New Mexico Livestock Board Update

NEW MEXICO LIVESTOCK BOARD UPDATE

Animal Cruelty and Abandonment

Animal cruelty cases are listed among the many responsibilities of New Mexico Livestock Board (NMLB) inspectors. The process of handling such situations usually begins with a call of concern for the animals and these scenes are sometimes harsh and heartbreaking.

In the last year, the NMLB has picked up 38 head of horses in abandoned, cruelty and neglect cases. The costs of dealing with these animals to the Livestock Board is considerably more than any other task that involves inspectors’ time and the Agencies resources.

In cruelty cases, where the court usually orders disposition of the animals to the livestock board after a significant holding period, the costs are harder to reconcile. According to statute 30-18-1, the court has to hold a disposition hearing on a horse seized by warrant within 30 days. Our average disposition hearing is held 18 days from the time of the seizure. Although New Mexico Statute is clear that the defendant is required to pay all costs incurred while the seizing agency is in possession of the horse(s), it is rare to ever see those costs reimbursed. It is important to note that no seizure of horses taken up by the NMLB in the last several years has been found un-warranted by a judge, this is a testament to the professionalism of our inspectors.

The costs incurred by the NMLB include, feed, Coggins testing, micro-chipping, veterinary, euthanasia and disposal, mileage and hours for inspectors. Other costs are harder to put a number to such as, attorney fees for litigations in situations where activists file a civil case against the agency, public records requests and the labor and time of the records custodian. These public records requests received by the NMLB are primarily focused on the horses taken up by the agency, and consume a disproportionate amount of agency time and resources when compared to our mission as defined in Statute.

The inspectors that work for the New Mexico Livestock Board generally come to us with a considerable amount of experience with livestock and horses. In order to ensure consistent and adequate applicability, more training is needed to deal with cruelty cases and understand the criminal enforcement of New Mexico Statutes. Some of this training is done within the agency but every opportunity is taken advantage of to meet the needs of the industry.

There is much written in social media from those whom claim to be horse advocates in the State of New Mexico these days. Many times they take a stance against livestock producers and the NMLB to further their agenda. Our inspectors are all qualified to deal with cruelty issues and all have a level of compassion towards livestock ingrained from past experiences. We were all taught that you feed your horse before you eat, and you loosen the cinch when you step off. ▫

Cruelty Case Seizure Horse- 30 day progress picture

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