Since our last legislative session overview, multiple major pro-animal bills made the leap from one chamber to the other with high hopes of getting to the Governor’s desk during the last days of the long session.
New Mexico’s Animal Care and Control Services Funding: House Bill 113
On March 3, House Bill 113 was heard by the House Appropriations and Finance Committee (HAFC). Due to feedback from the new law’s administering agency, while $7 million secured in the state budget for the legislation is substantial, it was not enough to make a successful trust fund.
Therefore, HB 113 was reformulated so that it no longer creates a trust fund, but still creates the Animal Welfare Program Fund, for disbursement of desperately-needed funding. The full $7 million would become available for disbursement to eligible applicants, instead of a small portion of trust fund investment returns.
While the $7 million will eventually run out, we expect the funding may be available to cover several years of a wide array of animal care needs, including shelter renovations, purchase of equipment and supplies, training for animal control personnel, and providing animal welfare education to communities.
While in HAFC, several legislators expressed concern about a provision in HB 113 that would have allowed funding for resource banks and vouchers for low-income individuals. Knowing that these same low-income individuals would be served by the other programs and services funded by HB 113 funding, that provision was removed from the bill in order to win unanimous bipartisan support.
The final version of HB 113 passed the HAFC in a subsequent hearing on March 5 by a 11-0 vote. Then on March 8 it passed the House floor unanimously by a 58-0 vote. House Bill 113 now awaits a hearing in the Senate Finance Committee—and if your Senator serves on that committee, please reach out to them and ask them to support HB 113 and keep the $7 million in funding in the state budget!
Protections and Humane Management for Free-Roaming Horses: House Bill 284
On March 5, the full House of Representatives voted to pass House Bill 284 by a bipartisan 54-4 vote. This bill would update current law by utilizing experts to humanely manage those horses through land carrying capacity studies, fertility control, and relocation—when necessary—to prevent horses from starving and further degradation of the lands where they graze. Importantly, the bill would not allow mass euthanasia of healthy horses as a means of population control, and it also would make it illegal to slaughter or transport free-roaming horses to slaughter, accompanied by misdemeanor penalties.
Then, on March 11, the bill received its first Senate-side committee hearing. The Senate Conservation Committee voted 5-2 to pass HB 284. The next stop for HB 284 is the Senate Judiciary Committee, so if your Senator serves on this committee, please ask them to support HB 284.
Modernizing New Mexico Department of Game and Fish and the New Mexico Game Commission: Senate Bill 5
Senate Bill 5 (SB 5) gives the Department authority to protect all wildlife in New Mexico when needed for species with populations in decline or at risk of losing habitat, includes modest hunting and fishing license fee increases, and will bring much needed expertise and stability to the Game Commission that oversees the Department. It would also rename these entities to reflect the existing and future scope of their work, becoming the Department of Wildlife and the Wildlife Commission.
Unfortunately, a lot of misinformation and unfounded fears have plagued this SB 5, leading to a more than three-hour Senate floor debate on March 1. However, the bill prevailed and was passed by a 28-12 vote. Then, on March 5, the bill was heard and passed by the House Energy, Environment & Natural Resources Committee by a 6-4 vote.
Expected today, March 12, SB 5 is at its final step in the legislature: a vote by the full House of Representatives. It is imperative that every one of you reach out to your State Representative and urge them to support the bill right away. Find your legislator (using your residential address) and their contact info by visiting this webpage.
Cracking Down on Animal Fighting Crime Rings: Senate Bill 70
Organizers of animal fighting rings, beware: Senate Bill 70 will update our state’s racketeering law by adding dog fighting and cockfighting (as well as other offenses) to the list of racketeering violations. A racketeering law allows prosecutors to charge individuals involved in a “pattern of racketeering activity”, which means repeatedly committing crimes as part of an ongoing criminal enterprise, with stronger penalties. Importantly, New Mexico’s racketeering law also allows for asset forfeiture upon conviction. Seizing assets like vehicles, trailers, equipment, and cash is key to disrupting an animal fighting ring’s ability to continue profiting from cruelty.
Adding organized animal fighting to New Mexico’s racketeering law will bring our statute in line with what law enforcement professionals have long known: that animal fighting rings are often part of larger criminal enterprises. The same criminal gangs that profit from organized dog fights and cockfights often also engage in drug and arms trafficking, human trafficking, money laundering, and more.
After initially stalling in the Senate Judiciary Committee, the committee eventually reheard the bill—with some changes—on March 1 and passed it unanimously (8-0 vote). The bill then passed the Senate Finance Committee (SFC) unanimously as well (10-0 vote), but not without a harmful change to the bill, which you can read more about in this update. Ultimately, on the Senate floor, the full Senate voted to undo the harmful change made in SFC, and then passed the law by a 38-0 vote.
This morning, Wednesday March 12, SB 70 was heard in its first House-side committee, the House Government, Elections & Indian Affairs Committee. In that committee hearing, we were astounded to see multiple individuals giving public comment defending the criminal act of cockfighting and urging the committee to strip cockfighting from the racketeering bill once again. However, bill sponsors Sen. Craig Brandt and Rep. Catherine Cullen held strong, making clear the important reasons to keep cockfighting as a racketeering offense. Thankfully, there was no effort by the committee to amend the bill, and the bill passed intact by a unanimous 8-0 vote! SB 70 needs just one more committee vote—if your State Representative serves on the House Judiciary Committee, please contact them and respectfully urge them to vote yes on SB 70! And please join us in thanking Sen. Brandt and Rep. Cullen for holding strong and keeping the cockfighting offense in the bill!
Stay Tuned
There are only ten days left in the 2025 legislative session, and while many bills are falling behind, we are excited and hopeful that several animal protection bills are racing to the finish line. Your actions make a difference! Don’t forget to check APV’s Legislative Session Tracker for updates on other bills, scheduled hearings, vote results, and more: https://apvnm.org/legislation/
