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The Santa Fe Animal Shelter is asking for help after 48 dogs seized from an ex-veterinarian’s home in Edgewood were brought to the already crowded facility.
Many of the dogs and newborn puppies seized in the case are injured or under-socialized and need immediate care, Mary Martin, the shelter’s executive director, said Tuesday.
“It’s possible the dogs may be with us for some time,” Martin said.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office obtained a search warrant to search the home of Debra Clopton, whose veterinarian license has been revoked, on Monday and found the dozens of dogs in “deplorable” conditions, a sheriff’s lieutenant said.
Deputies were responding to neighbor’s complaints.
Martin said the case is likely to have a big impact on the Santa Fe shelter.
“Our shelter doesn’t have five open kennels much less 40, so preparing for this case requires incredible teamwork and community support,” Martin said. “Situations like these put a great strain on our shelter’s resources, from everything to staff hours to dog food.”
More than 30 dogs have been transferred to temporary kennels at Santa Fe Tails Daycare and Dog Academy and Braemar Boarding Kennels. But more help will be needed if the shelter must hold the seized dogs indefinitely, Martin said.
The shelter staff is asking people who are interested in adopting new pets to please do so now and asks anyone considering relinquishing an animal to the shelter to wait.
Also to help ease the resource crunch, the shelter is asking for donations of canned dog food, towels and blankets, along with financial contributions to “ensure that the animals get the kind of care they desperately need,” a shelter news release said.
Financial donations are accepted at the shelter, 100 Caja del Rio Road, or by phone, 505-983-4309 ext. 202, or online at www.sfhumanesociety.org.
Those interested in donating canned dog food, towels or blankets may do so at the shelter or at the shelter’s two resale stores, Look What the Cat Dragged In, 2570 Camino Entrada, phone 505-474-6300, and Look What the Cat Dragged In 2, 541 W. Cordova, phone 505-820-9955.
