Canine Population

Bernalillo County
By Steve Santos
For: New Mexico Animal and Nonprofit Law

KEY POINTS
Pet overpopulation
encompasses two primary
factors: (1) allowing cats and
dogs to reproduce with little
chance to find homes for the
offspring and (2) pets being
relinquished by owners who
can no longer keep their
animals, or who no longer
want them. American
Humane Association
The city of Albuquerque
admits on average 933 canines
a month that is an estimated
11,196 canines a year. 7,720
of those canines are strays,
that is an average of 643 stray
dogs admitted a month.
There is on average 1 stray
dog per 16 owned dogs in the
city of Albuquerque. In
comparison the US
department of housing
estimates that 1 in every 200
Americans is homeless.
On average 5,952 canines are
adopted each year, 3,478 are
returned or surrendered and
1,606 are euthanized in the
city of Albuquerque.

INTRODCUTION
This report has been prepared for the law office of New
Mexico Animal Law and the purpose of this report is to
organize and present data regarding dog population in the
city of Albuquerque in order to conclude on a viable
number of unwanted dogs. By definition unwanted dogs
are those that do not have a home or owner and these are
considered the demographic of overpopulated canines.
The American Humane Association estimates that there is
about 70 million dogs in America and According to the
American Per Product Association the total pet market
value is at an estimated 60-billion-dollars. Our pets are a
significant part of our life and this means that dog
overpopulation can affect public health and public safety
in the city of Albuquerque.
METHODOLOGY

Our research consists of gathering information from

national and local humane societies as well as
private nonprofit and for profit organizations. The
statistics gathered form these organizations were
used as the basis to calculate the total population of
dogs and total population of stray dogs for the city
of Albuquerque.
The information that we gathered is presented as a
table of results. The results listed were directly
gathered from the city of Albuquerque animal
welfare reports from January 2014 through June
2014. The averages per year were estimated based
on this six month results period.
Formulas used to determine averages.
Total Canine population of Albuquerque = ABQ
households x national percent of households with
dogs (.365) x national average of dogs per
household (1.5).
Ratio of owned to stray dogs in Albuquerque =
Total dog population/total stray population.

RESULTS
In order to determine whether our city is
overpopulated with canines we must first define
what overpopulation means. A local publication
called petroglyphs ran an article that defines pet
overpopulation as the amount of unwanted dogs,
those without owners. First we will estimate the
amount of dogs that are owned within the
Bernalillo county and then estimate the amount
and percent of unclaimed or unwanted dogs.

222,000

36.5%

120,000

According to the 2012 Pet Ownership and

Demographics Sourcebook, the national trend in
dog ownership is about 36.5 percent per American
household and every household owns about 1.5
120,000 dogs in Albuquerque
dogs. The 2010 US census projects an estimated
1 for every 4.5 people
222,000 households in Albuquerque in 2014. If we
multiply the percent of households with dogs by the projection of households in Albuquerque
and adjust the result by 1.5 per household, we estimate the total population of owned dogs as
120,000. That is about 1 dog for every 4.5 people in Albuquerque. At this point we must remind
you that this is the approximate amount of dogs that are owned and cared for in Albuquerque,
these are not to be considered overpopulated canines.
Albuquerque
Stray
Owner Surrender
Returned
Total

Jan
578
194
78
850

Feb
553
216
57
826

Mar
676
239
67
982

Apr
663
254
42
959

May
684
230
80
994

Jun
706
231
51
988

Totals
3860
1364
375
5599

Now we share with you our findings

on the estimated overpopulation of
canines in the city of Albuquerque.
Transferred Died
Euthanized
0%
We took a look at the first 6 months
8%
14%
of the animal arrival reports
Reclaimed
generated by the city of Albuquerque
26%
and we found that during that time
the Albuquerque animal welfare
department took on an average of
933 canines a month. A total of 5,599
canines were admitted by the animal
welfare department, 3,860 were
Adopted
stray, 1,364 were surrendered by their
52%
owners and 375 were returned. We
only included this demographic of
canines as there was a small amount that died while in animal welfare custody and we must also
mention that there is the possibility that some of the animals may have been readmitted
nevertheless we included all dogs with individual and unique identifications. Furthermore, the
Animal Welfare department reports show that 803 of the dogs admitted during these six months
were euthanized, 2926 were adopted, 1424 were reclaimed and 428 were transferred. We could
not verify where these animals were transferred to. The rate of adoption should be adjusted by
the amount of dogs that are returned.

WHERE DO THESE
CANINES GO?

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS
The adoption rate is much lower
because out of 5852 adopted dogs
3478 are returned or surrendered each
year. Less than half remain in their
adoptive homes.

Our data suggests that the ratio of canines

that do not have a home or someone to
care for them is 1 to 16 compared to those
dogs that are owned. In comparison the
ratio of homeless Americans to those who
have homes is 1 to 200. We can conclude
from this comparison that dog
overpopulation or homelessness is significantly higher than homelessness in America.

Approximately 11,198 dogs go through our city shelters each year and of those over half
are considered stray. Our data suggest that 7,720 stray dogs go through Albuquerque
animal welfare each year.

52 percent of the dogs that go through our system are eventually adopted. 32 percent of
dogs that go through the system were returned or surrendered by their owners. This
means that the rate of adoption is actually lower because approximately only half of
adopted dogs remain in their adoptive homes.

RECOMMENDATIONS
In summary our report found that there is a significant amount of unclaimed dogs in
Bernalillo county and these are to be considered the overpopulation demographic. The ratio
of strays to owned dogs is 1 to 16, a higher ratio than homelessness in America. There is a
significant amount of adoptions occurring within our county but the turnover rate is too high
and reduces the amount of total adoptions to below half. We present two key
recommendations based on our report.
A surplus of stray dogs must be avoided and a key factor would be to spay or neuter
those animals that pass through Animal Welfares doors. Every surplus dog can be spayed
or neutered within Animal Welfares care.
Overpopulation can be diminished if efforts to lessen the turnover rate of adopted
dogs can be avoided. More owned dogs equals less strays.
Overpopulation within our own species is considered one of the most pressing issues of our
time furthermore other issues are associated with over population such as diminishing
resources, destruction of surrounding ecosystems and propagation of disease. We leave
interpretation of associated repercussions of the dog population to you but there is no doubt
that Bernalillo county has a significant amount of dogs without homes.

Works Cited
APPA. "Pet Industry Market Size & Ownership Statistics." Welcome to the American Pet Products
Association (APPA). N.p., 2 Mar. 2016. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.
<http://www.americanpetproducts.org/press_industrytrends.asp>.
AVMA. "U.S. Pet Ownership Statistics." American Veterinary Medical Association - Home. N.p.,
1 Mar. 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.
Banks, Laura. "Presidents Keyboard." No more homeless pets of New Mexico. N.p., 1 June 2002.
Web. 10 Apr. 2016. <www.petroglyphsnm.org/nmhpnmhtml/sum02123.html#art2>.
Durzo, Judith. N.p., Web. <www.newmexicoanimallaw.com/>.
Quickfacts. "Albuquerque City New Mexico QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau."Census.gov.
N.p., 2 May 2012. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.
<http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/HSD410214/3502000,35>.
Uncredited. "Animal Welfare Reports City of Albuquerque." City of Albuquerque. N.p.,
14 Apr. 2016. Web. 14 Apr. 2016. <https://www.cabq.gov/pets/animal-welfare-reports>.
Uncredited. "National Alliance to End Homelessness: The State of Homelessness in America
2015." National Alliance to End Homelessness. N.p., 1 Apr. 2015. Web. 14 Apr. 2016.