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No charges for owner of 86 cats

Phillip Yates
Glenwood Springs correspondent
Aspen, CO Colorado
Chad Spangler/Post IndependentCats seized at a Battlement Mesa apartment are now at the Colorado Animal Rescue Shelter in Glenwood Springs.
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GLENWOOD SPRINGS ” A woman who had 86 cats living inside of Battlement Mesa apartment will not face any charges, according to the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office.

All the cats are now at the Colorado Animal Rescue Shelter in Glenwood Springs, where the staff is currently struggling to treat, clean and find new homes for all the shaken animals.

Tanny McGinnis, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office, said the department would not reveal the woman’s name or age since she has not been charged with any crimes.



She said sheriff’s deputies responded to the woman’s two-bedroom apartment in Battlement Mesa after she asked for assistance on Wednesday because she was moving and could not manage all the cats. There were no details about the woman’s current living situation.

Asked about the sanitary conditions the animal control officer found in the woman’s apartment, McGinnis simply described it as “unhealthy.”




Leslie Rockey, executive director of CARE, said the facility has been able to transfer five of the 86 cats to the Cat Care Society in Denver. CARE staff are also expected to send about 16 of their currently adoptable pets to two other programs in the Denver area to free space for the newly arrived cats.

“We are very thankful for help from the Denver-area,” she said.

But Rockey added some of the cats are considerably more stressed Friday than they were on Thursday ” about a day after they came to the shelter. She said many of the pets are still not eating and that some have intestinal problems.

When CARE staffers came into the shelter on Friday, they found that one of the cats was pregnant and had birthed some kittens that died.

Rockey said that two other cats are being sent to local veterinarians for additional treatment.

pyates@postindependent.com