RECRUITING

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Why Choose Las Cruces, New Mexico to Practice Veterinary Medicine?

By Dawn Duncan, Founder & Chair

Animal Companions of Las Cruces

Founded in August 2021 by Dawn Duncan, Animal Companions of Las Cruces is an all-volunteer non-profit organization serving beautiful Southern New Mexico. We are under the fiscal sponsorship of the Community Foundation of Southern New Mexico for our 501c3 status and are working very hard to help our local veterinary services expand their staff.

Please visit our Job Openings page for a listing for current job opportunities. We are eager to help host job candidates and we are prepared to subsidize successful candidates with debt relief scholarships. We are also working to establish a 24/7 emergency animal hospital in Las Cruces, the second largest city in New Mexico. In addition to jobs, we have information on externships with 7 of our 13 local clinics interested in providing externships. We can assist with room and board for externs. Externships are available with small animal, mixed practice, and large animal veterinary clinics.

A few facts that make Las Cruces an excellent place to build your career and life are:

• Las Cruces has grown 53.4% since 2000. Las Cruces, New Mexico is growing moderately quickly; it is growing faster than 78% of similarly sized cities since 2000
• In Las Cruces, the median monthly rent is $788
• The median home price in Las Cruces was $289K, in January, 2023; less than US average
• The residential tax rate within the city limits of Las Cruces in 2022 was 0.031%
• The cost of living index for Las Cruces is only 83.5

You can afford to have a very comfortable standard of living in Las Cruces. We boast fabulous outdoor amenities, a lively arts scene, and cultural diversity, all within a university town. While Las Cruces has its own small airport, we are within a one hour drive to El Paso International Airport, which provides easy accessibility for travel. Our region and state have much to offer, and we are the starting point.

If you look forward to affordable living, gorgeous scenery and outdoor life, and a friendly community, Las Cruces could be the place for you! Check out our dynamic website at https://animalcompanionsoflascruces.org or contact me directly at duncan@cord.edu to learn more.

Las Cruces rankings over last 5 years:

• 2022 – #7 Top 20 Best-Run Cities in America – WalletHub
• 2022 - America’s 100 Best Cities - worldsbestcities.com
• 2019 - Forbes Magazine: “Best Places For Small Business and Retirement”

The severe shortage of veterinarians nationwide has affected Las Cruces particularly hard. Consequently, when our pets become sick or injured during non-business hours, we must drive 1 hour to the closest emergency 24/7 clinic located in El Paso, TX for emergency animal care. Once there, the El Paso emergency veterinary hospitals are so understaffed that it may take several hours to be seen and diagnosed. Many times, our pets do not survive the 50-mile trip or the long waiting times. Please see our Mission and Goals statement and read the Meetings Minutes on our website to see how much we’ve accomplished in such a short time.