[June 15th, 2013] With fires springing up all over the Southwest, now is the time to prepare in case you need to leave your home quickly. Here are things you can do now to streamline your departure:
Prepare an evacuation plan for people and animals. Include a rendezvous site, emergency contact information, and who to contact.
Post it in an easy-to-find place and make sure that all family members know where it is.
Imagine that you have to evacuate now, what will you need?
What else? Think about it now while you have time to plan and buy any needed items.
Create an emergency bag with these items, and stow it where you can grab it fast.
Check that your dogs have secure collars with tags listing their names and contact numbers, also label their crates or carriers.
Confirm that your dog is microchipped (it's the law in Albuquerque); dogs can slip their collars and the only way to identify them is through
their microchip (see our clinics list for where to have it done)
Know where you can safely take your dogs: arrange with friends or family; check out the policy of nearby animal shelters and vets;
know about dog-friendly hotels in your area.
[April 2nd, 2013] - Our story on poor Mercy should have indicated that while PACA helped with her vet bills,
Mercy is a Viva! Animal Rescue NM rescue dog. She is currently doing well and has been adopted by her wonderful foster family. She
even has her own Facebook page, with links to various wish lists for her at Lowe's, Amazon, and more.
$1.4M for Albuquerque Animal Welfare Capitol Projects!
[April 2nd, 2013] - Thanks to City councilors, Benton, Haris, Jones, and Lewis, the original amount proposed in the mayor's budget, $600K, was increased to a reasonable $1.4 million.
Councilors voting against the animals were: Michael Cook (mcook@cabq.gov), newly-appointed councilor Roxanna
Meyers (rmeyers@cabq.gov), and Brad Winter (bwinter@cabq.gov). Let them know that you will keep this in mind during the next election.
ABQ City Councilors Don Harris & Dan Lewis Want to Help Animals
[March 4th, 2013] Mayor Berry's budget allocated only half of last year's funding for much-needed capital improvements to Animal Welfare, but fortunately, Councilers
Trudy Jones and
Brad Winter worked to add another $300,000 for the animals.
Now, Councilors
Don Harris and president Dan Lewis,
have proposed an amendment (PDF) to add an additional $500,000 to Animal Welfare. This will allow the Eastside shelter to build an
exercise yard, which increases the mental and physical well-being of the dogs, thus increasing adoptions and decreasing euthanasia. It will also provide upgrades to the oldest building
where sick and at-risk dogs are sent to recover. This building has cracked floors, unsafe doors, and is very noisy and drafty -- not the place to heal traumatized or injured animals.
How you can help now: Thank Councilors Don Harris and Dan Lewis for being friends
of the animals by proposing this amendment, and Councilors Trudy Jones and Brad Winter for adding
money to the budget. Contact other City Councilors to ask them to support the Lewis/Harris amendment.
Please attend tonight's meeting (Monday, 3/4/13) at 5 pm to show your support for this amendment. Your mere presence tells the City Council how important this is to the animal
community. Meetings are in the basement of the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Government Center, One Civic Plaza (map).
Happy Ending to a Sad Story
This sweet girl was dumped--face swollen from bites and injuries, dehydrated and malnourished, her jaw wired shut--and left to die in Los Lunas in late November.
Because of injuries sustained as a bait dog in a despicable, illegal dog fighting ring in Valencia County, she is blind in her right eye, is missing teeth, and was covered with blood and scars. Donations collected by
PACA/AAR have provided her with vital, emergency care from Albuquerque's
TLC Pet Hospital.
Now, two weeks later, she is greatly improved. Named Mercy by Valencia County Animal Control, she has undergone two surgeries to repair wounds and remove bullets from her head, stomach, and back, and is doing great.
According to her vet, Dr. Marsh, at TLC, she is eating and drinking well, "and is bright and friendly towards everyone...this afternoon, she was laid out flat sleeping so soundly - seems like she was as relaxed as she could possibly be,
comfortable and SAFE."
Because Mercy's medical care is very expensive, please donate generously to PACA/AAR and indicate that you want your funds to go to
Mercy's care. An anonymous donor will match the first $500 of donations, so you can double the impact of your gift! APNM is offering a
$5000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the cowards inflicting this horrific treatment on this innocent girl.
Please contact them if you know anything that can bring these abusers to justice.
