Lucky Paws pet adoption center celebrates expanding to seven days a week service

Whenever Barbra Hipsher is having a bad day, she stops by Lucky Paws at Coronado Center, which is a few storefronts down from where she works.

“I just like to look at the animals,” said Hipsher, who has her own dog at home. “Any excuse.”

For about three years neither Hipsher nor anybody else could browse the cats, dogs, guinea pigs and rabbits looking for their forever home at Lucky Paws.

Manager Selia Velasquez said that a staffing shortage led the facility to close in March 2020, with exceptions for Black Friday in 2021 and 2022, which Velasquez said is Albuquerque Animal Welfare’s top adoption day.

In February, the center reopened. And now, the city-run shelter has achieved another goal: increasing days of service from four to seven days a week.

“We have so many animals in the shelter,” Velasquez said. “Opening up Lucky Paws was a huge relief.”

Carolyn Ortega, the director of Animal Welfare, took over the department at the beginning of the pandemic. At the time, there was a surge of adoptions, but many of those adoptees later found themselves back at the Eastside (8920 Lomas Blvd. NE) and Westside (11800 Sunset Gardens Rd. SW) animal shelters, Ortega said.

Ortega said at Lucky Paws, a smaller group of pets — the center has kennels for 14 dogs and 16 cats — can get more attention when they might be overlooked at a larger shelter. Senior dogs and dogs that struggle with staying in a small kennel are often top candidates for Lucky Paws, where they can benefit from individual care, Ortega said.

The center has one staff member for about every eight pets; at the larger city centers, Ortega said, it’s about one for every 40.

Jessica Jakubanis, a biologist who volunteers at the adoption center, said disabled pets are often prioritized at Lucky Paws.

“We also focused on special needs: missing eye, missing leg,” Jakubanis said. “This is a great showcase.”

Velasquez said keeping the center open seven days a week — including Mondays, when the Eastside and Westside animal shelters are closed — is a big help.

At least one dog already had benefited. Queen, a Rottweiler mix who can rock a ladybug costume, already had her room tagged with the word “adopted.” From February to October, 815 animals have been adopted at Lucky Paws; there have been almost 30,000 adoptions since the facility opened in 2007.

“We get a lot of animals adopted here,” Velasquez said.

Lucky Paws is open 11 a.m.- 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and noon-5:30 p.m. Sunday.