New Mexico Statutes Chapter 77. Animals and Livestock § 77-1-19. Definitions

A. “animal” means a cat or dog;

B. “animal shelter” means any animal facility operated privately or by or for a municipality or county, in which stray, lost or unwanted animals are kept and released for adoption;

C. “sterilization” means rendering an animal unable to reproduce, either by the spaying of a female animal or by the neutering of a male animal; and

D. “sterilization deposit” means that portion of the adoption fee charged by the animal shelter when a person adopts an unsterilized animal; the “sterilization deposit” is refunded when the animal is sterilized.