Humane Society creates space for 'cat condos' as expansion/renovation continues
A cat enjoys its perch on a high, sunny spot
inside one of the "condos" in the new cat adoption center at the Humane Society
of the Pikes Peak Region.
Westside Pioneer photo
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The facility is at 610 Abbot Lane, just east of Eighth Street.
Located on the right side of the entrance lobby, the area features “unique cat condos where kitties will be able to showcase their personalities in a comfortable, home-like setting filled with natural sunlight and vertical space,” states a press release.
The enhancement is part of multi-faceted HSPPR expansion and renovation project that includes a two-story, 13,145-square-foot addition on the north side of the current building. The work started in September 2015, and completion is expected in “early fall,” according to Humane Society spokesperson Gretchen Pressley.
In a broader view of the condo area, a cat on a
perch looks down, and the reflection is seen of a girl entering the neighboring
condo space inside the Humane Society's recently opened cat adoption center to
one side of its entrance lobby. People interested in finding a cat are welcome to
walk inside the condo rooms and take a closer look.
Westside Pioneer photo
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The nonprofit agency's homeless cats had previously been kept in smaller, more traditional cages. The overall total is around 250, which includes those who “are receiving medical care in our surgery center, are in our foster care program or are available for adoption,” she explained.
Pressley added that the plan grew out of a “cat colony room” that the society tried about two years ago. “It was so successful that we incorporated the concept into our designs for the new cat adoption center.”
In response to a follow-up question, Pressley said the effort was not influenced by the nonprofit Happy Cats Haven on South 21st Street, which began offering similar type “condos” five years ago.
Other aspects of the expansion/renovation include additional kennels for sick and injured dogs, increased admissions space (as part of an adoption lobby that opened early this year), a new lost-and-found center, a disaster holding space and a dog park to replace the one on the east side of the building, which was given up for right of way in the Cimarron/I-25 interchange project.
In a regional operation that includes contracts with Colorado Springs and El Paso County, HSPRR offers an animal shelter and such services as adoption, animal cruelty investigations, subsidized spays/neuters and a trap-neuter-return program for feral cats.
A fundraising drive for the expansion/renovation seeks $8.3 million in all, Pressley said. For more information, go to hsppr.org.
Westside Pioneer article
(Posted 8/7/16;
Community:
Humane Society)
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