Law will shift animal welfare costs to violators

LAS CRUCES — Doña Ana County officials are hoping a new state law will cut costs for the taxpayer of caring for the large number of animals confiscated from alleged hoarding and cruelty cases.

Senate Bill 127, signed last week by Gov. Bill Richardson, will force the person charged with the crime to foot the bill for animals’ care before a verdict is reached, as long as a judge OKs the move. If the person fails to pay the money, the animals are considered abandoned property and are turned over to officials.

Currently — because the bill doesn’t take effect until July 1 — the Animal Services Center of the Mesilla Valley pays the care expense until a case is resolved.

And the costs can be significant.

Roughly $600,000 has been spent the past two years on housing animals from multiple unresolved cases, said Curtis Childress, animal control supervisor for Doña Ana County. About $336,000 of that has come from a Chaparral dogfighting case that remains unresolved after more than a year and a half.

Childress, who lobbied in favor of the legislation, said it will benefit Doña Ana County and Las Cruces. He said some law enforcement agencies won’t prosecute cruelty and hoarding cases because they know they can’t afford the expense of paying for the animals’ care.

“It affects us greatly down here because of the number of animals we seize,” he said.

Animals involved in ongoing hoarding and abuse investigations or trials are considered and both personal property of the defendant and evidence — which is why they must be kept on hand until the accused owner is either acquitted or convicted, or until the person willingly relinquishes ownership of the animals.

In cases which the owner doesn’t turn over control of the pets, food, care and vet bill expenses rack up.

Childress emphasized that the new law isn’t a punitive measure. Rather, he said, it’s a cost that’s assumed the owner would be paying for the animals if they hadn’t been confiscated.

Animal shelter director Beth Vesco-Mock said the expense of housing the animals comes from the facility’s budget. Now, about 100 animals from six hoarding and abuse cases are being housed there, she said. Another 37 animals are in foster homes.

Vesco-Mock said the passage of the legislation is a positive step.

“We can’t retroact these bills for the animals we’re presently housing, but hopefully this will help in the future,” she said.

Among the animals are two cats, six ducks, eight rabbits, nine goats, 32 chickens, and 33 dogs. Vesco-Mock said the shelter uses a 40-pound bag of dog food each day.

Animal advocates point out that pets held in abuse and hoarding cases take up valuable space in an already-overcrowded shelter.

Marlyn Zahler, a volunteer animal control officer with the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department, said made phone calls to lawmakers in support of the new legislation. She said Sheriff Todd Garrison, investigator Robyn Gojkovich and Childress were important in getting the legislation passed.

“I really felt it was a hardship on the animal shelter and a hardship on the county and the taxpayers,” she said. “All of us end up paying for it as taxpayers.”

Also, Zahler said, the fact owners will have to pay the expense of their animals care “will make them think twice about not giving up their animals.”

“Hopefully if they give up the animals, the shelter, the county and the district attorney can decide whether they can be fostered, adopted or euthanized.”

Diana M. Alba can be reached at dalba@lcsun-news.com; (575) 541-5443