Animal Humane New Mexico: Disaster Response and Recovery Grant Report

How did this grant help your organization and the pets in your care?

The Petfinder Foundation has been a cherished partner of Animal Humane New Mexico, playing an instrumental role in our mission to support and improve the lives of New Mexico's cats and dogs. It is because of that partnership that we were able to answer the call for help when disaster struck this past June in Ruidoso, New Mexico.

Raging wildfires forced the entire village to evacuate, including the local animal shelter, Humane Society of Lincoln County. Animal Humane successfully rescued and evacuated 59 cats and dogs, completely emptying their shelter. The Petfinder Foundation's Disaster Response and Recovery grant investment of $4,500 helped us shelter all 59 animals, providing them with the veterinary care, enrichment, and love they needed until they were able to find their forever homes. All 59 animals rescued from Ruidoso have been adopted!

How many pets did this grant help?

59

Please provide a story of one or more specific pets this grant helped.

When wildfires were raging in Ruidoso, Animal Humane responded to the call for help from the Humane Society of Lincoln County. We successfully evacuated and rescued all 59 of the homeless animals in their care, bringing them to the safety of our shelter.

Two of those pets were kittens named Mitochondria and Stegosaurus. Upon examining them, our team found that both were quite fearful of humans. They were also suffering from upper respiratory infections.

The kittens were taken to our donor-subsidized veterinary clinic, where their URIs were treated. Just as their URIs cleared up, we found that both Mitochondria and Stegosaurus had developed lesions on their backs. Fluorescent lighting confirmed what we feared: Both kittens had ringworm. They were immediately moved to Animal Humane’s ringworm ward.

Thanks to the Petfinder Foundation’s Disaster Response and Recovery Grant, we were able to treat both kittens for ringworm. While we were unable to touch and pet them, as ringworm is extremely contagious to both humans and animals, we were still able to give them plenty of enrichment in the form of treats.

All of this extra TLC helped Mitochondria and Stegosaurus make leaps and bounds of improvement with their fear. After two months in our care, both kittens were adopted!