Program areas at Animal Humane Association of New Mexico
Donor-subsidized veterinary clinic: Animal Humane's donor-subsidized veterinary clinic, located on our 4-acre main campus, plays a critical role in ensuring pets stay healthy and with their families. As New Mexico's only full-service low-cost veterinary clinic exclusively serving qualifying low-income pet owners, we provide much needed care for those who cannot afford to take their pets to private veterinary practices. Animal Humane's mission to provide access to quality veterinary care is a crucial link to having owners and their pets living happy, healthy lives together. Renovated in october 2007, with funding from private donors and foundations, Animal Humane's clinic also provides quality medical care for the thousands of homeless pets that we shelter annually, many of whom require spay/neuter in addition to medical procedures ranging from dentals to blood or urinalysis to orthopedic surgery. Each of our shelter pets also receives behavior training as well as abundant love and attention from our staff and volunteers. More than 30% of our clinic clients are senior citizens. Fees from their visits, along with all other clients, generates revenue to support our annual operations. In fy 2023, our expert medical team conducted 814 appointments, 208 spay/neuter procedures and 43 special surgeries for pets owned by low-income owners.
Adoptions: Animal Humane New Mexico has adopted 100% of the healthy pets in our care since january 2010 and total outgoing pets in fy23 reached 3,066; this equates to a 99% live release rate for the operating cycle. Every adopted pet receives quality medical care at our campus clinic and 1,931 cats and dogs were sterilized prior to adoption. Additionally, medical procedures/treatments (e.g., laceration repairs, mass removals, ringworm/parvovirus/parasite treatment) needed to ready pets for adoption are performed by our clinic & Animal care teams. Our highly effective trap-neuter-return (tnr) program led to an additional 85 felines being sterilized in fy23. Our tnr program continues to have a dramatic impact on lowering kitten intakes and reducing our community cat population. Camp Humane: this is our exciting youth summer and winter holiday educational camp program. In fy23, we reached 8 campers with the added assistance of two junior volunteer counselors-and together we shared valuable lessons about the importance of Humane treatment of animals and compassion for all life. Additionally, these future responsible pet owners were exposed to the importance of spay/neuter, diverse animal-related professions and were introduced to numerous species outside of the homeless cats and dogs we serve.
The center at Animal Humane: our 2.28-acre development is located directly across the street from our 615 Virginia street main campus. Phase i opened to the public in november 2016. The development began by offering dog agility instruction to small class sizes and individual owner/dog pairs. Agility clients have grown substantially with most taking classes each week year-round. Our renovated behavior training building opened in august 2017. This dedicated space offers the ideal environment for owners + dogs to receive important instruction though diverse group class offerings and private consultations. Phase ii renovations on our second and largest building allowed us to begin providing doggie day care & boarding services to the community starting in may 2019. This New revenue source is both welcomed by pet owners and works to generate valuable operational funding. Day care swelled during the pandemic-as community partners highlighted our services through gratis and extremely affordable marketing avenues-and owners decided day play was the perfect outlet for their dogs when conducting business meetings from home. Boarding also increased, as happy pets returned home, and awareness of our services grew.
