Welcome & thank you for your interest in Friends of Roswell Animals!
Friends of Roswell Animals (FORA) is an all volunteer 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to saving and improving the lives of Roswell New Mexico dogs and cats. FORA was established in 2015 by a group of Roswell NM volunteers concerned about the welfare of the Roswell companion animals. Our 501(c)3 public charity tax-exempt status was granted in April 2017.
We help save the lost or abandoned cats and dogs who find themselves at Roswell Animal Control primarily by assisting rescue groups - we pull the pets out of the shelter for our rescue partners, provide temporary foster care, take them to the vet for their initial or total medical care and then liase to transport the pets to their new lives with in state or out of state rescue partners. We also rescue pets directly into our program and find them loving homes.
FORA is also committed to working with the city in a positve way to help transform Animal Control from a high kill facility to an adoption center. Specifically, this entails lowering the barriers to adoption, return to owner and rescue. Equally as important, we advocate for and provide education about responsible pet ownership and low cost spay & neuter programs to reduce the number of animals that find themselves in the animal control system in the first place. Finally, we assist families in need to be able to keep their pets, or if that is no longer possible, we intercept dogs and cats to prevent them from being dumped at the Animal Control facility.
For the longest time, the Roswell Animal Control facility was out of sight and out of mind - most people in Roswell were unaware of the conditions, the tragic deaths pets suffered or the fact that it had one of the highest kill rates in the nation per population. In the USA, the kill rate is 14.8/1000 population. In Roswell it was 52.5/1000 - a rate nearly 254% higher than the national averge.
Some Progress:
The grim Roswell statistics were fairly consistent year to year up until 2013 when the founder of Friends of Roswell Animals created the animal networking page Roswell Urgent Animals at Animal Control on facebook. For the first time the dogs and cats at animal control had visibility with adopters and rescue organizations throughout New Mexico and neighboring states. Rescues, fosters and transporters were recruited and a movement was born! The live release rate climbed as high as 95% in certain months!
In the fall of 2014, progress was made by the city to lower the high barriers to adoption or owner reclaim by expanding Animal Control hours. They are now open until 6:00pm Monday thru Friday and until 4:00pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Previously, the shelter closed at 5:00pm on weekdays and was not opened to the publc on Saturdays or Sundays, making it very difficult for people with jobs to get to animal control while they were open. And, in 2016, animals were not automatically killed after 7 days, but allowed to remain alive as long as there was room. This extra time was crucial for rescue groups, adopters and owners reclaiming pets.
In addition to efforts by the city, Roswell dogs and cats were further assisted by new volunteer groups such as the Animal Welfare Alliance offering families low cost spay neuter and From Forgotten to Forever, a transport organization getting pets to their rescues in states such as Colorado and Utah.
While the number of adoptable cats and dogs saved from the Animal Control facility has been high since 2013. make no mistake, a very large percentage of the live release rates have in fact been due to the heavy lifting of out of state and New Mexico rescue organizations. The barriers to local adoption and return to owner are still simply too high. Without rescues doing the heavy lifting, the statistics would still be quite grim. And there still are not enough rescue organizations involved with Roswell- one of FORA's goals is to lower the logistical barriers to rescue groups coming in and to assist them in any way possible. Equally as important, our goal is to attack the root causes of the Roswell Animal Shelter's overpopulation - such as increased spay/neuter, education and helping families keep their pets. We also bring dogs and cats into our program and adopt them to loving forever homes!
As a non-profit, we rely on the support of donations to provide treatment care and support to the dogs and cats in our care. Your tax-deductible contributions will allow us to provide critical surgeries, life-saving medications, and preventative care to dogs and cats in need. Every donation makes a difference.
Your gift of $25 allows FORA to provide annual vaccinations to a rescued dog or cat.
Your gift of $50 allows FORA to provide heartworm testing and preventative to a rescued dog.
Your gift of $100+ allows FORA to provide spay or neuter surgery to a rescued dog or cat.
Your gift of $250 helps provide heartworm treatment for a dog or basic dentistry for an elderly dog.
A gift of any amount, no matter how small will help us with medical expenses, purchase a transport van, provide low cost spay neuter assistance to low income Roswell pet owners, purchase dog/cat food for the foster families, pay for boarding expenses etc etc. The list is endless!
Equally important, you can help by volunteering! Volunteers are the backbone of our rescue and there are many roles you can choose from - contributing as much or as little time as you wish! Please fill out our volunteer form to let us know where your interests lie. Click here for Volunteer Form
We believe by working together, we CAN save and improve the lives of Roswell animals. Please explore our Projects section to see the type of programs we are working on to lower the barriers to adoption, return to owner and rescue; low cost spay/neuter; community education; family in need assistance etc. And, please consider volunteering, donating or becoming a sponsor!
If you have any questions or suggestions, we would be pleased to hear from you!