ABQ Gun Store Sponsors Coyote-Killing "Contest"
[November 16, 2012] Using the convoluted excuse of "saving tax dollars," Beau from Gunhawk Firearms (865-3500), rationalizes the slaughter of thousands of coyotes in his store's imminent
coyote-killing "contest." "We don't hate coyotes," he explained, but "the USDA kills thousands every year, so why waste tax dollars when we can use it as a way to introduce families to hunting."
It is impossible to equate "not hating coyotes" with "paying people to murder them." Please check the APNM website for ways to
speak out against this atrocity, which reinforces the idea of New Mexico as a land of ignorant, gun-happy yahoos where no civilized person would want to visit. This is not hunting for food, it's killing for
sport, which is absolutely despicable.
[November 23, 2012] UPDATE: KOB reports that fewer than 50 coyotes were murdered in this so-called "contest," and, while hunters were brave with a gun against a
defenseless animal, they were too humiliated to even appear on camera, hiding behind boxes or buildings in shame. This hunt has brought national and international ridicule and scorn to NM:
Rio Rancho City Council Poised to Gut Ordinance Banning Puppy Sales in Pet Stores
[October 22nd, 2012] Last week, during the first reading of the city's Humane Animal Ordinance, the RR City Council voted 4-2 to gut it, repealing the ban on selling puppies and kittens in pet stores, cutting
provisions for basic animal care, and allowing circuses with horrible cruelty histories to perform in Rio Rancho. (See the story by APNM with
e-mail addresses for the city councilors.) It's hard to understand why four city councilors (Crum, Clayton, Scott, Wilkins) would be so willing to abandon this fine, animal-friendly ordinance and allow puppy-mill puppies into the city that
already euthanizes hundreds of unwanted animals. Join the peaceful protest on Wednesday, October 24th!
No-Kill Denial
What do you call someone who denies pet overpopulation in NM? Misinformed.
What do you call an animal group that denies pet overpopulation in NM? New Mexico Pets Alive.
Over a year ago, NMPA splashed onto the animal scene, with ideas to make New Mexico a virtual no-kill state. Since then, however, they have apparently done nothing for our homeless animals. [We contacted them several times about
their qualifications and achievements, but they never responded, and their website lists no such accomplishments.]
What they have done is make sensational statements, like grossly overestimating euthanasias in Albuquerque (10,000), when
their own figures (PDF) indicate a number two-thirds less (3,000). By exaggerating this tragic number, they hurt their credibility and create an "us vs. them" mentality by telling hard-working shelter workers
and rescue volunteers they just don't know how to do their jobs.
This was bad enough, but we realized they were actually dangerous with their ridiculous pronouncement that "we do not have a pet overpopulation problem," from their 04/14/12 e-mail entitled, "There aren't enough shelter animals to
satisfy consumer demand." This is just plain irresponsible mis-information, which hurts rescue efforts by denying the HUGE number of homeless animals in NM. This is a horrible message to send to the public, which often doesn't
understand the need for spay/neuter.
We believe that NMPA is hurting homeless animals in the state, which is why we've written this article. We hate disparaging anyone trying to help animals, but when their "help" actually hurts, we must speak up. If NMPA is really serious
about decreasing euthanasia, they must stop denying the overpopulation problem, and work for better education and increased spay/neuter in New Mexico.
Local Author Pens Book About Rescue Dog
[May 18, 2012] Corrales trial attorney, Ed Goodman, has taken his legal background and love for dogs and created Manzanita
Seed, about 62-year-old Anastasio Quintana who discovers love and joy for the first time in his life, after rescuing a desperate, abandoned and injured dog. Set in a
small town in New Mexico, the story combines legal intrigue, family drama, and personal transformation. Sounds like a winner!
Post Office Honors Working Dogs
[May 14, 2012] The U.S. Post Office has brought out a series of four beautiful 65-cent stamps devoted to
working dogs. According
to the USPS website, "This set of four Dogs at Work stamps depicts four hard-working canines: a guide dog assisting a woman who is blind, a tracking dog on the trail of a scent, a therapy dog
visiting an elderly woman in her home, and a search and rescue dog standing in a field, ready to tackle the next assignment."
Elephant Butte Finds Wrong Answer to Problem
[May 11, 2012] Despite overwhelming evidence that breed-specific legislation (BSL) doesn't work, Elephant Butte enacted just that: an ill-advised animal ordinance targeting Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, German Shepherds, and their mixes. As the
ASPCA notes, There is no evidence that breed-specific laws--which are costly
and difficult to enforce--make communities safer for people or companion animals. The problem is not the dogs; it is irresponsible, abusive, and neglectful owners; weak animal control laws; and lack of enforcement of existing
laws. The American Humane Association lists many easier and
cheaper alternatives, including the obvious spaying/neutering of companion animals. (Listen to the conversation on KUNM's recent call-in show, "Are Pit
Bulls the Problem?")
