By Lynn Janes

The town of Hurley held a special meeting February 17, 2026. Mayor Reynaldo Maynes, and Councilors Ester Gil, Robert Candelaria and Jason Cox attended. Aron Phillips did not attend.

The council approved resolution no. 15-2025/2026 supporting and application to New Mexico Finance Authority (NMFA) for colonias infrastructure fund to design Chino Boulevard improvements.

It will have a loan component of ten percent or twenty percent. By doing the design plan now Hurley will have the project ready to go and make it easier to obtain the funding to do the project.

The second item for the special meeting had been to discuss the possible changes to the animal ordinance.

Public input

Archi Padilla, president of New Mexico BARC (Border Animal Rescue Coalition) wanted to first make it clear that TNVR (trap neuter vaccinate release) does not violate New Mexico law. They had applied for a grant through the New Mexico Board of Veterinarian Medicine. In the application they had said they plan to do 100 community cats using the TNVR program starting in 2026. Padilla said they have been currently working with Bayard and Santa Clara to amend their language in their ordinances to include TNVR. Both Bayard and Santa Clara have partnered with Best Friends to work towards being a no kill shelter. She had a letter of support from Charlene Webb, Grant County manager. The funds will continue to be used for spaying and neutering many canine and feline animals of Grant County

Bayard currently does not have an animal control officer, so BARC has been assisting in the care of the dogs and cats at the shelter. Santa Clara has a part time animal control officer and BARC continues to assist them in the care of the animals in the shelter and BARC relies entirely on volunteers. Padilla had brought a letter of support from Nancy Stephens, Grant County commissioner.

Paddilla said the language would be important in the ordinance to make it crystal clear. She had provided the council with a letter from Animal Protection of New Mexico that says organizations working with community cats may certainly receive funding. When the New Mexico Board of Veterinarian Medicine last distributed funds two of the recipients had been working with community cats for their spay and neuter efforts.

Padilla wanted to clarify something Cox had said previously. The state allows the authority to every county and any municipality to create their own ordinance. "When the state does it, it's called a law and when the county does it or the city or town it's an ordinance, but one does not override the other. Grant County ordinances have nothing to do in Hurley and Hurley does not have anything to do in Grant County."

Maynes said if they would want to move forward with TNVR or do it in a way that would be responsible to the county and the town would not be held accountable or liable. "Let's figure out the verbiage of how we can all make each other happy. We are all going to have to be flexible."

Padilla spoke to the lawyer for Best Friends, she had come and presented to the council the past year. She said that because the definition of community cat would be no owner that would mean the town would not have liability. Padilla added that New Mexico had never had a lawsuit because of a cat biting someone. She felt the definitions had been lined out clearly about what a community cat would be versus an owned cat.

The council discussed for some time the difference between owned, community and feral cats. Padilla spoke to different scenarios for all and the situations when they would try to adopt them out.

Padilla said Albuquerque, Bernalillo, Santa Fe, Taos and Las Cruces all have TNVR programs.

A person in attendance, Melissa Clayton, wanted to add something. This TNVR program has been proven around the world to reduce the population because killing them does not work. Feral cats hide and won't be out during the day and only come out at night and don't want interaction with people. These cats want food and then go back to bed. What currently has been done to reduce the population has not worked. It does not need to be all or nothing and they can take baby steps.

Arlene Masser, former director Moab Valley Humane Society, said they had a lot of similarities with Silver City and had instituted the TNVR program. In the years from 1992 to 2004 at the taxpayers' expense they had euthanized 2,000 cats. In the past four years implementing this program they have had a 44 percent decrease in population.

She cited some statistics from the ASPCA (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). One unspayed cat can in its lifetime produce 100 to 400 cats. She has been talking to some of the people with the Bird Alliance that have been willing to look at the statistics.

Vicki Toney, Silver City animal control officer, wanted to point out the diseases carried by these cats and went over all of them and the dangers. Although they vaccinate for rabies it would only be for one year. Veterinarians will not give a three-year vaccine the first time.

