About Us 

Our mission is to help people and their pets live better lives together.  Our vision is that our programs and services will help transform our community to improve the quality of life for companion animals and greatly reduce the number of abandoned and homeless animals impounded and killed at our municipal shelter.

We are located in Las Cruces, NM, but our services are offered to all those in Dona Ana County.  Our goals and objectives are as follows:

• Positive humane outreach & education
• Assistance for pets and their guardians in times of need
• Programs that target the most urgent animal-welfare challenges in our community
• Services & support that make it easier for pet guardians to do the right thing 

Please visit our Animals in Need page

If you are looking for a lost animal or are looking to add a new furry member to your family, please visit our Animals in Need page. It lists animals that are lost/found as well as those needing either temporary foster care or a new forever home and those needing transport to rescue, etc.  Any animal in need in our community that we are made aware of is listed on the page.   We also list people who are wanting to adopt a particular kind of animal.  We update the page every few days to keep it as current as possible, and when we get updates on an animal's status, we post that as well.  We leave postings up for two months.  If you have an animal you are trying to help,
e-mail us a picture and the information to actionprogramsforanimals@yahoo.com.

Thanks to Nickel and American Classifieds

In memory of the orange tabby Nickel, who was the beloved office cat at our local American Classifieds, the company is donating $50 a month of food from Better Life Pet Foods to our pet food bank.  On Feb. 15, 2010, Nickel passed away from a stroke due to illness complications.  He was adopted by the paper's publisher and her daughter in 2001 at an offsite humane society adoption event.

Staff reported that it didn't take long for Nickel to take over his namesake office; at that time, the publication was called Thirfty Nickel.  Some say they quickly realized that their very employment became incumbent on Nickel's opinions of them.  Nickel also took on many customer service roles, such as sitting on the couch with visiting patrons and offering free opportunities to pet him on any occassion.  It wasn't long, as with most cats, until Nickel became the King.

As with most office cat kings, Nickel found he could make demands, such as being fed when he wanted and taking over any seat in the office that was left warmed at a person's departure.  He also did not like to be ignored.  Staff said if they passed Nickel and ignored him, he'd swipe at them with his big paws and would sometimes grab them, reminding them of his status and asking them to give the attention and love he knew he always deserved. 

When he could not be found, Nickel would be hiding in various boxes througout the office; he had to escape his kingdom duties sometimes and get some alone time.  However, all a staffer had to do was stand by his food bowl, and Nickel would come running.  Staff say that's the only time they saw the King move so fast!

When Nickel became ill later in his lifetime, his fans and followers would sometimes pay him visits at the office to see how he was doing--not to place ads!  When American Classifieds printed a thank you in the paper to East Lohman Veterinary Clinic and Dr. Brown, Nickel's fans called the vet clinic to thank them for the excellent care they were giving their king of cats.

Staff at American Classified had these parting words about their beloved office cat:  "Nickel was loved by all of us at American Classifieds.  We all mourned his passing as if he was a family pet at home.  To this day, his ashes sit on the desk he spent many hours on during the day.  Despite all his shenanigans, he was the most loving, affectionate cat that didn’t belong to any of us but was part of all of us."

Thanks to BuildASign for our new bumper stickers

This online company donated 50 of the following bumper stickers to APA.  Get your APA bumper sticker at one of our events, and visit this online company for stickers, banners, magnetic car signs, and more.