All 10 finally wih their FUREVER homes!

All's well that ends well and that is especially true with momma Sweet Pea and these 10 pups.  Spot and Black Eye Pete had an angel foster that helped get them through an additional 4 weeks of foster care so that they could get rid of that nasty ringworm and then shortly thereafter, Spot and BEP were adopted.  HOORAY!

Since we first began this journey, it has been one eye opener after another.  The biggest shock to us was that New Mexico has a shelter euthanasia rate that is approximately 2/3rds higher than the national average.  About 4 million (million!) pets are euthanized each year in the United States by the very agencies and organizations that are suppose to be operating in the interest of 'animal welfare'.

We began researching ways that we might help reduce the euthanasia rate here in NM and email after email, meeting after meeting, we left feeling almost hopeless against the state of animal welfare here in NM.  There are so many great rescue and other organizations doing such great work here but many remain frustrated and most are underfunded, doing what they can with what they have, year after year.  Only a very small percentage (maybe less than 2%) of these groups have budgets that allow for needed progress to be made.  We came up with the idea of ART + ANIMALS to utilize our existing art and design community connections to possibly help make a difference and that program with soon be launched on a national level with the help of an outside group. HOORAY!

Great progress but we still needed more solutions here on the ground, specific to New Mexico. One of us has a uniquely fitting background in organizing for positive change and after quite a bit of soul searching, a new organization is now being formed called New Mexico Pets ALIVE! . The mission is to create a New Mexico state-wide No Kill, caring community. The website in development is http://www.NewMexicoPetsALIVE.org  One key goal (there are many) with this new org will be the introduction and passage of CAPA - NM (The Companion Animal Protection Act of New Mexico). This goal will be accomplished with the help of the No Kill Advocacy Center who has helped to usher in several similar successful programs across US, vastly reducing euthanasia rates and saving lives.  There's no inventing the wheel.  The model which can be duplicated successfully already exists. Lucky for us!!  There's nothing easy about what we're embarking on but we think our 4 legged friends here in NM deserve nothing less.  You can read Melissa's NMPA welcome letter here. Please email us if you'd like to join us in this effort.

Our best always,

Kurt and Melissa