SANTA FE — New data from Best Friends Animal Society, a leading national animal welfare organization whose goal is to end the killing of dogs and cats in America’s shelters and make the country no-kill*, shows that New Mexico saw lifesaving improvements in their shelters in 2025.
Despite having the highest per-capita shelter intake in the country, more than half, or 55% of shelters in New Mexico, were no-kill in 2025. In 2024, only 46% of shelters were no-kill.
In 2025, 900 fewer pets in New Mexico were killed compared to 2024 – a decrease of 7.7% According to Best Friends data, if 11,600 more New Mexico residents chose to adopt from a shelter instead of acquiring a pet from a pet store or breeder, the state would be no-kill.
“It’s very exciting to see the strides New Mexico continues to make towards becoming no-kill,” Judah Battista, Chief Sanctuary Officer of Best Friends Animal Society, said. “Animal shelter staff and volunteers should be very proud of all their hard work to make this happen.”
Best Friends continues to call on New Mexico residents to adopt their next pet instead of purchasing from a pet store or breeder.
“From puppies and kittens to adult and senior dogs and cats, there are amazing pets waiting in New Mexico shelters waiting for someone to give them a second chance,” Battista said. “Not only are you saving a life by adopting, it’s also a very cost-effective option, because pets in shelters are typically spayed or neutered, vaccinated, micro-chipped, and ready to go home for one low fee.”
According to Best Friends, every animal lover in the state can bring New Mexico closer to a no-kill future by helping shelters in their communities in numerous ways.
“Best Friends has been working to make the country no-kill and it’s incredible to see the continued momentum in New Mexico to help save every healthy and treatable dog and cat,” Julie Castle, CEO of Best Friends Animal Society, said. “Nationally, more than two out of three shelters are already no-kill, putting a future with no homeless pets within reach. We urge people to positively impact the lives of dogs and cats in their community by adopting, fostering, advocating, and volunteering with local shelters and rescue groups.”
Best Friends’ annual report on national shelter data includes all of the nearly 4,000 shelters in the country. More than 80% of shelters in this report have collected and current data (12 consecutive months in the last 24 months), with the small remainder being estimated from historical and community data using a method approved by two independent peer reviews.
*No-kill is defined by a 90% save rate for animals entering a shelter and is a meaningful and common-sense benchmark for measuring lifesaving progress. Typically, the number of pets who are suffering from irreparable medical or behavioral issues that compromise their quality of life and prevent them from being rehomed is not more than 10% of all dogs and cats entering shelters. For any community to be no-kill, all stakeholders in that community must work together to achieve and sustain that common goal while prioritizing community safety and good quality of life for pets as guiding no-kill principles. This means cooperation among animal shelters, animal rescue groups, government agencies, community members and other stakeholders, all committed to best practices and protocols.
