What if Animal Shelters didn’t exist?

This article was originally published in the Santa Fe New Mexican and concerns our two animal shelters, the Santa Fe Animal Shelter and the Española Humane center. Yet the truth is that the story could be told about any town or city if their shelters ceased to exist.

Mahatma Gandhi wrote, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

When we first moved to Santa Fe in the early eighties, my wife Laurie got a job at a conference center next to the little village of South San Ysidro in San Miguel County. On one of her first days of work, her manager told her that packs of feral dogs would occasionally run through the property, and the best thing to do was to go inside.

The thesis of this article is: What would our town be like if there were no shelters? The answer is more episodes like the one described, yet one hundred times worse.

Mattie Allen, the Communication Director for Española Humane Center, used the phrase "post-apocalyptic."

Mattie’s work history with the Piute Reservation in Nevada gives another vivid example. The nearest shelter was hours away. People would dump litters of puppies and kittens in her yard. There were strays everywhere, suffering everywhere.

Think of the math in a world without shelters and no spay and neutering programs. Cats, after the age of four months, can have four litters a year. (Dogs can have up to two litters a year.)

Over four generations of cats, assuming eight kittens per litter (4000 plus females), that's nearly 130,000 cats. Of course, most of those wouldn't survive in a feral world. As the population grows, diseases like rabies, distemper, panleukopenia, and parvo would explode, killing animals, especially the youngest and most vulnerable.

Suffering everywhere.

Imagine living in a no-shelter world. Think of cats and kittens, many sick and dying everywhere. Think of the roadkill of dogs and cats. Think of the anxiety of letting your kids outside to play with the thought of feral packs of dogs. Imagine individuals shooting dogs because they feel threatened.

Mattie posited that routine exposure to this kind of carnage would create societal compassion fatigue, overwhelming our desire to help in the face of so much suffering. We would become a crueler and colder town.

This is a dark scenario, but one that is plausible if our compassion erodes or we turn a blind eye, if we don't support the shelters, the amazing volunteers and rescue organizations that do the heavy lifting, and if we don't hold local governments accountable. (What is a government for if not to prevent disastrous futures?)

The statistics are astonishing and can give us a sense of the enormity of the daily problem. This year, as of the end of April, the Santa Fe shelter has taken in over 900 animals — mostly strays. From intake through chipping, vaccinations, medical issues, and holding animals until adoption costs approximately $1800 per dog or cat. Even though volunteers put in 7000 hours a year, staff walking the Santa Fe dogs twice daily costs $900,000 a year in salaries.

The Española shelter has taken in over 1300 animals year to date. In 2024, they took in over 4,000 animals.

Most of the funding for both shelters comes from private donations. In Santa Fe, government support in terms of contracts with the city and the county amounts to less than 3% of the total shelter budget. (In my opinion, that's not much in the face of a catastrophic scenario)

Of course, like all towns, we also face a homelessness crisis, a drug crisis, and poverty. Ask anyone who has been around for a few decades, and they will tell you as one crisis fades, another will take its place. It's the human condition. The difference often is how committed a community is to make change and drag the government along.

Right now, the shelters and the rescue organizations are the proverbial boy holding his finger in the dike to prevent its collapse. They need our help, and we have many options. We can help by donating, volunteering, and pressing our representatives to focus on what is essential.

The Santa Fe Animal Shelter has served Santa Fe city and county since 1940, and the Española shelter has been operating since 1992. (The city ran a shelter before that.)

As we look ahead at the next eighty years, one thing is for sure: We will need healthy and vibrant shelters. In turn, they will need our support. Scenarios are just scenarios, as always, the future is ours to create. Let’s participate! Fight cruelty! End suffering.

Hersch Wilson’s latest book, “Dog Lessons: Learning the Important Stuff from our Best Friends” is available at Collected Works in Santa Fe, bookstores everywhere and online. Woof!