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Dogs, cats crowd Albuquerque animal shelters
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After being emptied out by big-hearted Albuquerqueans, the city's two animal shelters are already starting to fill up again with abandoned dogs and cats.
The city, along with several other shelters and animal welfare organizations, found homes for more than 500 pets Friday through Sunday during an adopt-a-thon at Cottonwood Mall.
The city alone logged more than 220 adoptions during the three-day period, officials said, leaving the shelters without any animals available for adoption.
Though the city made history by finding homes for all of its animals, dogs and cats will more than likely crowd the shelters by the end of the week, said Jeanine Patterson, director of the city's Animal Welfare Department.
"Unless we keep adopting at this rate, it will easily fill up again," Patterson said.
It's not uncommon for the city to take in 600 animals per week, she said.
About 170 animals were taken in at the shelters even as the adopt-a-thon was happening, Patterson said.
When an animal control officer brings a dog or cat to a city shelter, the city waits five days for an owner to claim the pet. Once the five days are up, the animal is available for adoption.
Patterson said at least 150 animals will be available for adoption by Wednesday.
The city's two shelters can hold 700 animals, but they usually run at 110 percent of their holding capacity, she said.
Animal shelters should run at 70 percent to 80 percent of their capacity to limit the spread of diseases, she said.
Disease is the No. 1 reason animals are euthanized, Patterson added.
The city put down 11,000 animals this year, 2,000 fewer than the year before, she said.
"That's still pretty damn high, unfortunately," Patterson said. "But that's what I'm trying to get a handle on."
Adopt-a-thons such as last weekend's can lower the number of animals the city must euthanize because they draw crowds of people, she said.
Prospective owners paid $82 to adopt a pet, which included fees for spaying or neutering, vaccinations and a free visit to the vet.
Patterson said she wants to organize another adopt-a-thon in the spring.
"We didn't realize we were going to clean out all of our adoptable pets" in the three-day event, she said. "We were just hoping for it."
It was fantastic to find homes for more than 500 animals, but more work remains to be done, said Mike Davis, development and communications director for Watermelon Mountain Ranch, a no-kill shelter that participated in the adopt-a-thon.
"The sad truth of the matter is it's an never-ending job," he said. "At the adopt-a-thon, people were literally dropping off animals there. But we found them homes. We did. We absolutely found them homes."
Watermelon Mountain Ranch found owners for about 220 of its animals.
Davis said the number of animals the shelter takes in each week varies, but shelter officials are always prepared to find homes for them.
"You know, (the animals) can start showing up again today. I certainly hope not, but it can happen," he said. "If it does, we're ready for it."
