Closure Notice
The San Luis Valley Animal Center will be closed Wednesday July 16, 2025. The Leslie A. Malone Center will be closing at 2pm on Thursday July 17, 2025. Thank you!
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Animal Care is a critical, hands-on volunteer role that helps ensure each animal has a healthy, safe, and clean environment during their time in shelter.
Emergency Rescue Alert!
On a blistering record high temperature of 95°F in Western Colorado, our Animal Protection team and partner agencies raced to rescue hundreds of neglected animals. The team worked tirelessly to rescue nearly 100 cats from truly deplorable conditions. The cats were confined to filthy, chicken-coop-style cages, with black widow spiders crawling across their makeshift enclosures. This wasn’t mere neglect – it was a disturbing scene marked by fear and prolonged suffering.
The team had three critical goals: act fast and with compassion, humanely remove the cats from the property, and transport them safely to Humane Colorado’s Leslie A. Malone Center where we could determine the care they desperately need.
Warning: the images of the cats’ conditions may be disturbing.
Right now, nearly 100 of these rescued cats are in our care – but they urgently need you. They arrived sick, injured, under-socialized, and in need.
With your help, we will always be able to provide:
At Humane Colorado, the average cost of care for one animal’s shelter journey is more than $800, but large-scale impounds like this place an immense strain on our resources. Animals rescued from cases such as this have complex medical needs and behavioral challenges, requiring far more resources, time and specialized care. Community support is crucial to help us meet this urgent demand and ensure all vulnerable animals get the quality care they need and deserve.
“These cats were found in unimaginable conditions many terrified, in poor health, unsocialized, or caring for their kittens in dangerous heat. Now they’re safe, but the costs are overwhelming, and the journey to recovery will be long. We can only do work like this with the public’s help.”
– Mary Sarah Fairweather, Vice President of Sheltering at Humane Colorado
When the cats arrived, they were finally met with compassion. They had safe shelter, clean water, nourishing food, and a safe place to recover. Our expert team immediately began critical medical care and behavioral support.
Many of the rescued cats are in quarantine, battling severe eye infections, ringworm, and upper respiratory infections.
Some are still nursing tiny, vulnerable kittens, and others are pregnant. These cats have endured so much – and we are still learning more about them and their condition every day. We’ll continue to share updates here and on social media as we fight to give them the care they deserve.
Humane Colorado is asking for the community’s financial support to help ensure we have the resources we need to care for animals when they need us most. Animals from neglect situations frequently require emergency veterinary treatment and testing, additional medications, and exceptional behavioral support.
Please don’t wait. These innocent cats have endured unimaginable hardships – but with your compassion, they can finally know comfort, safety, and love.