About Us

The Upper Rio Grande Animal Society is an all volunteer board which does business as the Conour Animal Shelter and the Conour Animal Crematory.  We have a board of five to six members, and two to four paid employees. We welcome (and need!) volunteers and appreciate their help to serve the needs of the dogs!
 
The Conour Animal Shelter is a caring and compassionate shelter for dogs.  We directly serve Rio Grande County, and we often receive dogs from Saguache County, Mineral County, Alamosa County, Conejos County, and Costilla County.  All of these counties are located in the San Luis Valley, which is about the size of Connecticut extending 125 miles long and 65 miles wide.  There are only two other shelters for dogs in the San Luis Valley, one in Alamosa and one in San Luis.

You've heard the phrase "everyone has a story", well it's the same for dogs too. Our dogs come from every corner of the San Luis Valley and they all have a story.  Many of them were homeless, abandoned, abused, neglected, lost, or relinquished by their owners.  While each dog's story may be different, they all just want an opportunity to love and be loved.  On any given day, our shelter is home to more than 30 dogs waiting to meet you and find their forever home.  Check out our Adoption and Fostering information!

The Conour Animal Crematory accepts a variety of animals.  This is the only animal crematory in the San Luis Valley!  Check out our Crematory page for more information.

The shelter and crematory require approximately $180,000 a year to operate.  This includes wages, maintenance of facilities, and first and foremost serving all the needs of the dogs!  We do receive about a third of these costs from our governmental supporters.  Fees do bring in some funds but do not begin to cover costs.  Therefore, we rely heavily on grants and donors like you!  See our Get Involved page for more information!