Shelter Reverses Ratio of Those Killed to Adopted
Description
By Ronda Scholting
June 15, 2008
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. –- Albuquerque has an exploding overpopulation of pets, but the city is carrying out a multi-faceted plan to keep the number of dogs and cats under control.
Some big changes in Albuquerque is now saving lives. Reversing the city’s alarming ratio of euthanizing more animals than adoptions over the past few years. But now, the city says more animals are finding new homes.
“The efforts being made, it’s more than just talk,” Ralph Zimmerman, a veterinary with the Albuquerque Animal Welfare Department, told Pet Pulse. “We’re seeing results coming with it and as long as it keeps up, then we’ll do some good.”
The mornings at Albuquerque's Eastside Animal Center are normally hectic as dozens of animals are prepped for spay and neuter surgery. Their goal is 25 a day.
It is the frontline in the battle to bring the city's explosive dog and cat population under control, an effort mandated by city law requiring the surgery be done on most all dogs and cats.
Almost 28,000 animals pass through the city’s two shelters each year and at one point more than half were being euthanized.
It was a simple equation of too many animals and not enough room -- along with sanitary conditions at the time that caused sickness to spread quickly.
A few months ago, a shakeup in the city's animal welfare department brought in a new director with new ideas -- Jeanine Patterson.
Jeanine Patterson is the new director of the city's animal welfare department. As a former nurse, her background was with two legged patients, not four.
“Disease transmission is contracted primarily by touch, so basic hygiene and cleanliness are critical to running a shelter,” Patterson said. “You have to worry about diseases in a shelter at a much higher level as well.”
But simple changes like routine hand washing and disinfectant dispensers placed in every shelter area -- along with more intensive deep cleaning on a regular basis -- have combined to help the shelter save more animals.
“For the first time ever, we’re going to have several thousand more live exits this fiscal year than euthanasias,” Patterson said.
Another part of the effort is Lucky Paws -- an aggressive outreach campaign to encourage city residents to adopt.
Lucky Paws is a very unique pet store run by the city where the doggy or kitty in the window is a shelter animal. It has had more than 2,000 successful adoptions over the past 14 months.
The key to that success is fairly simple: take the pets out of the shelter and bring them in front of the public, that way there is more of a chance that they’ll be taken home.
Even with these successes, the city is finding it will take time to fix the overpopulation problem.
“People are still looking for animals, and want to adopt animals,” Patterson said.
The city also holds several adopt-a-thons each year and partners with Albuquerque businesses to bring animals out to the workplace for adoption.
But they are sure they have the keys to eventually making Albuquerque a place where no adoptable animal is euthanized.
June 15, 2008
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. –- Albuquerque has an exploding overpopulation of pets, but the city is carrying out a multi-faceted plan to keep the number of dogs and cats under control.
Some big changes in Albuquerque is now saving lives. Reversing the city’s alarming ratio of euthanizing more animals than adoptions over the past few years. But now, the city says more animals are finding new homes.
“The efforts being made, it’s more than just talk,” Ralph Zimmerman, a veterinary with the Albuquerque Animal Welfare Department, told Pet Pulse. “We’re seeing results coming with it and as long as it keeps up, then we’ll do some good.”
The mornings at Albuquerque's Eastside Animal Center are normally hectic as dozens of animals are prepped for spay and neuter surgery. Their goal is 25 a day.
It is the frontline in the battle to bring the city's explosive dog and cat population under control, an effort mandated by city law requiring the surgery be done on most all dogs and cats.
Almost 28,000 animals pass through the city’s two shelters each year and at one point more than half were being euthanized.
It was a simple equation of too many animals and not enough room -- along with sanitary conditions at the time that caused sickness to spread quickly.
A few months ago, a shakeup in the city's animal welfare department brought in a new director with new ideas -- Jeanine Patterson.
Jeanine Patterson is the new director of the city's animal welfare department. As a former nurse, her background was with two legged patients, not four.
“Disease transmission is contracted primarily by touch, so basic hygiene and cleanliness are critical to running a shelter,” Patterson said. “You have to worry about diseases in a shelter at a much higher level as well.”
But simple changes like routine hand washing and disinfectant dispensers placed in every shelter area -- along with more intensive deep cleaning on a regular basis -- have combined to help the shelter save more animals.
“For the first time ever, we’re going to have several thousand more live exits this fiscal year than euthanasias,” Patterson said.
Another part of the effort is Lucky Paws -- an aggressive outreach campaign to encourage city residents to adopt.
Lucky Paws is a very unique pet store run by the city where the doggy or kitty in the window is a shelter animal. It has had more than 2,000 successful adoptions over the past 14 months.
The key to that success is fairly simple: take the pets out of the shelter and bring them in front of the public, that way there is more of a chance that they’ll be taken home.
Even with these successes, the city is finding it will take time to fix the overpopulation problem.
“People are still looking for animals, and want to adopt animals,” Patterson said.
The city also holds several adopt-a-thons each year and partners with Albuquerque businesses to bring animals out to the workplace for adoption.
But they are sure they have the keys to eventually making Albuquerque a place where no adoptable animal is euthanized.
