SOUTHERN COLORADO — The emergency shelter in the basement of the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region (HSPPR) is lined with cats in kennels, after an abnormal amount of animals showed up in one day.
On October 13, HSPPR saw 132 animals come through the doors. Of those 132 animals, 92 of them were cats.
"Cats getting owner surrendered by their families, cats coming in as strays, and cats coming back from foster care as well, so a lot of cats just came in our doors and we're looking for homes for all of these cats right now," said Cody Costra, who works at the humane society, listing a number of reasons why this happened.
HSPPR resorted to using the emergency shelter to house a number of cats. Some of the cats are up for adoption and can be found on the HSPPR website.
Costra says this area of this shelter is "rarely" used.
"Those kennels are typically used for like emergency situations, you know, whether we have fires here during the summer in Colorado, that's a big thing that can happen where sometimes, if we see extra animals come in our doors we'll use them, but it's not very common," said Costra.
HSPPR is hoping to get these cats adopted, and until October 30 all cats one year and older are 50% off.
Down in Pueblo, PAWS for Life is also at max capacity for both their dogs and cats.
"There is an ongoing need always, but we have seen I think an increase and I think other organizations have as well recently... It could be a variety of reasons. Certainly the economy, the inflation, everything's going up in cost whether it's pet food or veterinary care," said Vickie Torres, a volunteer and board member at PAWS for Life.
PAWS for Life does offer resources for pet owners who may be struggling, like providing dog or cat food to owners who may not be able to afford it.
"It's a pleasure for us to help the community. It's a win win for the animals as well. Obviously our goal is to try to keep the animals out of the shelter."
PAWS for Life is running low on supplies they need. The nonprofit has created an Amazon page with items they hope people will donate.
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