BCACT
The Bernalillo County Animal Cruelty Task Force
In April 2012 NMDOG, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department, and Bernalillo County Animal Services joined forces in the fight against animal cruelty by establishing the Bernalillo County Animal Cruelty Task Force. This collaboration between the Bernalillo County Animal Cruelty Task Force and NMDOG, an organization that is familiar with conditions for animals “in the trenches” like no other local animal rescue, is a huge step forward for animal welfare in New Mexico. The presence of the Task Force on the ground, with its uniformed officers, flashing lights, and small army of dedicated individuals sends a message that is loud and clear: if you harm, neglect, violate, or refuse medical aid to an animal in your care, there will be consequences. BCACT has proven to be an incredibly successful and efficient collaboration.
The BCACT partners collaborates behind the scenes on many, many cases involving animal cruelty, and organizes periodic “sweeps,” during which a certain neighborhood is checked for animal welfare ordinance violations, animal cruelty and neglect of any kind, chaining violations and outstanding warrants. During “sweeps” citations are written, summons are issued and arrests are made on the spot. The Task Force also provides education, resources, supplies and support to those who want to do better by their animal companions.
| Video about the Bernalillo County Animal Cruelty Task Force put together by Albuquerque Business First for their 2015 Non-Profit of the Year Awards, where NMDOG was an honoree. |
| Live report by Angela Brauer of the April 6, 2017 BCACT Sweep in progress: 262 animal welfare violations, 100 zoning violations, 11 owner surrenders and 6 protective custody seizures. |
| August 18, 2016 KRQE News Report about “Goodbye Bad Guys” by Kate Kuligowski–a book featuring the Bernalillo County Animal Cruelty Task Force and how it was formed. The book also provides a guide for other agencies to start their own task forces. |
Albuquerque’s South Valley, 2013Since the formation of the Task Force, 100’s of violations have been found, and 100’s of citations have been written; upwards of 50 arrests have been made; numerous animals have been seized and have found better lives, and countless more have had their lives improved greatly by our outreach. |
NMDOG: UNCHAIN BERNCO |
Our First Mission: Albuquerque’s South Valley, March 2012
On March 29, 2012 the BCACT went out on a mission, later dubbed the “South Valley Sweep.” Spanning a total of six hours, covering (on foot) a mere two miles of a ten mile target area, they fed and provided supplies to many dogs, talked with community-members about proper pet care, issued 70 violations, made six arrests for animal cruelty, and seized a total of fourteen dogs.
A little brown dog, “Sheriff” was one of the dogs seized that day…
Sheriff’s Story
The chained dog in the front of the house was plain to see, but not so easy to spot was the huddled little brown Pittie near the back of the house, hidden in the darkness of the shadows. The BCACT heroes called out to him, expecting him to at least let us know he saw us. Nothing. They whistled, jumped around, tossed treats, and still got no reaction. More treats, closer…finally he struggled to reach them, but couldn’t. Because both of his hind legs were broken. It was an easy decision to gain entry onto the property, remove the dog, load him into the truck, and get him much-needed medical attention.
Sheriff was barely a year old, suffered severe multiple fractures in both of his rear legs, was underweight, and had a nasty cast of demodectic mange. His injuries were weeks, if not months old. Charges were filed against his former guardian.
Media Coverage
KOAT Channel 7 News highlighted Sherrif’s story on the 5 o’clock news on April 26th, 2012
