Belen committee partners with nonprofit to address animal shelter crisis

It’s not a secret that Valencia County has an animal control problem. The Valencia County Animal Shelter is constantly full, and dogs and cats continue to roam the streets and fields in the county with no one to feed or house them.

City leaders and volunteers in Belen have moved to create local alternatives. A chance meeting almost a year ago with Belen Mayor Robert Noblin sparked a plan that led City Council to form the Belen Animal Safety Committee, and Richard Knittle was appointed committee director. VBPaw.org was formed in July 2025 with a mission "to promote humane education, the importance of spay/neuter, foster/adoption, and responsible pet ownership." Since its formation last year, VBPaw has been able to raise about $20,000 through different fundraisers, including bowling and golf tournaments.

The committee includes Mayor Noblin, Councilor Tracy Armijo, Richard Knittle, Mike Perez, Summer Ludwig, Amber Padilla and Noelle Chavez. Organizers say the goal is to find a temporary holding and adoption site that will provide Belen with an alternative to taking every seized animal to the Valencia County Shelter where there is never an empty kennel. VBPaw materials also frame the work as responding to "the hundreds of animals who are euthanized every month at the Valencia County Animal Shelter," a claim organizers cite as urgency for local action.

Concrete resources are already in place. Summer Ludwig secured a $10,000 state grant "that will be used to house a few animals for a day or two to give owners a chance to reclaim their pets." Knittle said they have also received "a donation of a large, 24x60 foot carport they want to place at the city yard close to Impala Drive." VBPaw funds have been used to help veterinary bills, including care and neutering for a dog that required an amputation, and volunteers have handled adoption events, transport to out-of-state rescues, and routine animal care.

Local health and equity stakes are high. Uncontrolled animal populations increase stress on municipal budgets - Valencia County taxpayers continue to fund the shelter - and create risks for disease, injury and unequal access to pet care. Organizers point to spay and neuter outreach as a core prevention strategy, and they hope to bring RezDawg Rescue to Belen to provide free surgeries that reduce future intake and euthanasia.

Richard Knittle, who has volunteered at the county shelter for almost two years and whose household includes five rescue dogs, said the effort blends fundraising, volunteer work and code-enforcement coordination to build capacity close to home. For readers, that means local options for reclaiming lost pets, more opportunities to adopt, and near-term relief for an overcrowded county system. The Belen committee and VBPaw plan to continue fundraising, finalize the temporary holding site and pursue partnerships for spay/neuter clinics as they move from planning into operations.