If any dog shall kill or injure any livestock, the owner or
keeper of such dog shall be liable for all damages that may be sustained
thereby, to be recovered by the party so injured before any court
having competent jurisdiction, and it shall be unlawful to keep such
dog after it is known that the dog is liable to kill livestock, and
it shall be the duty of the owner to kill, or have killed, the dog
upon order of the court after a finding that the dog has killed or
injured livestock, and provided further that it shall be the right
of any owner of livestock so killed or injured by the actions of any
dog to kill the dog while it is upon property controlled by the owner
of the livestock.
A person shall not abandon any animal or cause such abandonment.
A. Abandonment of an animal shall not relieve the owner of the responsibilities
associated with ownership, and he or she may still be regarded as
the owner for the purposes of this chapter.
B. A person owning or having charge, custody, or care over an animal
shall not leave the animal at the ASCMV, Dona Ana County Court Hold
Facility or private animal shelter without providing either notification
of intent to reclaim the animal or a release of ownership of the animal
in writing. Such actions shall be considered abandonment for the purposes
of this chapter.
C. Abandonment does not apply to the trap, neuter and return (TNR) of
feral cats. A person or organization managing unowned cats by trap,
neuter and return is not deemed the owner, harborer, keeper, holder,
possessor, custodian or caretaker of such cats.
D. Any trap, neuter and return (TNR) of feral cats is prohibited from
being returned to the area or vicinity where they were picked up from
if it is within 2,000 feet of a licensed day-care center, public or
private school(s), nursing home or care facility, any park, or County-owned
or leased property. Furthermore, TNR cats are prohibited from being
returned within two-miles of the Rio Grande or within 2,000 feet of
the edge of a designated natural or unchannelized arroyo. TNR cats
that are reported as problematic, creating a public nuisance, or having
been documented as captured (trapped and/or picked up) three times
within a twenty-four-month period shall be placed in an adoption program
or euthanized by the Animal Services Center of the Mesilla Valley
(ASCMV). Additionally, at the request of a property owner, TNR cats
that are reported as problematic, creating a public nuisance, are
prohibited from being released on such owner's property.
A person shall not, without the knowledge and consent of the
owner, hold or retain possession of any animal for more than 24 hours
without first submitting a found animal report to the ASCMV.
A. A person having possession of such an animal shall immediately surrender
the animal to the Animal Control Officer upon request.
B. A person having possession of such an animal shall allow the animal
to be scanned for the presence of an identification microchip by the
Animal Control Officer immediately upon request.
C. If the animal remains in the custody of the finder and the owner
of such animal fails to submit a missing animal report with the ASCMV
within 72 hours following the submission of the found animal report,
the finder may thereafter claim ownership of the animal.
No person shall keep or operate a puppy mill. This section shall
in no way be interpreted as applying to the ASCMV.