Thrift: our 6,000 square-foot thrift shop, located at 4646 menaul blvd. Ne, is filled with gently used and New items generously donated by our community. The vast offerings, which include clothing, furniture, household goods, antiques, collectibles, give pet lovers a unique avenue to support our life-saving work through shopping and/or donating. Our location on menaul boulevard's "thrift store row" makes our store an inviting stop for thrifters and pet lovers alike. Equally important, our thriving thrift shop generates healthy revenue to contribute toward our shelter's operational needs. During fy23, we experienced strong donations and foot traffic-as we returned to pre-covid levels for revenue and donations. Animal Humane New Mexico provides every homeless cat and dog in our care with individual tracks that address their unique medical, behavioral and/or emotional needs. Our comprehensive programming successfully results in thousands of homeless pets finding permanent placement in New homes. Animal Humane is proud to have launched the state's 1st meet-your-match program, an aspca matchmaking system that unites compatible pet and human companions. Every potential owner is screened by our trained staff and their adoption fees generate important revenue to go toward the costs of our comprehensive care. Continuing as a response to covid-19, our adoptions team conducts face-to-face adoptions by appointment. Outreach: Humane education is a foundational step toward building a Humane and compassionate community. Through our rich array of k-12 educational and outreach programs, our learn Humane classes introduce New Mexico's youth and adults to concepts, skills and resources that help humans build respectful and compassionate relationships with their companion pets and one another. During fy23, our Humane educators and volunteers reached 1,943 students and teachers with an impressive 3,178 educational contact hours. Project fetch: launched in 2009, project fetch is a flagship program that demonstrates our shelter's commitment to serving homeless pets throughout New Mexico. Animal Humane's fy23 99% live release rate (lrr) is a stark contrast to New Mexico's lrr near 80%. Year-round we partner with private and municipal shelters throughout New Mexico, as well as large and small rescue groups, to give at-risk pets the second chance they deserve. During fy23, our shelter transferred in 1,887 pets from 35 partner agencies across 16 counties. Our fy32 transfer level was lower than pre-pandemic times, as staffing levels and the extreme medical & behavioral needs of locally surrendered pets, at times impacted our ability to transfer in pets. Training and behavior helpline: Animal Humane employs positive reinforcement training techniques designed to strengthen an owner's relationship with their pet. Pet owners are taught how to support good behavior and discourage undesirable conduct. Through our diverse training classes (with pets), educational seminars (owners only), private consultations (pets & owners) Animal Humane is dedicated to providing people with instruction that leads to responsible and joyful pet ownership. Our shelter behavior team provided professional, tailored advice to pet owners calling (198x) or emailing (50x) our free behavior helpline 5059387900behaviorhelplineanimalh... Pet health fairs & safety net programming: nationwide, there is recognized need for the importance of providing resources to pet owners that keep pets in loving homes. Animal Humane's efforts have focused on numerous tactics including low-cost microchips & vaccinations offered at pet health fairs (phf) held at community centers and parks in targeted low-income, high- disease outbreak areas. These efforts led to us hosting four phf in fy23 serving 225 families, owning 394 cats + dogs who received 732 vaccinations and 196 microchips. Our team restructured our phf to offer online appointment scheduling and payment with details of owned pets being submitted in advance of the fairs. This wise change allowed us to continue connecting with owners in our community to sustain their pet's health while maximizing safety for all. Additionally, our safety net (sn) program provided financial assistance to owners needing emergency veterinary care, behavioral consultation & training classes, rental deposits, etc. During fy23, our sn program funded the unique needs of 175 pets working to keep these cats and dogs healthy and with their owners. Pet food bank: during fy23, Animal Humane's devoted pet food bank volunteers distributed over 95,000 lbs. of pet food (kibble, wet & treats) and cat litter (as available) generously donated by community partners or purchased through directed donations. Pet food is shared with pet owners who cannot afford to feed their cats or dogs and homebound senior citizens in collaboration with the albuquerque department of senior affairs meal delivery program. Our twice weekly distribution days ensure pets are fed while providing the opportunity for our team to discuss other resources that will help keep treasured pets with their owners. Foster care: Animal Humane's foster care program has been a tremendous safety net for our shelter and the pets we serve. During fy23, 646 unduplicated pets were fostered by devoted caregivers with these same pets being harbored in homes on 868 instances. Foster caregivers continue to be a valuable lifeline as they care for our pets undergoing heartworm treatment, recovering from orthopedic surgeries, or learning how to trust humans if they have never known unconditional love in their lives. Through the exquisite gifts of time, patience and nurturing, our foster caregivers provide a haven for our homeless pets to grow and recovery before starting New lives with their adopters.