In a positive step toward releasing hundreds of thousands of dollars of critical funding, last month the New Mexico Board of Veterinary Medicine (NMBVM) adopted rules for disbursing state spay/neuter funds, including money brought in by the law established by Senate Bill 57.
SB 57—known as New Mexico’s “Affordable Spay/Neuter Law”—was signed into law by the Governor four years ago and created a new funding stream for the existing Animal Care and Facility Fund, which makes grants to eligible spay/neuter providers. The Fund also receives money from the purchase of specialty spay/neuter license plates through the New Mexico Motor Vehicles Division and from donated state income tax refunds. But the bulk of money the Fund has received so far has come about as a result of SB 57.
As passed in 2020, SB 57 requires pet food manufacturers to pay a state spay/neuter program fee as part of the product registration fees to the Department of Agriculture, which are then transferred into the Animal Care and Facility Fund, managed by the NMBVM. Though each individual fee amount is quite low, since the passage of SB 57, the Fund has collected over $2.3 million dollars for spay/neuter services. Up to this point, however, the NMBVM has not disbursed those funds to spay/neuter providers, wanting to first adopt formal rules for the application and disbursement process.
On November 20, 2024, the NMBVM met in Santa Fe to vote on the proposed rules for disbursing those funds. Animal Protection Voters and Animal Protection New Mexico staff attended in person to advocate for the adoption of the rules and compliance with the policy laid out in the Affordable Spay/Neuter Law. In addition to written comments submitted by APNM, our Chief Humane Communities Officer, Judy Wolf, delivered oral remarks in support of the proposed rules but urged the Board to amend one provision before adoption.
Without the amendment suggested by APNM, there could have been some negative, unintended consequences for New Mexico’s municipal and county shelters. In particular, as proposed, the rules unnecessarily imposed household income requirements on clients served by local government shelters providing spay/neuter services. As APNM pointed out in our comments, the original proposed rule was inconsistent with what was written in statute. Ms. Wolf stated in the rules hearing, “It is crucial that the county and municipal services be allowed to provide services broadly to … people to reduce the financial and societal burden of dog and cat overpopulation on their communities.”
As another unintended consequence of the original proposed rule, the requirement of proof of income would have impacted local governments’ ability to control feral cat populations through Trap-Neuter-Return (or TNR) programs. “Because community cats have no owners, there is no income to present”, testified Ms. Wolf.
The NMBVM agreed and voted unanimously to amend the proposed rule in accordance with APNM’s suggestion.
The discussion about the spay/neuter fund disbursement rules took place under the shadow of the ongoing lawsuit brought by the corporate pet food industry (and its allies) trying to overturn the Affordable Spay/Neuter Law. An attorney representing the pet industry gave comments opposing the passage of the disbursement rules, alluding to their arguments in the litigation.
However, legal counsel representing Animal Protection Voters, who helped us win a motion to intervene in the litigation, also gave remarks at the rules hearing in support of NMBVM adopting final rules for funding disbursement, as well as compelling arguments as to why the law established by Senate Bill 57 is indeed constitutional and our confidence in a positive ruling from the Court.
Shortly after public comments concluded, the NMBVM took a vote on adopting the final rules as amended. Every member of the board voted yes to move forward on disbursing the funds. Hurray!
What we anticipate next: The rules are expected to take effect by late December 2024, and APNM will strongly advocate for the Animal Sheltering Committee, under the direction of the NMBVM, to immediately thereafter put out a new request for spay/neuter service contracts with eligible entities. Afterwards, NMBVM should be in a position to start disbursing funds by Spring 2025—just in time for puppy and kitten season.
Stay tuned as we continue pressing for the release of state spay/neuter funds and standing up for the law’s constitutionality in court. Thank you for your continued support as we continue the fight to bring affordable spay/neuter to communities in New Mexico where it is needed most.
