According to a post on their Facebook page, the Gallup-McKinley County Humane Society went into a quarantine period Nov. 20 after someone surrendered some puppies that appeared ill. Now, almost three weeks later, they’ve announced they will be lifting the quarantine Dec. 4.
In an interview with the Sun, the humane society’s President Beverly Davis went into more detail about the situation. She said the puppies had not been diagnosed with a specific illness.
“We have a puppy virus, and we’re being super careful with the rest of the population. The ones who have been sick, we have them isolated so that no one else is exposed, and we’re just being super cautious,” she said.
Meanwhile, an unknown canine illness has swept the nation. The illness reportedly originated in Oregon and is now in 12 known states. Symptoms of the illness include excessive sneezing, coughing, nasal or ocular discharge, lethargy, and a lack of appetite. Veterinarians across the nation are asking people to keep their dogs at home if they’re experiencing these symptoms, and call and make an appointment.
Davis said she hasn’t seen any cases of the mysterious illness in New Mexico. She said she does have an idea of how the issue may have started though.
“All I know is that this problem is caused by people not having their animals vaccinated,” she said.
Davis said that any animal that comes into the Gallup-McKinley County Humane Society is vaccinated upon arrival.
THE OTHER PET CRISIS
But keeping every animal in the shelter can be difficult, especially when the humane society is facing overcrowding. Davis was unable to provide the number of how many animals the shelter is currently holding, but she admitted that overcrowding is a consistent problem.
“We have a capacity problem. There are too many animals, not enough homes, not enough volunteers,” Davis said. “If we had fosters, we could hold these animals, get them socialized and then transported out to loving homes.”
In a Sun article published in July it was reported that the Gallup Animal Control and the Gallup-McKinley County Humane Society were packed beyond capacity, with about 320 animals between them in kennel space meant to top out at 190.
Davis was not able to provide the humane society’s current numbers, but she did say the situation had still not improved. Due to the capacity issue, many shelters across the nation have had to resort to euthanizing animals to free up space.
In a Nov. 2 Facebook video the humane society’s Executive Director Amariss Lujan shared the story of José, a dog who was found in Thoreau. She explained that José is “unadoptable” because he does not present well in the kennels because he is scared. José reportedly cowers in the corner of his kennel when people come to the shelter.
Thus, as Lujan explained in the video, the shelter was considering euthanizing José.
Davis said that before COVID-19 the humane society was a no-kill shelter, but now with the extreme overcrowding, she says they have no choice.
“We would love nothing more than to never euthanize anything, but where are we going to put them? We only have so many cages and we have just as many animals coming in every day,” she said.
HOW TO HELP
How can someone help save these animals lives? Davis said fostering is a huge help for the shelter.
With fostering, people can take in an unclaimed animal from the shelter. The shelter pays for the pet’s food and provides medical care and necessities like kitty litter and even doghouses where needed. (The shelter also offers low-cost vaccinations and microchipping by appointment for area pet owners.)
That means fostering can be a good option for senior citizens who want the companionship of a pet but are on a tight budget and/or fear leaving behind a pet that outlives them. Fostering is meant to be short term, so it also means foster people need not give up vacations or family visits.
People may choose to foster a puppy, kitten, or an adult animal. Shelter workers have spent time with them and can help match personalities. The shelters will look for forever homes or transport opportunities for the pet and when that happens, the foster parent gives it up.
McKinley County residents with stable homes and, for those who foster dogs, a secure fenced yard, are eligible to foster. If a potential dog foster parent has other dogs, they must bring them to meet the prospective foster dog to make sure they can get along. Foster cats are required to be kept indoors to prevent roaming.
“We have a capacity problem. There are too many animals, not enough homes, not enough volunteers,” Davis said. “If we had fosters, we could hold these animals, get them socialized and then transported out to loving homes.”
Foster applications are available on the Humane Society website, https://mckinleyhumane.org. To find out more, call (505) 863-2616.
