Spay, neuter key to shelter’s success
The definition of the word “shelter” is, “a place giving temporary protection from bad weather or danger.” Animal shelters, the best ones, are just that: places where animals can find temporary solace, a dry place to sleep, food, medical care and best of all, the possibility of adoption. There are many paths to a shelter, some of them sad and tortuous. But once there, animals can rest a bit, get loved a lot and have a second chance.
The Española Valley Humane Society is one of those places. It is down a dusty quiet road in Española, just north of Santa Fe.
As you park your car in the lot, there are two main buildings, the clinic and the shelter. A cool thing pointed out to me by Lisa Gipe, director of operations, was that bull snakes live under many of the outbuildings, and the shelter rescues them. There is also a feral cat colony around the shelter. Snakes and feral cats. Rodents beware!
The work of the shelter is to take in animals and evaluate them. Do they need medical care? Are there behavioral issues? Do they need to be spayed or neutered? The goal is to have them adopted within five to six days.
Of course, not all animals are ready to be adopted that quickly. Some need more time and care. Let me introduce you to Xavier. Xavier is a poster child for the love the shelter gives.
Xavier was a 10-week-old pit bull-Labrador mix when he was brought in with a broken jaw. His owners could not afford the cost of medical treatment. Xavier spent five months at the shelter being cared for and became a staff favorite, his tail always wagging and happy to greet everyone. He eventually was adopted by a family in southern Colorado. (The shelter annually adopts out hundreds of dogs to Colorado.)
The work is done by a small, dedicated staff. It is one of those organizations where everyone does everything to accomplish the task of taking care of “their” animals.
Their larger task, however, is making a difference for animals throughout the Española Valley. For example, over the past seven years, there has a been a 48 percent reduction in the number of animals brought to the shelter. This is the result of community outreach to raise awareness of no-cost spaying and neutering services for animals that live within 10 miles of the shelter. The clinic performed nearly 4,000 surgeries in 2016, and now there aren’t as many loose or feral dogs running around up north anymore.
Ten years ago, 80 percent of the animals ended up in the shelter and 20 percent went to the clinic for spaying or neutering. Now, it’s nearly 50-50.
The goal is to get 80 percent coming in for surgery and less than 20 percent coming into the shelter for adoption.
In a sense, the Española Shelter is reinventing itself to be a community resource focused not only on adoptions but, as importantly, helping manage the population of animals throughout the northern valleys. This requires a deep understanding of the specific animal communities, outreach coordinators and mobile clinics. It is an innovative approach to a difficult problem in a challenging community.
Yet at the core is always the moment when a shelter animal and a human meet and “know” they are meant to be together. That moment acted over and over every day is what brings the staff to work.
In that spirit, I asked Gipe what she wanted Santa Feans — who adopt nearly 40 percent of the dogs at the shelter — to know about the Española Valley Humane Society. Here are her answers. First, that the shelter has a variety of dogs and cats, large and small of every kind of mix. Visit evalleyshelter.org to see who is up for adoption this week. Next, the shelter has friendly staff who want to work with you to find the perfect animal and help you transition that animal into your life (or visa-versa). Next, the costs for adopting from the shelter are low and worth checking out.
In the end, you, I and the shelter animals want basically the same thing: We want companionship and a permanent place out of danger. Starting those relationships is the mission of the Española Valley Humane Society.
For more writings by Hersch Wilson on dogs, firefighters and life go to herschwilson.com. Contact him at hersch.wilson@mac.com.