About the Shelter

Who We Are The Santa Fe Animal Shelter is the largest animal shelter and care facility in northern New Mexico. We serve more than 10,000 lost, stray, abandoned or injured animals each year. As a private, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization, we receive nearly all of our funding through private donors in our community and beyond. The Shelter contracts with the City and County of Santa Fe to care for homeless and stray animals, but also serves every animal brought through our front doors from any other source. We work to reunite people with their lost animal companions, and re-home those animals that have gone unclaimed into new homes through our adoption program. Low- and no-cost spay/neuter programs address the overpopulation problems that our community faces. Humane education programs in our local schools teach children to respect and care for all living creatures. Partnered with our community, we work for change in the lives of our companion animals and to end the suffering of all animals. A Brief History On July 18, 2005, the Santa Fe Animal Shelter left its home of 66 years—the only home the organization had ever known—and moved to our new, two-building, 100-acre campus. We left a structure that had helped us serve thousands upon thousands of animals for the better part of seven decades. And while that home held so much history and love, the needs of our community meant we needed more. Thanks to a partnership with the City of Santa Fe and the Bureau of Land management, we moved to a parcel of land with hiking trails, room to walk dogs, and amazing sunsets. After a multi-year fundraising drive, the first phase was completed: two beautiful new buildings in which we can provide a higher level of care to the animals in our community. The Lapides Adoption Center serves healthy, adoptable animals. Every detail of the new Shelter is designed for the comfort and health of the animals. From the tiled banco in each dog kennel to the spacious, cozy, cat colony rooms; from the radiant floor heating for our four-footed visitors to “cuddle” rooms where potential adopters can visit with an animal in an area designed to simulate a home environment. The second building, the Robin Sommers Animal Receiving & Care Center, allows us much more room to house stray and abandoned animals as we care for them during their stay with us. High-tech ventilation systems allow us to better control the spread of contagious diseases and to safely treat the animals in our care much more effectively. A third building, The Clare Eddy Thaw Hospital, was completed in the summer of 2013 and proudly opened to further serve the needs of the community. We welcome you to visit the new haven we are providing to the animals of our community. Two five-acre dog parks are available so that the Shelter will not just be a place to adopt an animal or find a missing one, but one to visit over and over again. We have built this Shelter for you, our community, to use as a resource and a place to find joy with the animals. The staff of the Santa Fe Animal Shelter brings years of collective experience in animal welfare and related fields to the Shelter. For more information about the Shelter, please contact the appropriate person below.