Bernalillo County shelter pets relocated to Expo New Mexico after mold infestation

Dozens of dogs from Bernalillo County will call the state fairgrounds home for the next several months after mold turned up at the county shelter — a symptom of the larger problem of overcrowding, according to an official.

“We outgrew the shelter very quickly and the animals do not have the space they were originally intended to have,” said Misha Goodman, director of the Bernalillo County Animal Care Services and Resource Center. “Part of the result of more animals is more use of water, more use of chemicals, and the building never has the opportunity to rest, if you will, and between that and a variety of other things, we ended up with mold in the building.”

The department recently announced it is partnering with Expo New Mexico for the next six months to provide housing for animals after a black mold infestation surfaced in October that shut down a portion of the animal care facility.

An investigation showed the main hallway, ceiling tiles and several kennel areas were affected by mold. None of the animals showed any signs of health issues after the infestation, and a majority have since been adopted, according to the county. There were no further reports of mold and, by November, the shelter had treated all the mold infestations.

The shelter was built in 2019 to accommodate 2,500 animals, but in the past year, the shelter has taken in about 6,200 animals, Goodman said.

While the shelter is working on a plan for reconstruction, 30 dogs had to be relocated to one of the livestock buildings at Expo New Mexico.

“We helped them put up temporary kennels, but they provided the materials for that,” Expo New Mexico spokesperson Ty Stevers said. “If people need help, we’re going to be there to help them. That’s what municipalities do.”

Bernalillo County plans to house animals at the fairgrounds until the end of June, when Expo New Mexico would begin preparing for the State Fair that begins Sept. 4.

“The fairgrounds have been wonderful and Expo is great, but it’s really just a housing space,” Goodman said. “It’s not a place that the public can go and adopt animals. We want to be able to move them along, and we need a place that customers can come to in order to do that.”

Animals are rotated between Expo New Mexico and the shelter to give them the chance to be adopted, and the shelter posts flyers to remind visitors about the animals being held there. While the situation isn’t ideal, Goodman said the animals have been getting a lot of attention and enjoy going on walks through the grounds.

“We’re a lot more than corn dogs and concerts around here,” Stevers said. “We have the ability to adapt and overcome and assist when we need to assist. We think it’s a great thing to be able to help Bernalillo County, and we would help anybody else in need.”

Animal Care is also looking for possible locations to lease until they have a permanent solution.

“There are a number of ways we hope to resolve this,” Goodman said. “One would be to add an offsite adoption center somewhere else in the community where some of these animals could go just for adoption purposes. The other would be to rebuild the shelter with stronger materials that will be more water and chemical resistant.”

With that in mind, Bernalillo County is requesting $1 million in 2025 capital outlay funding from the Legislature to go toward the shelter’s expansion. Such an expansion would include a minimum 8,000-square-foot addition with more housing. The total project cost is estimated to be $13.1 million.

“Since COVID, the (animal) population has grown greatly across the country, and it’s very difficult to move animals in the way we used to be able to move them,” she said. “Our foster care program and foster homes who take in animals on a temporary basis help to alleviate some of those space issues.”