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Los Ranchos trustees approve county contract for animal‑care services
Summary
The Village of Los Ranchos voted to enter an intergovernmental agreement with Bernalillo County to provide animal‑care services including enforcement, sheltering, outreach and data reporting; trustees approved a small late amendment to delay an annual escalation until the third year.
Trustees on Aug. 19 approved an intergovernmental agreement with Bernalillo County that will shift animal‑care and field enforcement responsibilities to county staff and provide sheltering, reclaiming, adoption and outreach services for the village.
Mayor Lawrence Rael and village staff told trustees the agreement will give the village broader staffing and equipment support and reduce reliance on a single, part‑time village officer. A late edit to the draft — agreed in discussions between village staff and the county — moves the annual escalator and the corresponding payment change from year two to year three of the contract term, giving the village more budget relief in the early years.
Bernalillo County Animal Care Director Misha Goodman said the county will provide typical field‑services functions: enforcement, emergency response, shelter intake and reunification, adoption services and community outreach including vaccination and microchipping events. “Weare here to offer services to the village,” Goodman said, adding the county can staff longer service hours and leverage its shelter and adoption capacity.
Trustees pressed county staff on details. Trustee Ranovich asked what outreach events might look like; Goodman said they could include adoption events, low‑cost vaccinations and microchipping. Trustee Venus asked whether the county planned to shelter animals on village property; the county replied it would continue using its existing shelter and would only use village property for temporary adoption events, not as a permanent shelter.
Trustee Kefir asked about ordinance changes and enforcement standards. County staff said the bulk of the village code already mirrors county language and that roughly 90% of the villagecode is word‑for‑word aligned with Bernalillo Countycode; one of the identified differences is licensing, which county staff said they are phasing out. Trustee Kefir also asked about an annual calls cap; staff said a threshold of 100 calls per year will trigger a contract review and that one aim of the agreement is better data collection (types of calls, geography, animals involved).
The trustees voted to approve the agreement by voice vote. The contract includes reporting and data‑tracking commitments that village staff said will give trustees better metrics on call volumes and types.
What happens next: The county will begin providing services per the agreement schedule, staff will bring conforming ordinance language to the village code as needed, and trustees said they expect periodic reports on call levels and program outcomes.
