ALBUQUERQUE, NM – So many unwanted pets and so little money to save them. That’s a problem our state’s lawmakers tried to solve in 2020 with a tax on pet food products.
The idea was that these fees would go into a spay/neuter fund to help animal organizations. But the local animal shelters have not seen a cent of it.
“It was really well received in the animal welfare community because it is so desperately needed and it came at such an important time,” said Jennifer Defosse, grants manager at 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 established an annual fee for each registered animal feed product in New Mexico that would go toward a fund for statewide spay and neuter services.
“Everyone remembers 2020, when the world stood still and the overpopulation crisis exploded,” Defosse said.
Underdog Animal Rescue and Rehab focuses on providing veterinary care to Native American reservations in the Four Corners region.
“There are an estimated 500,000 strays in Navajo territory alone,” Defosse said.
Her full-time job is finding grants to help Underdog provide vaccinations and low-cost or free spay and neuter services, like the money that was supposed to be provided by SB 57.
But a group of five organizations sued the state and the governor, arguing that the fees are a tax and unconstitutional. The lawsuit has been pending in court since 2020.
“The fee is negligible, especially considering that pet food is a multibillion-dollar industry,” said Kate Ferlic, an attorney representing Animal Protection Voters.
Animal welfare voters recently intervened in the case to defend the bill.
“It is the will of the legislature, and these companies are profiting from the people of New Mexico without being part of the solution,” Ferlic said.
According to the director of the state veterinary medicine association, there is currently $2.3 million in the fund from companies that have yet to pay fees while the litigation is still pending resolution.
“It could do a lot of good, but there is no point in getting involved in a legal dispute,” Defosse said.
Underdog applied for $50,000 in funding from the fund but hasn’t received a penny. Defosse says they could spay or neuter 1,000 animals with this funding.
“It is estimated that one dog and its puppies can become 67,000 dogs in just six years. So every single castration is enormous,” said Defosse.
She hopes this message reaches everyone who needs to hear it.
“It is urgently needed and we hope that this will finally be released,” said Defosse.
The state Board of Veterinary Medicine has scheduled a public hearing for Sept. 11 as part of its process to develop formal rules for distributing spay and neuter funds.
Once the board has adopted these rules, animal welfare organizations will be able to apply for funding again.
The lawyers have no timetable as to when they expect the dispute to be settled.