Evidently, Elephant Butte has been feeling the pressure, and produced a defense of this ordinance, in
which they claim that no Elephant Butte resident has complained. But what about all the visitors that will avoid Elephant Butte? It's illegal to transport a "dangerous" dog anywhere but to a vet or boarding (Section VI, (I) (3) (e)).
Would you take the chance of going there with your dog? We certainly won't!
Long Leash on Life Donates Pet Oxygen Masks to Fire Department
[May 1, 2012] Those wonderful folks at Long Leash on Life have donated fourteen pet oxygen recovery mask kits to the Bernalillo County and Albuquerque
Fire Departments. Each kit contains different-sized cone-shaped masks suitable for dogs and cats, so that animals suffering from smoke inhalation or any emergency requiring resuscitation will have better access to oxygen. Big
kudos to Long Leash on Life, a great store in case you haven't been.
Santa Fe Vet Sets out Rat Poison to Kill Coyote
UPDATE [March 30, 2012] In a stunning non-decision, the NM Board of Veterinary Medicine dismissed the complaint (pdf) against this killer vet, saying there was "no violation of [the] Veterinary
Practice Act." But Section 61-14-13 of that very Act (pdf) states that the Board can "deny, suspend, or revoke a license" of any licensee guilty of cruelty to animals. Evidently, the Board doesn't enforce its
own rules, since, according to NMBVM director Frances Sowers in a Santa Fe New Mexicanarticle, only one in four complaints is determined to be a violation. For a more complete list of her violations,
check out the Scoop investigation. That this woman is still allowed to
practice medicine is shameful, that she has any clients willing to trust their animals to her, baffling.
[July 1, 2011] According to a story in the Santa Fe New Mexican, and confirmed by ABQDog, Santa Fe veterinarian Dr. Joan
Moreau, owner of the Animal Wellness Center on St. Francis Drive, set out rat poison to kill a coyote she believed killed her barn cat, Nina.
It's hard to believe a vet would attempt to murder an innocent animal -- in its natural habitat -- who probably did nothing to her cat (coyotes eat their prey, not leave it "traumatized"). But she then went on to brag about it on Facebook:
“The coyote that killed [Nina] will die I think in 5-7 days after it ate the beef broth basted rat poison I put out on the game trail I found. It will die minus the trauma I found on my cat ...”. A death from poisoning is agonizing,
and to inflict it on a coyote she "believed" killed her cat is unconscionable. Not to mention that she jeopardized any animal -- companion, wild, or endangered -- and human that might stumble onto her planted DDT.
Contacting the NM Board of Veterinary Medicine, we learned that complaints had been made and Dr. Moreau had responded, but that the NMVBM has two years to investigate a complaint,
although the representative tried to soften this inadequate performance by repeating that they "usually finish in six to nine months." Trying to determine if anyone was doing anything about this, we were passed from one Santa Fe department
to another -- none of which knew about the case -- and finally reached a wonderful Santa Fe Police sargeant, who reported that no less than six parties, from the USDA to federal wildlife agencies to the NM Livestock Board, are investigating
this egregious act, and that Dr. Moreau has been cited by at least one of them and forced to remove the poison.
This is not just a story about someone trying to protect her cat, but about a woman who carelessly sought irrational revenge on an innocent animal doing nothing more than responding to hunger and instinct. We expect more from the people
who care for our animals. We'll keep you posted on this sad and disturbing story.
NM Dogs in Danger
[February 29, 2012] First there were a rash of dog shootings in Socorro, then poor Fender
was shot and killed in his own Rio Rancho yard, and finally poor six-month-old Petie (left) had his ears cut off and was left to die on a highway in La Cienega. (For info on these last two cases, see Animal Protection of NM's stories.) What kind of people shoot and mutilate dogs? Cowards! Thankfully, APNM is offering rewards for information
in all of these cases, so please contact them if you know anything about these cruel and senseless attacks. And help support them in their efforts to find these heartless perpetrators by
donating generously.
UPDATE [March 23, 2012] Petie has healed wonderfully and found a perfect forever home. All thanks to the loving ministrations
of the folks at the Santa Fe Animal Shelter and Humane Society. Thanks for taking good care of Petie!
