About Us
Spay Taos! is a nonprofit, free spay and neuter clinic serving northern New Mexico. We have three paid staff and everything else is done by volunteers. As a high-quality, high-volume clinic, we can help solve the pet overpopulation crisis facing our communities.
Funding
Our funding comes from generous donors, grants, and government support.
If you are interesting in supporting our program, go to
Dr Suzanne Pape, DVM
After graduating in 2015 from Iowa State University, Dr. Suzy moved west and practiced general medicine throughout the Southwest. She has always been drawn to small, mountain towns and has practiced in Moab,UT, Durango, CO, and Ridgway, CO. On her weekends off, she often will work spay/neuter clinics on the surrounding reservations, providing much needed veterinary care to areas with limited access to veterinary services. This work on the reservation has made her realize she can combine both her passion for surgery and providing veterinary care to rural areas. After nine years of practicing general medicine, she decided to take a step in a different direction and accepted the position in Taos as medical director. Dr. Suzy is excited to provide Taos with a much needed solution to address the overpopulation crisis. She believes that spay/neutering has the biggest impact on animal welfare is is hopeful the community will begin to see a difference in the upcoming years. When Dr. Suzy is not working, you can find her trail-running with her two 'rez' dogs,Rango and Greta Von Flood, mountain biking, skiing, practicing yoga, and gardening with her cat, Detective Fin Tutuola. She also enjoys international travel and providing veterinary care to other countries. She has done spay/neuter work in Mexico, Suriname, Cambodia, and the Dominican Republic.
Jennifer Davis
Jenn is a veterinary technologies student from San Juan College and former kennel manager at Stray Hearts. Currently spending some of her weekends down in Albuquerque working with Animal Balance at large M.A.S.H. style spay and neuter clinics. Jenn has two dogs (Raider and Dozer) and three cats (Riker, Ellie, and Tweak). When not working you may find Jenn camping or hiking in the mountains.
Morgan Flynn
Morgan has been a veterinary technician for over 10 years. Her experience includes small animal general practice, emergency medicine, and high-volume spay/neuter programs. When she’s not working at Spay Taos, she travels around the four corners area working for various programs on the Navajo Nation and other rural, underserved communities. Morgan has done extensive training on animal welfare and she has a credential in nonprofit leadership from the Utah Nonprofit Association. Morgan is passionate about increasing access to veterinary care, with an emphasis on preventive medicine. In her free time Morgan enjoys mountain biking and camping with her three dogs.
The Spay Taos! Board and Executive Team
Donna LeFurgey, President
Jim Reilly, Treasurer
Caroline Dechert, Secretary
Donna Karr, Executive Director
Dr Suzanne Pape, DVM, Medical Director
Renee Staffeld, DVM, Veterinary Adviser
Donna LeFurgey came to Taos in 1979 to build her solar Adobe house. This endeavor resulted in becoming a house designer and owner of Design House LLC. In the ensuing years, she was one the founding board members of Habitat for Humanity Taos, a Casa volunteer for Youth Heartline, set up the Adopt a Highway program in Taos and is on a grants committee for the Taos Community Foundation. And, a proud member of the Spay Taos! board. Along the way there have been seven dogs (mostly rescues), four cats and many chickens. She is also an avid gardener, mosaic artist and player of Mahjong.
Jim Reilly has over 35 years of experience working on Wall Street, the last 15 as the Chief Compliance Officer at TIAA and TD Ameritrade. After leaving financial services, he worked at the Humane Society of the United States, merging his passion for animal welfare with his financial and business background. Jim has served on the Board of a number of animal nonprofits as treasurer. He spends part of his time working as an expert witness, testifying in State and Federal court cases, and the balance of his time tending to the small farm he and his wife have in Ranchos. They also have two rescue greyhounds, and a rotating cast of foster puppies.
Caroline Dechert, a contract archivist and fiber artist from Ranchos de Taos, has served multiple non-profits as either Executive Director or Board Member. She brings extensive experience in areas like strategic planning, policy writing, and building healthy board/director relationships in accordance with best practices. When not at her loom or computer, you’ll find her at work in the dye garden, filling a Little Free Pantry, or volunteering at the spay/neuter clinic.
Renee Staffeld, information to come.
Donna Karr is a retired engineer with years of experience as a project manager. After retiring to Taos, she started volunteering at Stray Hearts then served as Board President and Executive Director until retiring in 2022. While at Stray Hearts, she tried to set up a spay/neuter clinic but Covid came along and she was unsuccessful. In 2023, the pieces started falling into place, first joining Taos Feral Feline Friends to get the clinic up and running. Now we’ve formed a new nonprofit, Spay Taos!, to streamline our services and
expand our outreach. Donna rescues senior dogs and currently has eight.
Hours
Tuesday - Thursday
7:30 - 3:30
Contact
Phone 575.240.8549
email spaytaos@gmail.com
Clinic address: 36 NM-522, Unit 1, El Prado NM 87529
Mailing address: PO Box 12, Arroyo Seco NM 87514
Spay Taos! is a FEIN 33-1511412 501(3)c