Overnight, the Humane Society of Fremont County more than tripled its number of cats.
"This is just one room," said Executive Director Doug Rae, telling News5 they had to turn their isolation room
into additional kennels for all the new cats they had received.
"There’s other rooms that are full of these cats as well."
They first found out about the influx of cats, in need of a home, through a facebook post from a woman trying
to give more than 50 of her cats away.
The city doesn’t have an ordinance for cats–only dogs–meaning there’s no cap on the number of cats a person
can own.
And, cat owners also aren’t required to spay or neuter them.
"She thought she was doing a good thing in caring for the cats," said Animal Control Officer Kelly Duncan, with
the Canon City Police Department.
"They just multiplied so fast, that it just got too much for her to handle," she added.
Both the Police Department and Fremont County Sheriff’s Office assisted in transporting the cats to the humane
society.
People came to the owner’s defense on facebook, saying the cats were healthy.
But shelter staff say they quickly found that wasn’t the case.
"You had upper respiratory in the kittens, you had upper respiratory in the adults. This cat has a problem with
his eye. You had some cats with their lips where they’re actually missing a top lip," Rae told News5.
Even though more than half of the cats and kittens are suffering from health issues right now, the Humane
Society is optimistic they’ll be able to adopt out all of them next month.
Some cats are available for adoption now, but none of the kittens are yet. They’ll need to be monitored for
several more weeks, according to staff.
"One of the reasons we were able to save 99% of the animals last year was we treat every sick and injured
animal that comes in this building because we know we’ll receive the money and donations we need," said Rae.
This group of cats will come with a much higher price tag–at least $5,000 worth of vaccinations, spay and
neuter operations, and medical treatments.
The Humane Society says all that matters right now, though, is that the cats are at the shelter.
"The fact that 51 cats came in this time of the year–it’s beautiful. Had they come in any other time, like
June and July when we’re full, I don’t know what we would have done. We would have had to do some fancy
dancing to make room for these guys," Rae explained.
Typically, an owner pays a $25 surrender fee for a fixed cat, and $50 for one that’s not.
In this case, the shelter didn’t get any money for these cats.
They say the community has been very generous in helping donate to these 51 felines, so far.
If you’d like to help, or just want more information, click here.
