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By Dan McKay
Journal Staff Writer
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Mayor Richard Berry has a moment with Dusty the basset hound, held by West Side shelter employee Anthony Abeyta.
Pookie, a 4-month-old female terrier mix, peers out of her cage Tuesday at the West Side shelter. Mayor Richard Berry joined activists in encouraging people to spay and neuter their pets so the city doesn’t have to euthanize unwanted animals. MORGAN PETROSKI/JOURNAL
Bullet, a 1-year-old female cattle dog mix, curls up at the West Side animal shelter. MORGAN PETROSKI/JOURNAL
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It’s mating season for cats and dogs, which means trouble for Albuquerque animal shelters.
Cute as they may be, many of the new puppies and kittens will end up euthanized — a consequence of what advocates say is a broad overpopulation problem.
About 39 percent of the animals impounded at city shelters last year were put to death. The figures for 2008 are about the same.
Mayor Richard Berry joined activists Tuesday to urge people to spay and neuter their pets before they produce the puppies and kittens that end up in shelters. Euthanizations are inching downward slightly, he said, but not fast enough.
“We simply cannot adopt our way out of these problems,” Berry said. “We need a robust spay-neuter program.”
Help is available or on the way, officials said.
Animal Humane New Mexico offers a “no wait” spay-neuter service for lowincome pet owners. Prices are based on a sliding scale, starting at $15. Call 217-0300.
The city’s Animal Welfare Department offers free spay-neuter service for low-income pet owners. Call 311 to see whether you qualify. City operators also have information about the mayor and first lady’s Dog Ball, scheduled March 27 to raise money for spay-neuter programs.
The city is hoping to open a regional veterinary center at its East Side shelter this summer. It will offer more space for spay-neuter programs, although budget restrictions may not allow the city to hire new veterinarians immediately.
Private veterinarians will sterilize pets for about $150 to $300. Pets from city shelters are already sterilized, and they cost much less.
Albuquerque requires pets to be spayed or neutered unless the owner has a breeding license.
“Mating season is now,” said Barbara Bruin, the city’s director of animal welfare. Of the strays that end up in shelters, “many of them will not get out alive.”
The operation of Albuquerque’s animal shelters has triggered political debate for years.
In 2005, former Mayor Martin Chávez announced a goal of making city-run shelters “live exit” facilities, meaning that no adoptable animals would be euthanized. He hoped to accomplish that goal by 2009.
Still, about 2,800 dogs and cats were euthanized in 2009, even though they were considered healthy when arriving at the shelters, according to the Animal Welfare Department. They weren’t actually “adoptable” at the time of death, however, as they had become sick or developed other problems while in city care.
Berry has not embraced Chávez’s “live exit” goal publicly.
“I think everybody would like to see the euthanasia rate go down entirely,” but there may not be enough good homes for animals to make it happen, Berry’s office said in a statement to the Journal.
Peggy Weigle of Animal Humane said people who qualify for her group’s services can drop off their animals between 7 and 8 a.m. Monday through Thursday and pick them up after surgery later that day. Reservations aren’t required.
“This is the only way we’re going to stop the killing,” she said.
Fetch-apalooza
The city of Albuquerque and the Albuquerque Journal are again sponsoring Fetchapalooza, a two-day adoption event with pets from New Mexico rescues and shelters. It’s April 24-25 at Journal Center. Last year’s Fetchapalooza found homes for more than 600 pets.
Go to ABQjournal.com to watch video of the mayor’s efforts to reduce the city’s euthanization rate.
Posted with permission from the Albuquerque Publishing Company. |
