COLORADO SPRINGS – Following the closure of Paws for Life shelter in Pueblo, many animals had no place to go. But local shelters in Colorado Springs have been stepping in to help.
The Happy Cats Haven rescue shelter says about 100 cats came from Pueblo. Between foster parents and other small shelters, they’ve been able to find a safe place for them.
The shelter took in more than 20 of those cats, so they can have the care they need and be one step closer to meeting their forever families.
Four-year-old Natalie is one happy cat waiting to get adopted.
“Natalie won’t be here long. I mean, look at her she’s all personality anyways,” said Laura Ettinger-Harwell, a board member for Happy Cats Haven. “She’s just a lovebug. She wants to just be petted and purr.”
So, it’s fitting Natalie ended up at the Happy Cats Haven rescue shelter in Colorado Springs, but her journey hasn’t been an easy one.
Natalie is one of 27 cats that came here from the Paws for Life shelter in Pueblo.
“It was a tragic situation,” Ettinger-Harwell said.”You know, they were so in need. So we really had to get in there quick, you know, get as many as we can – as we can handle.”
Even though Natalie is healthy enough to find her forever family, most of the cats that came from Pueblo weren’t.
Many are under quarantine, suffering from upper respiratory infections.
But the good news is “all of it [is] treatable,” Ettinger-Harwell noted. “We’re just working on getting them to a hundred percent, letting them have the time they need to be themselves again.”
Now, it’s just a matter of time before they join their other friends to play, showing off all the reasons why they’d be the perfect addition to a loving family.
Even though, they’re already loved by those who offered to care for them.
“Whoever’s in need, we had to step up,” Ettinger-Harwell added. “And that’s what everybody did.”
Happy Cats Haven says some of the medical treatments these cats have to undergo can be expensive. Even though they’ll do what they can to provide them, they could use some help in the form of donations. If you’d like to donate, you can visit their website here.
