2012, 2014, and 2016 general elections.
BDA Architecture, P.C., will serve as architect for the project, and Richardson and Richardson Construction is the general contractor, according to Bernalillo County officials.
“It’s kind of nice to say we’re putting the best state-of-the-art facility in the South Valley,” Quezada said. “You don’t normally ever hear that.”
Throughout the ceremony, officials also emphasized the great need for the shelter. The county’s current animal care shelter operates out of a repurposed fire station and transfers animals to the cities of Santa Fe and Aztec, costing thousands of dollars, according to Goodman. County animal control officers used to transfer animals to Albuquerque shelters, but no longer does due to renovations there. Doing so used to cost about $879,000 a year. With the construction of the center, the county will no longer have to worry about such costs.
“It’s huge for this district, and really all of Bernalillo County,” said Quezada.