LOS LUNAS—The Spay-Neuter Coalition of New Mexico announced it received $7,500 from the Dennis Friends Foundation to help fuel its spay and neuter efforts in Valencia County.

With the help of this donation, SNCNM will offer more than 85 more low-cost vouchers for dogs needing spay and neuter surgery to qualifying low-income residents of Valencia County. The SNCNM has plans to fund 400 low-cost spay neuter surgeries for dogs in Valencia County in 2019.

“We want to thank the Dennis Friends Foundation for this incredible opportunity to help keep dogs healthy and out of the shelter. We look forward to helping more dogs and their people in our community,” said Faith Richards, president of SNCNM.

In the past four years since SNCNM has been working in Valencia County, they have helped more than 700 pets get fixed.

“We hope to see a reduction in dogs and puppies ending up unwanted at the shelter by providing a safe, easily accessible, low-cost spay and neuter program.” said Richards.

In 2018, 5,136 dogs and cats entered the shelter, a 7 percent increase over 2017 when 4,787 pets entered the shelter. In 2018, 34 percent were transferred to other counties in New Mexico and the states of Utah and Colorado, and 25 percent were euthanized. Only 28 percent of all pets at the shelter got adopted back into the community.

Increasing spay and neuter availability will in time bring down the cost to Valencia County taxpayers of housing so many animals and will prevent unnecessary suffering. SNCNM also relies heavily on community donations and volunteers and are always in need of new volunteers.

For more information on how to apply for a low-cost vouchers or to volunteer, visit spayneuternm.org, like them on FaceBook at Spay-Neuter Coalition of New Mexico, or call 922-5490. More information on the Dennis Friends Foundation can be found at dennisfriendsfoundation.org

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Valencia County News-Bulletin
505-864-4472 | [email protected]

The Valencia County News-Bulletin is a locally owned and operated community newspaper, dedicated to serving Valencia County since 1910 through the highest journalistic and professional business standards. The VCNB is published weekly on Thursdays, including holidays both in print and online.