AURORA | A pack of cats rescued from an Aurora home where they were being hoarded are up for adoption at Aurora’s Animal Shelter, including special-needs animals seeking an accessible home.
Aurora Animal Services was alerted to the situation when an Aurora woman’s dog got loose and officers were given permission by a court to inspect the woman’s home to make sure the dog was being properly cared for.
When they visited the home, they found about 60 cats, many of whom were in poor health and suffering from respiratory problems due to cramped conditions.
“It was probably one of the worst cases I’ve seen in Colorado, just in terms of the condition of the cats,” said Aurora Animal Services field supervisor Augusta Allen. “A lot of them were seeking attention, which says she put a lot of time into loving these cats, but you can imagine caring for 60 cats, that’s overwhelming.”
The shelter began taking in the cats, which range from kittens to cats that were several years old, earlier this month. Because of sinus problems resulting from upper respiratory infections, some of the cats had to have their eyes removed. While the shelter does not euthanize animals to free up space, Allen said two cats also had to be put down because they were too sick to be treated.
Now, the shelter is calling on Aurora residents to help find safe homes for the cats who were safely removed from the house. While some of the cats were handed off to PetSmart, the shelter is handling the adoption of cats with lingering medical problems.
“We need to make sure that the person adopting the cat has all the information. And we need to treat them still a little bit while they’re here,” Allen said.
She said the woman who previously owned the cats had been connected with mental health resources and urged anyone who is aware of an animal hoarding situation to contact the city. She also said that the city wants to help people in the woman’s position who are cooperative rather than slap them with legal penalties.
The shelter is currently at capacity for domestic animals such as dogs and cats, and has been for months, Allen said. As of Wednesday, three of the cats from the recent rescue were still available for adoption. Information about animals available for adoption through the Aurora Animal Shelter is available at https://ow.ly/gV3y50PTbej.
Hoarder no doubt meant well but became overwhelmed.
Did she not have friends/relatives/neighbors who could have called the Auroranimal shelter?
You are amazing ppl!
Those poor poor kitties😡🤬🤬😱😭🤬🤬
Have the cats been checked for chips? Is it possible she took in strays? Our cat has been missing since April and several other cats in the area are also missing.
The shelter page doesn’t list a high number of found or adoptable cats.