Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, a Santa Fe Democrat, defends a law that helps fund spay and neuter programs during a Senate Conservation Committee meeting at the state Capitol on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2026. The law, which calls for a fee on pet food to fund the programs, is scheduled to sunset. Jim Weber/The New Mexican

By LILY ALEXANDER
The Santa Fe New Mexican

A pet food manufacturer fee that could provide an estimated $1.37 million annually to make spay and neuter programs affordable for low-income pet owners in New Mexico faces a sunset date in July.

Some state lawmakers are trying to throw the initiative a lifeboat, even as a legal challenge remains underway.

The New Mexico Board of Veterinary Medicine announced in November it had approved and distributed the first round of grants from the Animal Care and Facility Fund under a 2020 law aimed in large part at reducing the state’s pet overpopulation problem.

“It’s created a fund that I think is critical to deal with the issue of dogs being neutered to avoid euthanasia, and also to just help local governments deal with this issue,” said Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, a Santa Fe Democrat who sponsored Senate Bill 38, which would remove the program’s expiration date. “So, I think that this makes sense.”

The state has so far disbursed $1 million for spay and neuter programs, according to Wirth, despite the pending litigation. An additional $5 million has been collected, he said, and it is set to go out in the next two years if SB 38 passes.

The Senate Conservation Committee voted 7-2 Tuesday to advance SB 38, mostly along party lines. It heads next to the Senate Tax, Business and Transportation Committee.

Senate Conservation Committee members who opposed the bill expressed concerns about the potential outcome of a lawsuit filed shortly after the 2020 bill was signed into law. Sen. Larry Scott, R-Hobbs, asked whether the money collected from pet food fees — now set at $100 a year — would go back to the manufacturers if the litigation ends in favor of the plaintiffs.

“Those are good questions, and I think a judge in the First Judicial District is going to deal with that issue,” Wirth said.

Five groups, including the Washington, D.C.-based Pet Food Institute, filed a lawsuit in state district court against Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and other New Mexico officials, arguing the manufacturer fee is a tax and therefore unconstitutional. 

The fee is imposed on dog and cat food products from large-scale manufacturers that receive more than $3 million in annual revenue. Companies that receive less than that — about 9%, according to a fiscal impact report — are exempt. 

Under the law, access to spay and neuter services at nonprofit organizations is limited to people whose household income does not exceed 200% of the federal poverty level. Pet owners typically pay around $250 to $350 for a cat neuter and up to $800 for a large dog spay, The New Mexican reported in July.

New Mexico shelters take in more than 135,000 dogs and cats each year, according to Animal Protection New Mexico. Many of these shelters struggle with overpopulation, leading to waived adoption fees, emergency kennels — or even euthanasia.

“This bill is really important to my district and my community, where there are a lot of shelters,” said Rep. Cristina Pajarón, D-Albuquerque, a co-sponsor of SB 38, “and where many — up to 55,000 animals, dogs and cats — are put down because they don’t have access to spay and neuter programs.” 

Republican Sen. Ant Thornton  of Sandia Park, a member of the Senate Conservation Committee, voted in favor of the bill.

“I’ve gotten a lot of letters from my constituents who want me to support this bill,” Thornton said before the vote. “So, I will probably support it, understanding that this may still have to go through litigation.”

Most public commenters — some of whom said they work with animals or shelters — encouraged the committee to advance the bill, citing accessible spay and neuter services as one of the best ways to address the animal overpopulation issue. 

Jackie Roach, CEO of the Santa Fe Animal Shelter & Humane Society, said New Mexico’s shelter intake rate for cats and dogs is one of the highest per capita in the country — “and that is not something we should be proud of.”

“When we don’t have accessible spay and neuter services, more litters mean more puppies and kittens and an increased number of pets entering the shelters,” Roach said. “Shelters become the backstop for the systemic failure, and we absorb the consequences.”

Brooke Garcia, a member of the Ramah Navajo community, said reservations in the state face both animal overpopulation and animal aggression issues. Her community lost an 8-year-old boy after he was “mauled by a pack of dogs,” she said.

“So continuing to have spay and neuter clinics in our community is something that will help with the overpopulation, but also help with our community where we also are rural and have livestock owners,” Garcia said.

Only one member of the public — an attorney for the plaintiffs in the ongoing lawsuit and a registered lobbyist for the Pet Food Institute — spoke against the bill,  raising concerns about how funds from the fee are actually being spent.

“This current bill is not about a fee, it’s about a tax,” T.J. Trujillo said multiple times during public comment.

The lawsuit has uncovered “attempts” to use funds for services other than spay and neuter procedures, like vaccines, he added.

While the funds are intended for spay and neuter procedures, they can be used for “reasonably related expenses” — anesthesia and pain medication, for example, according to the Board of Veterinary Medicine’s website. They also can be used for core vaccinations, the website states, though the maximum cost per vaccination is $12.

Rep. Candy Spence Ezzell, R-Roswell, relayed a time when one of her horses was chased and killed by a pack of dogs. People do not understand their pets are their own responsibility, she said.

Ezzell also said she was worried about the income restrictions for people accessing spay and neuter services at nonprofit organizations.

“Let’s make it equitable to everybody,” she said, adding, “Everybody’s paying into this program, so until there is something coming out of the court, I still cannot support it.”