At the end of March, Animal Balance launched a partnership with Stray Hearts Animal Shelter, in the New Mexico mountain town of Taos. It was an immediate match made in heaven (or at least 7,000 feet) when we met with the team from Stray Hearts earlier this year, discovering that we share the same prevention based solutions to animal overpopulation in the area. Stray Hearts Executive Director Jason Knowles visited our clinic in Albuquerque and knew that MASH was something that would work in his community.
Taos is an expansive high desert town, bounded by the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, where the elevation (6,969′) surpasses the population (6,442 people). The community there, like many other communities we serve, does not have sufficient access to affordable veterinary care or spay/neuter services, which results in spread of disease, and litter after litter of puppies and kittens with nowhere to go.
Our teams easily filled 200 appointment slots, with another 400+ still on the waiting list. And at the end of 3 days, 202 cats and dogs had been fixed, vaccinated, and loved on by the incredible team of humans, including veterinarians, vet techs and volunteers, who descended on the mountains for a weekend to make this event possible. We can’t say enough about the skill, compassion, and dedication you bring to each clinic! Not only do we do A LOT of surgeries, but each patient and caregiver gets treated like family from beginning to end. We truly do work with the best humans on the planet!
Animal Balance is continuing to expand our work across New Mexico, and we are thrilled to be able to add the community of Taos and Stray Hearts to our partner list.
We look forward to returning later this year for another MASH clinic, so keep your eyes peeled for opportunities to join a clinic or support this work from afar.
Our partners made this short video about our weekend
