SANDOVAL COUNTY, N.M. – The Sandoval County Animal Resource Center has been a long time coming for commissioners. 

“We’ve got a couple of temporary shelters around the county we are using right now, but it really has been a long term project over all, this site we purchased a couple of years ago,” said Sandoval County Manager Wayne Johnson.

The county bought 22 acres out in Bernalillo. They just started construction on five acres of the land for the animal shelter. 

“This first contract with the county is to extend the sewer, all utilities, sewer, water electricity up to the build site of the Animal Resource Center,” said Charles Martinez, Sandoval County’s Special Projects and Construction manager. 

This first phase should take around 14 weeks, then they will start construction on the building itself. 

“We are also constructing the road as part of the subdivision process through the town of Bernalillo,” said Martinez. 

Sandoval County Manager, Wayne Johnson, says this shelter couldn’t come at a better time.

“We see overcrowding here in Sandoval County, it has just gotten exponentially worse since COVID when everyone decided, ‘Oh it would be great to have an animal.’ And you couldn’t find one anywhere. Pretty much, you can find one anywhere now. We need it both for the health and welfare of the animals, but also the health and welfare of the public,” said Johnson. 

Traffic along south Hill Road will be affected until it’s complete. People in the area should expect delays.