Important meetings this week

There are some important public meetings this week for animal advocates and anyone in the general public concerned about animal welfare to attend if you have the time. They are listed below with a brief explanation of each. You can also refer to the Animal Events Calendar on the www.hssnm.org website for similar meetings in the future. I try to input those that I know of on a regular basis.

City Council Working Meeting
Feb. 3rd, 1 p.m., in the City Council Chambers at City Hall (on Church St.)
The council will be making a decision that affects future City funding for the Spay Neuter Action Program (SNAP)

First Meeting of the Newly-Appointed Shelter Oversight Board
Feb. 5th, 9 a.m., at the Dona Ana County Government Center (on Motel Blvd.)

ANIMAL SERVICES CENTER OF THE MESILLA VALLEY BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Agenda for meeting

The following agenda will be considered at a Special Meeting of the Animal Services Center of the Mesilla Valley Board of Directors to be held in the Commission Chambers:

I. Call to Order

II. Election of Officers

III. Establish Meeting Dates, Times, Venue and Notification Requirements

IV. Action Item(s)

1. Formal Appointment and Employment Contract Authorization for Dr. Beth Vesco-Mock, Executive Director.

2. Adoption of the Fiscal year 2009 Budget.

3. Direction to Establish Applicable Ad Hoc Committee and Membership.

V. Board Input

VI. Public Input (Three Minutes)

VII. Adjournment

Contact: Carolyn Horner
Phone: 541-2067


Kick-off meeting for the Action Programs for Animals (APA) coalition
Feb. 5, 6:30 p.m., Branigan Library's Dresp Room (on corner of Main and Picacho)

The following text is from the press release send out about this coalition. I am one of the people leading this charge, so I will be busy at work the rest of this week in preparation for it. I hope to see alot of people there, even if I do faint at the sight of all of you!

A few local animal-welfare advocates are kicking off a new action-oriented coalition to try to bring everyone interested in bettering the lives of our community’s companion animals together to take positive action and work toward implementing new programs and services. We will be focusing on proactive steps we can take to save/enrich lives—for companion animals and their guardians. This group grew out of the former Las Cruces No Kill Study Group, which after some meetings where research and discussions took place, it became very evident that what our community needs most at this point in time is program modeling and active inspiration—not another written report about successes in other areas of our nation that would probably go unnoticed.

After a short period of introductions and idea-sharing, we will start rolling up our sleeves and getting to work on progressive program and service implementation as individuals and networks of individuals. We want to form partnerships between all area non-profits, civic leaders, business owners, educators, and the animal shelter/control departments, etc. We will be starting with small projects first and then growing into larger ones. All are welcome to attend and become part of the action.

The goal and mission of this group is to bring all community stakeholders together for idea and resource sharing and forming working committees around shared goals and programs. It is our hope this sparks the formation of more non-profits and the growth of existing ones as well as partnerships in specific programs with our animal-welfare agencies. The ultimate goal is to work together as an entire community to reduce—year by year—the number of healthy/treatable companion animals that are killed for a lack of space at our shelter and a lack of alternatives.

The APA kick-off meeting is set for February 5th, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at the Branigan Library’s Dresp Room. For more information, e-mail cheressemm@gmail.com. Come join this working coalition to share ideas/resources and implement programs for saving more companion animals’ lives and helping to enrich the lives of animals and their guardians. We will have monthly progress meetings the first Thursday of each month at the same time and location.

Next Blog Posting

The topic of my next post, which I will write this coming weekend, will be the debunking of the myths/misconceptions surrounding No Kill's philosophy. I'll also discuss and highlight (with examples) the faulty logic that is often used by those who are entrenched in the status quo to attack No Kill's progressive ideas and deflect genuine conversation and problem-solving of issues that are raised.