2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 77 - Animals and Livestock › Article 13 - Estrays › Section 77-13-5 - Disposition of unclaimed estrays; bill of sale; effect; sale without advertisement; conditions.

A. If an estray that is not an equine is not claimed within five days after publication of notice, it may be sold by the board through an inspector in such manner as the board may direct. The inspector making the sale shall give a bill of sale to the purchaser from the board, signed by the inspector. The bill of sale shall be legal evidence of the ownership of the livestock by the purchaser and shall be a legal title to the livestock. Where the director determines that it is impractical to publish notice, the estray may be sold immediately without notice. In such case, the board shall publish notice of the proceeds from the sale of the estray in the same manner and for the same length of time as provided for the notice of the sale and shall hold and distribute the proceeds from the sale in the same manner as if the sale were made after notice.
B. If the estray is an equine and the equine is not claimed within five days after publication of notice:
(1) the board shall give a registered equine rescue or retirement facility the right of first refusal to purchase the equine for an ownership transfer fee;
(2) the ownership transfer fee shall be equal to all actual costs incurred by the impounding agency in caring for the equine while the equine was impounded;
(3) the board shall provide a bill of sale to the registered equine rescue or retirement facility that purchases the equine;
(4) the bill of sale shall be legal evidence of the ownership of the equine by the registered equine rescue or retirement facility and shall be legal title to the equine;
(5) if a registered equine rescue or retirement facility is unable or unwilling to purchase the equine, the board shall auction the equine through a sealed-bid process administered by the board and established in rule; and
(6) if the equine is not purchased through the sealed-bid process, the board may pursue an alternative placement for care with a last resort option to humanely euthanize the equine by a licensed veterinarian.
History:
Laws 1907, ch. 80, § 5; Code 1915, § 161; Laws 1921, ch. 114, § 2; C.S. 1929, § 4-1505; Laws 1939, ch. 16, § 1; 1941 Comp., § 49-1505; 1953 Comp., § 47-14-5; Laws 1977, ch. 165, § 4; 1999, ch. 282, § 83; 2023, ch. 45, § 8.
ANNOTATIONS
The 2023 amendment,
effective July 1, 2023, revised procedures for equine estrays; in the section heading, deleted "Sale" and added "Disposition"; in Subsection A, after "If an estray", added "that is not an equine", and deleted "the last" preceding "publication of notice"; and added Subsection B.
The 1999 amendment,
effective July 1, 1999, made stylistic changes throughout the section.
The 1977 amendment
rewrote this section, which formerly dealt with the duties of the cattle sanitary board and its brand inspectors, reducing the period before sale in the first sentence from twenty days to five days.
Sales of estray animals must be strictly in accordance with statute,
and brands must be correctly given in the advertisement. 1913 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 13-993.
Law silent on branding of estrays by board.
— The law is apparently absolutely silent on whether the cattle sanitary board (now New Mexico livestock board) may brand estrays with its brand before sale for the purpose of identifying it, and include the brand in the description of the animal in the bill of sale issued by the board. Nothing expressly permits such practice, or prohibits it. 1940 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 40-3636.
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references.
— 4 Am. Jur. 2d Animals § 68.
3A C.J.S. Animals § 130.