Masser wanted to add something from a letter that had been provided from a veterinarian advisory board. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) 90 percent of rabies cases in the U.S. now occur in wildlife and not in domestic animals and since 1975 only one human rabies case has been linked to a cat.

Toney said they had recently had a dog that tested positive for rabies in Grant County and had a coyote out on Little Walnut Road.

Cox said what he would be presenting would be as the Grant County animal control officer and did not reflect on the town of Hurley. Maynes said they would not be voting in this meeting but wanted to make sure Cox would be abstaining from any vote on the issue and he agreed.

Cox went into a very long presentation about the proposed changes and the definitions and what that would mean. He also wanted to point out that this would allow BARC to not have to abide by the same rules as everyone else and problems it could cause animal control officers (AOC).

Toney and Kevin Vigil, police chief, weighed in on some of the points that Cox had addressed. Some of the requirements would tie the hands of the AOC and law enforcement. Padilla explained their misquotation of the proposed ordinance. Disagreements on the meaning continued. Cox also disagreed with Padilla on the ordinances not having to be the same. He did say they did not have to be the same but had to be as strong and this ordinance presented would be in violation. Maynes said this would all be presented to the town attorney for review and didn't need to be argued about.

Cox continued to review sections and verbiage, and time dogs would be kept in the shelter and what would be considered unadoptable. Padilla pointed out many times dogs have been brought in and labeled unadoptable. "We don't hang that label on as quickly as the High Desert Humane Society." Some might not be adoptable at that moment but with socialization, training and work they can be very adoptable. Some dogs have been brought in that don't even know how to eat out of a bowl and had been left in a back yard without any contact. Some dogs take a little time to make them adoptable, and some take a little longer.

Much of the disagreements came from the use of the word shall versus may.

Cox cited a town in California that currently has a $3.2 million lawsuit for adopting out a dog that had been unadoptable. The dog had attacked two people. Maynes asked that they keep on topic and move forward. Cox continued with the sections and said one of them would be taking away the AOC job duties.

Padilla cited common practices of kill shelters and pointed out that now three of four shelters in the U.S. have become no kill shelters. No kill shelters mean that at least 90 percent must be adopted out. Obviously, they will encounter aggressive, dangerous, very ill or injured dogs and the kind thing will be to euthanize them. She had seen that the AOCs have very little if any training on which one of those animals make that criteria and will just say because the dog has been there several days, they label them unadoptable. If the dog has been labeled unadoptable it will not be included in their statistics, so they look better.

Padilla provided an example of the Moab, Utah shelter. As a kill shelter they had euthanized in 1999 45 percent of the dogs and 85 percent of the cats. Five years later they became a no kill shelter which meant 90 percent adoption. "You can help that happen by having an ordinance that allows space for us to save lives. It is really that simple."

Vigil and George Moreno, Hurley judge, both came back citing New Mexico definitions of vicious animals and said the state had clear definitions.

Cox made an outrageous assumption based on the ordinance that they would have to leave a suffering dog in the shelter for 90 days. Padilla responded they would never do that. Cox said if a dog came in with a broken leg it would be unadoptable. Padilla responded that BARC would take it into the vet and pay the bills. The dog would not be unadoptable. Cox insisted it would need to be euthanized.

Padilla added if someone would be willing to bring in that animal, why would they insist it be put down. She said if that dog had been taken to High Desert Humane society it would have been labeled unadoptable and euthanized. She also added that if it had ring worm it would be labeled unadoptable and euthanized.

The definitions debate continued on several items, then coming back to cat colonies and those definitions. Cox continued that this would allow BARC to have a different set of rules. Padilla said they have not asked for special treatment. "New Mexico already has TNVR programs. They are legal and the state is funding them."

Cox continued to go through the sections and his objections which had to do with verbiage mostly.

Maynes asked that they work on some of the verbiage and have it ready to present to the attorney and have him review the document. "I am here to help everybody. Let's have something good to present to the council ,so it will pass, and everyone will be happy, and everyone can still do their job."

Meeting adjourned.