State spay and neuter funding remains in legal limbo

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – So many unwanted pets, and so little money to save them. It’s a problem our state lawmakers tried to start solving in 2020 with a fee on pet food products.

The idea was for those fees to go into a spay and neuter fund to help animal organizations. But local rescues haven’t seen a dime of it.

“It was really well received in the animal welfare community because it’s so needed, and it happened at such an essential time,” said Jennifer Defosse, a grants manager for Underdog Animal Rescue and Rehab.

Senate Bill 57 created a new section in the New Mexico Commercial Feed Act called the Spay and Neuter Program Fee. It imposed an annual fee on each registered pet food product in New Mexico that would go into a fund for statewide spay and neuter services.

“Everyone remembers 2020 when the world shut down, and that’s when the overpopulation crisis just exploded,” said Defosse. 

The Underdog Animal Rescue and Rehab focuses on bringing veterinary care to the Native American reservations in the Four Corners area.

“On the Navajo Nation alone, there are an estimated 500,000 strays,” Defosse said. 

Her full-time job is finding grant money to help Underdog provide vaccinations, and low cost or free spay and neuter services. Like the money SB 57 was supposed to provide. 

But a group of five organizations sued the state and the governor over it, saying the fees are a tax and it’s unconstitutional. The lawsuit has been tied up in court since 2020.

“The fee is negligible, particularly when you consider that pet food is a multi-billion dollar industry,” said Kate Ferlic, an attorney representing Animal Protection Voters. 

Animal Protection Voters recently intervened in the case to defend the bill.

“It is the will of the Legislature, and these companies are profiting off of New Mexicans without being part of the solution,” said Ferlic. 

According to the director of the state Board of Veterinary Medicine, there is $2.3 million sitting in the fund right now from companies who still have to pay the fees while the lawsuit sits unsettled.

“It could do a lot of good, but it’s not doing any good being tied up in litigation,” said Defosse.

Underdog applied for $50,000 in grant money from the fund, but hasn’t seen a dime. Defosse says they could spay or neuter 1,000 animals with that funding.

“It’s estimated that one dog and their puppies can, over the span of just six years, produce 67,000 dogs. So every single spay and neuter is huge,” Defosse said. 

She’s hoping that message gets across to everyone who needs to hear it.

“It’s very, very needed, so we’re hoping this is finally freed up,” said Defosse. 

The state Board of Veterinary Medicine has a public hearing scheduled for Sept. 11 as part of its process to come up with formal rules to distribute the spay neuter funds.

Once the board finalizes those rules, animal organizations will be able to re-apply for funds.

Attorneys don’t have any timeline on when they expect the lawsuit to be settled.