A worsening predicament
Corrales Animal Control continues to be overrun with abandoned dogs, straining resources to care for them. The Village contracts to maintain three dog runs at Corrales Kennels, but these have been full since early December, creating a problem especially over the holidays when additional runs were not available to rent.
Currently in custody are a big brown Mastiff mix dubbed Mongo, found near Village Mercantile in January. On the north end of the Village, an Australian Shepherd cross puppy was found near Romero Road, now called Alvin, with striking blue eyes. Snuggles is an excitable pitbull mix that has been at the kennels since July. Two more puppies also were found recently that are now in foster care or permanent homes. (Photos of available dogs can be viewed at www.joycefay.com/corrales/. To arrange a meeting, contact Animal Control at 898-0401.)
Already strapped for money, the Village faces additional strain as increasing numbers of dogs and cats are left in New Mexico’s only “no-kill” community. The Village Council voted last year to reimburse rescue groups $75 each for animals they agree to shelter for the Village. That money is paid from a special fund out of the Police Department budget. It is not clear where additional funding would be found to warehouse additional animals.
Bill Woldman, president of FOCAS (Friends of Corrales Animal Shelter), said the group has been stymied in its mission to build a donor-financed Village-run shelter by having no site for the facility. Its hope for a donation of land or other arrangement has not panned out.
Meanwhile, the rescue group CARMA, which Woldman runs with his wife Barbara Bayer, took in five animals from Corrales Animal Control in January alone. Corrales Kennels currently has three or four rescue groups warehousing more than a dozen dogs that need homes.