WHAT IS COMMUNITY-BASED SHELTERING?

Simply put, a community-based shelter model is founded on elements that each “partner” organization - Stray Hearts, the town of Taos, local area residents, the County, private citizens, schools, local businesses, etc - will implement in their communities, with Stray Hearts providing various programs to enhance the efforts of all partners working together.

Stray Hearts will provide policies, education and training to all our various partners, in order to create meaningful change, reducing intake levels at Stray Hearts, promoting adoption and fostering of most pets into homes, not kennels.

This will allow us all the breathing room to begin to address the systemic issues that are the root cause of some of our current challenges: abominable spay and neuter access and services, overpopulation, lost pets with no microchipping etc.



WHAT DOES “WAREHOUSING” ANIMALS MEAN?

The same, repetitious activity when engaged in by shelters is typically termed "warehousing," the long-term sheltering of animals by organizations that absolutely refuse to kill healthy and treatable homeless pets, even when they're stacked in cages to the ceiling.

Even though this means less animals are euthanized, it increases the risks of disease transmission, creates damaging behavior issues, and does not address the majority of the problems that exist in the community which causes overpopulation in the first place. 


WHY DOES STRAY HEARTS NEED TO BE A COMMUNITY-BASED SHELTER AND WHAT DOES THAT LOOK LIKE?


The stray dog and cat problem in Taos County is extensive and pervasive.

Addressing these problems will take a concerted effort from ALL facets of Taos - citizens, the governments of the Town, County, Taos Pueblo, Picuris Pueblo, as well as Stray Hearts - working TOGETHER in a coordinated effort to address these issues with updated animal welfare laws, humane education, and more low-cost services for pet owners.

The model of a shelter being a “drop off” for all lost, abandoned and rescued strays is no longer a tenable model.

WHAT RESOURCES DOES STRAY HEARTS HAVE NOW THAT CAN HELP OUR PET COMMUNITY?

Our mission has always been to educate, promote spay and neuter services, and to help create stronger bonds between people and their animals. We are committed to restructuring our priorities to better achieve our mission as the Humane Society of Taos.

Stray Hearts continues to develop community programs to help assist people and animals, programs which involve education and services that can help alleviate some of the broader systemic issues facing Taos, among them access to affordable spay and neuter services. Among our current resources are:

  • A community Stray Hearts Food Bank

  • Training vouchers

  • Collars

  • Leashes

  • Pet supplies

  • Potential Foster Stipend program

  • Sponsoring more spay neuter clinics

WHAT IF THAT’S NOT ENOUGH? WHAT IS STRAY HEARTS WORKING ON NOW TO BECOME A COMMUNITY-BASED MODEL?

Stray Hearts is currently working on a number of new programs including:

  • Public education

  • Increasing the frequency of spay neuter clinics

  • Vaccine clinics 

  • Low cost pet “wellness” clinics, encompassing spay and neutering, vaccinations, general wellness checks and general pet education