Feb 6, 2009 5:59 pm US/Mountain
Animal Shelters Hit Hard By Economy
Written for the Web by CBS4 Special Projects Producer Libby Smith
DENVER (CBS4) ―
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CBS4's Suzanne McCarroll talks with Diggs Wofe about cat crowding at the Animal Rescue and Adoption Society.
CBS
The downturn in the economy and the housing market collapse have many families in financial crisis. As they struggle to pay their monthly bills, some families are giving up their pets as a cost cutting measure. One shelter is overwhelmed with cats.
Everyday, operators of the Animal Rescue and Adoption Society in Denver have to turn away cats. They worry the animals may suffer if left on the streets, but without enough food and litter to care for them, they have little choice.
"There's always more cats needing to be placed than we have room for," said Diggs Wofe, a shelter volunteer.
There are between 150 and 160 cats at the shelter right now.
"We're full," Wofe added.
Each has their own story of being hit hard by the recession.
"This is Miss Holly. She came to us on New Year's Eve. A gentleman who was hired to clean out a place after the people left went in to clean and found her abandoned there. She came to us -- she was under 5 pounds, very dehydrated. And we weighed her today and she's 6.6 pounds so she's putting on weight, loving to eat, and just doing really well," Wofe explained.
Miss Holly is doing so well because the volunteers at Animal Rescue and Adoption Society make sure no cat gets left behind. They feed them and care for them for as long as is needed, and they hope for someone to adopt and love them.
"They should come here and check them out. We have all different kinds that fit add different personalities," Wofe told CBS4.
Pat Fremon brought a 7-month-old stray cat to the shelter and was moved by the increased burden the shelter was facing and the shrinking resources they have to handle it. Fremon asked CBS4 if she could pay it forward by giving $1,000 to the shelter. The money will cover the cost of the 200 pounds of litter used at the facility each day and the countless cans of food consumed by these felines.
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