Colorado animal rescuers took more than 160 cats out of a home in southwestern Colorado Springs after they persuaded the cats' owner to give them up.
Animal welfare workers from Life Is Better Rescue said they agreed to not reveal the location of the hoarder’s home as part of her agreement to surrender all the cats. They went to the home and loaded up the cats which took about four hours. They then headed off to meet rescuers from several other humane organizations who had agreed to take in the felines.
Colorado Animal Welfare League (CAWL), Every Creature Counts, The Misha May Foundation, MaxFund, Wild Blue Animal Rescue and Sanctuary, Angels With Paws: Cat Rescue and Adoption Center, Animal Rescue of the Rockies and Well Pet Vets all participated in the rescue.
A total of 161 cats of varying sizes, colors, and breeds were to be taken in. The cats, which meowed and groaned as they were transferred from the van to waiting vehicles, will be available for adoption.
" They’re in fairly good health, though some have eye problems, which is not uncommon for cats. We’ve already started treating some of them with antibiotics. Some of the cats are pregnant, and all will probably have to be spayed or neutered, said carolyn Spillner of Life is Better.
Georgia Cameron, the executive director of Life is Better Rescue, said all the cats were found in the garage of the womans home
“It was clean for 160 cats,” she said. “She had them separated into male and female pens, or what she thought were male and female pens.”.
Laura Lampley, a 30-year-old Denver woman who fosters cats said she had developed a habit of looking at Craigslist ads for animals that need help,” she said. “I came across a Craigslist ad for Pueblo that said, ‘Cats in need of homes.’”
Lampley said she called the number and got a call from a Montana woman who said her friend needed to move and find a home for her cats.
“I didn’t know how many cats it was at that time,” she said. “I was thinking it would be maybe 20 to 30 cats, but then Sunday night, she called me after she had gotten to the house and said it was about 150 cats. I started calling everyone I knew in rescue and emailing. I just emailed every single rescue in Colorado Springs asking to see if they could take any cats if we were able to go to the house and get the cats out.”
Lampley said the Montana woman “negotiated” with the owner to let rescue organizations take the cats and avoid trouble with animal control. Lauri Cross, executive director of Wild Blue Animal Rescue & Sanctuary, said cat hoarding is not as uncommon as some people might think.
