City offering sweet deal for dogs

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) - There are no bones about it from the Eastside to the Westside the city’s two animal shelters are jam-packed.

In some cases there are four or more dogs sharing a kennel.

“We have over 527 animals that came in just this past week,” said Animal Welfare Spokesperson Desiree Cawley.

To put that in perspective they usually get about 300 animals a week.

In order to deal with the overcrowding the city is offering a pretty sweet deal, it is waiving the adoption fee for all dogs that are at least one-year-old.

“We want to make sure that we find the perfect match that way we don't have the return,” Cawley said.

That means background checks and a thorough counseling session for anyone who wants a free pooch.

Animal Welfare said it had to do something to get these dogs adopted.

In the past year they have been overrun by dogs with nearly 15,000 of them coming into the shelters.

“One contributing factor has been that animals coming in from Bernalillo County that is outside the city limits they have increased quite a bit,” said Jim Ludwick of Animal Welfare.

Roughly 2,400 of those dogs taken in over the last 12 months came from the county.

Animal Welfare says another contributing factor is that too many dogs having too many litters.

“There has been a tremendous amount of suffering and death over the years brought onto this community by people who do not bother getting their animals spay and neutered,” Ludwick said.

Since August of last year animal welfare has had to put 3,000 dogs down it is hoping this free adoption event will save some of the current dogs in the shelter from that same fate.

The ‘Free Fido’ adoption event is set for September 7th through the 9th at both city shelters.

Animal Welfare said anyone looking to get a free dog needs to have a valid ID.