About Us

Richard Knittle is the President of the Board of Directors and one of the founders of Valencia Belen Org. to Promote Animal Welfare (VBPaw.org). Richard is a native of Louisiana but has lived in states all over the U.S. Richard and his husband of 32 years moved to Albuquerque in 2019 for the second time, and two years ago they made Belen their permanent home. Richard’s background is in finance and business ownership, retired.

Richard has always had dogs and cats in his life from childhood to the present. He and his husband currently have 5 rescue dogs. His most recent rescue was a little dog abandoned and all alone on a New Mexico golf course. When no owner could be found, Richard and his husband made the decision to adopt the dog rather than take him to the shelter where his future would have been uncertain due to existing health issues.

Richard and his husband have volunteered at Valencia County Animal Shelter for almost 2 years since moving to Belen. They have been involved with adoption events, transport to out- of-state rescue groups, and routine animal care.

A chance meeting almost a year ago with Belen Mayor Robert Noblin sparked the plan to find alternatives for the hundreds of animals who are euthanized every month at the Valencia County Animal Shelter. Along with the Mayor, Councilor Tracy Armijo, and multiple community members, City Council formed the Belen Animal Safety Committee. Richard was appointed as Committee Director and he and the Committee work to make a difference in the lives of domestic animals in Belen. 

VBPaw.org was formed in July 2025 with a mission to promote humane education, the importance of spay/neuter, foster/adoption, and responsible pet ownership. 

Richard is working with the Belen Committee, city code enforcement, leaders, and VBPaw to find a temporary holding and adoption site that will provide Belen with an alternative to taking every seized animal to the Valencia County Shelter where there is never an empty kennel. 

Richard is encouraged that there are so many great individuals and groups working for animal welfare in Valencia County. The VBPaw goal is to assist and collaborate with all groups who are invested in animal welfare.    

Susan Weidel is the Secretary/Treasurer of VBPaw. She is a retired lawyer who practiced law for over 40 years in Chicago and Wyoming. Susan provided pro bono work for numerous animal welfare organizations and has served as a volunteer working with animals for nearly 30 years. She volunteered at W.O.L.F. Sanctuary in Colorado and ran a nationwide rescue network for captive born wolves and wolf dogs for 13 years.

Susan has also fostered over a dozen dogs and adopted one of the pit bulls rescued from former NFL player Michael Vick's illegal dog fighting operation. Susan and her pit bull Little Red were featured in a documentary about five of the Michael Vick dogs (known as the the “Vicktory Dogs.”) The film, The Champions has been featured on Netflix and is now available on demand on YouTube.

Susan lived in New Mexico part-time for seven years. She has now made New Mexico her permanent home and recently moved to Placitas, NM. She volunteers with orphaned mustang foals and free roaming horses at two horse rescues. She shares her home with four rescued dogs, and her most recent rescue is a dog from the West Bank of Palestine who was part of a 70-dog rescue airlifted to the U.S. from an area in Palestine where drone bombing was common.

Susan’s passion for animal welfare continues as a founding member of VBPaw. She looks forward to helping make a difference for the domestic animals in Valencia County.

 Michael Perez joined the board of VBPaw.org in July 2026. He has also been a member of the Belen Animal Safety Committee (BASC) since its founding in 2025. He shared over 42 years with his husband Mike and at least one or two dogs in multiple states including Illinois, Kansas, Florida, Minnesota and finally New Mexico. Mike (his spouse) passed away in December 2023 and now it is just him and two 16-year-old Havanese (Simi and Latte).

After Mike’s passing, Michael started volunteering at the Harvey House Museum in Belen to become more active in the community. It is there that Michael became acquainted with Richard through their common interest in animal welfare. After joining BASC and meeting Susie, he was impressed with the dedication they both displayed when speaking about responsible animal care and the energy they radiated when working on projects. It took little convincing for him to agree to be part of this dynamic group.

In Michael’s past professional life, he has held multiple positions in Healthcare (nursing and pharmacy); Clinical Development (drug and medical device); and finally settled into more administrative roles including Clinical Finance; Legal and Contracts; and Regulatory. He is excited to offer his talents to this exciting organization. He enjoys living in New Mexico and looks forward to many more years of service to VBPaw, BASC and the Harvey House Museum.