Grant to help spay, neuter work
PetSmart Charities gives $50K to county animal care center
Although the Bernalillo County Animal Care and Resource Center is still under construction and may not open to the public until August, it already has received private funding to help control the county’s pet overpopulation problem.
Misha Goodman, director of Bernalillo County Animal Care Services, said Tuesday that her department has received a $50,000 grant from PetSmart Charities. The money is earmarked for surgical equipment and supplies related to performing spay and neuter procedures.
“New Mexico in general has high rates of animal births and overpopulation, and we hope to greatly reduce that in the Bernalillo County area,” Goodman said. “A lot of folks don’t have access to lower-cost spay and neuter services. The current system is good. The city of Albuquerque and Animal Humane offer these services, but they are still overwhelmed.
The result is long waits for people wanting to get their animals spayed or neutered, and often during that wait time is when the animal gets pregnant.”
PetSmart Charities is among the top donors to animal welfare organizations in North America, providing funding to help prevent pet homelessness, help shelter pets thrive, support the bond between people and pets, and provide services to pets and pet owners as part of emergency relief and disaster support operations, said Yosha Brunson, senior manager of public relations for charitable programs.
“Our organization aims to proactively prevent pet homelessness through increased spay and neuter efforts,” she said. With the help of animal welfare partners, “PetSmart Charities has helped facilitate over 1.7 million spay and neuter surgeries in the U.S. since 2009, and has invested … more than $177 million since 1996 in ending pet homelessness.”
The Bernalillo County Animal Care and Resource Center, on Second Street SW between Rio Bravo and Woodward, is being built with $7.8 million of voter-approved general obligation bonds. The 17,000-squarefoot building will be a fullservice animal shelter accommodating domestic pets and livestock, Goodman said. The county’s animal enforcement functions will also operate out of the building.
“We generally take in between 2,900 and 3,900 animals in a year, and I expect that once we get up and running, that number will go up,” she said, adding that the building can accommodate 5,000 animals a year.
The construction plan also includes a training area for staff, other agencies and the public, where classes will be offered in selecting, training and caring for a pet, and animal behavior. Goodman said she also hopes to host a camp for children, teaching them about careers that involve working with animals.
The current Bernalillo County Animal Care building, on Gatewood south of Bridge, was originally a fire station until about 12 years ago, “so it was not built to house animals at all,” Goodman said. When the new facility is completed, the old building will be closed, she said.