Our Beginning

We begin with Colonel Edmund and Thelma Evans and a stolen Yorkshire Terrier. A Yorkie fancier, Thelma was contacted about the dog. "We got into this and dropped everything else," said Thelma in a 1984 interview. She and Edmund began their journey by joining the Taxpayers Anti-Cruelty Federation of New Mexico in September, 1965. Before long, the Federation was being run out of Thelma's kitchen. Shortly thereafter, the organization's name was changed to Animal Humane Association of New Mexico, Inc. with the adoption of its first by-laws in November 1968.

Our original focus was providing lost and found services. But by 1969, an ad calling for support for the Association showed the mission had evolved, listing the primary services as: rescuing injured animals, finding homes for abandoned pets, promoting protective legislation, investigating cruelty complaints and, finally, operating a lost and found service. The Association's aim was "to protect animals from the abuses and neglect of people."

Thelma and Edmund were change masters. By championing animal protection legislation and offering humane education, they molded the public‘s perception of responsible pet ownership through commentary, public relations and by example. They were early ambassadors of the need to spay and neuter to reduce the overwhelming number of homeless pets. The Association, under Edmund's Presidency, influenced the passage of the city's first animal ordinance requiring licensing of dogs and cats and establishing its leash law as well as the statewide ban on dog fighting. Our organization today is the direct result of their vision, dedication, and leadership.

Animal Humane, The Early Years: 1965 - 1980

Animal Humane's original purpose was humane education and providing a lost and found service for stray pets. By 1968, the cost of boarding an average of 20 dogs was cutting into the funds and the agency at risk of "going broke." By 1969, the group had expanded its services by offering adoption services. Adoption fees were $24 prompting one angry citizen to complain, "What kind of group is this?"

The primary funding was from memberships. The four original members in 1965 had grown to 362 by the end of 1968. Members signed in at meetings and handwritten meeting rosters exist in the archives. In a 1980 Albuquerque Tribune article, Colonel Evans is quoted as saying the Association had 4,000 members.

 
The total operating budget for the first year of operation was $125 in income and $100.92 in expenses with annual income growing to $2,030 by the end of 1967. Compare that to our $4.2M in income for 2009 and you can see the organization has thrived over the years. From December 1966 to the following December, 124 animals, including one horse, were adopted out.

In June 1969, the operation moved from the Evans home on Morrow Street to the present location with the purchase of the Robert McKee property at 615 Virginia Street SE for the grand sum of $26,500. The only building on the property at that time was the brick building that currently houses Administration. During that same year, Charlie Black, a small black Chihuahua mix, became the organization's first mascot after being rescued by the Evans. A victim of animal cruelty, Charlie Black had been thrown from a four-story building by his 10-year-old master when he refused to "go home". He became the poster dog for many outreach activities, including riding in a Chrysler convertible in the 1969 State Fair Parade. Charley Black lived to be eighteen years old.

The first kennels were built in 1970 in what is now the cattery and kennel processing building. In 1977, Animal Humane received a gift from the estate of George C. Whittell which funded the construction of the veterinary clinic by Jaynes Corporation. As early as 1972, Animal Humane was comparing its numbers for intakes, adoptions and euthanasia to the city's Animal Control Center (ACC). That year, the city took in over 24,000 versus 1,063 at Animal Humane. Animal Humane adopted 52% of intakes compared to 9% at the ACC. A 1975 interview with Colonel Evans in Kirtland's Weekly newspaper Focus, pegs the stray/homeless pet population at 50,000 - 60,000. It was estimated that 23,000 pets were destroyed at the Animal Control Center that year. By 1984, Animal Humane was taking in 3,000 pets a year, adopting 70%, reuniting 20% with their owners and euthanizing 10% because of injury, illness or unadoptability.

 
It's interesting to note the on-going public confusion between the City shelter and Animal Humane. A Letter to the Editor to the Albuquerque Journal written in 1978 by Colonel Evans referred to Animal Humane as "the one on Virginia" a phrase we continue us to this day.

Stay tuned for our next installment of Animal Humane's history this summer. In the meantime, if you have an Animal Humane history story that you'd like to share with us, please send them to info@animalhumanenm.org.