Partnership with No Kill Colorado enables Wild Blue Cats to waive adoption fees for older felines during holidays
BLACK FOREST • Lauri Cross started Wild Blue Animal Rescue and Sanctuary after retiring from the Air Force in 2010.
She loves all animals, but eventually the shelter “just blossomed into a cat rescue … the need to help cats” was there.
The nonprofit Wild Blue Animal Rescue and Sanctuary is “dedicated to saving the precious lives of cats and kittens who are abandoned, abused, neglected, displaced or surrendered, and to find them permanent home or provide lifetime sanctuary.”
Allison DuVal, director of rescue operations at Wild Blue said the shelter is run by three part-time employees and over 300 volunteers who do everything from clean up to socializing animals to running adoption fairs.
The 5975 Burgess Road facility is a no-kill shelter, meaning euthanasia is only used for animals that are severely ill. On the website (wbcats.org) the rescue says, “We are committed to preventing and eliminating euthanasia of treatable and savable animals.”
Each year, No Kill Colorado — an advocacy group supporting rescues and shelters — selects several rescues in the state to help with adoptions during its Home for the Holidays campaign. This year one of their chosen partners is Wild Blue.
Davyd Smith, president of No Kill Colorado, says, “We take $5,000 from the general fund plus all the donations received between Thanksgiving and Christmas,” for the program.
This year, the focus is on older cats that are at least two years old and older. For each older cat adopted, No Kill Colorado will donate $50 to Wild Blue. That means the adoption fees are waived.
“It’s tougher for older pets,” to get adopted, Smith said — especially this time of year when kittens and puppies are found under the Christmas tree or as holiday presents.
He added, “We know for a fact that Colorado can save every healthy or treatable homeless pet,” because there are more adopters in this state than animals that need homes.
And there’s no shortage of available cats at Wild Blue
At any given time, 40 cats live in Wild Blue’s main building, where they get socialized and prepare for adoption. Outdoor “catios” allow them to have fresh air protected from any predators that might be nearby. In 2019, Wild Blue took in almost 800 cats and kittens. “This year we are already up to 950 cats and kittens brought in,” DuVal said.
Wild Blue has many running parts including cat and kitten adoptions, foster care, feral cat care and TNR or Trap Neuter and Return.
Kittens are fostered out to a network of family homes. These foster families bottle feed younger kittens and help mama cats that are expecting or have just delivered a litter.
DuVal spends time coordinating foster care for kittens. “I work with our foster coordinator to take them on. The kittens will get medically cared for, socialized and find a good home. That’s a big passion of mine,” she said.
Currently, there are about 100 kittens in foster care at Wild Blue, but during the summer there can be up to 250 kittens.
Feral cats live in Maya’s Friends Wildheart Village, a 2,000-square-foot outdoor enclosure. Heated sheds and hidey holes make this the perfect shelter for those cats that cannot be released to a new home. Duval says, “they come from a lot of different situations, but all are used to living outside.” Right now, 25 outdoor cats call this place home.
DuVal, who has worked for the rescue for five years, spends time TNR’ing (trapping, neutering and returning) street and barn cats. These are brought in to be vaccinated, spayed or neutered and returned to their usual lives. That way they are, “not contributing to the pet overpopulation,” says DuVal.
So far, over 1,500 cats have been trapped, neutered, and returned by the rescue.
DuVal says Colorado is a very animal-friendly state regarding adoptions with an average no-kill rate of 90%. When the shelter typically slows down in the winter months, “We pull kitties from high kill areas, like New Mexico, Texas or Kansas, there are kittens and cats being killed every day simply because of space,” she said.
Each animal that gets adopted is spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and microchipped before going to their “purrever” home. COVID-19 made scheduling veterinary time more difficult, but because they partner with many different local doctors, the work of doing exams, dental work and surgeries eventually continued.
“Getting an animal out of the shelter is really important,” Smith says. Once they get to their forever home they thrive and be themselves.
Since the Home for the Holidays campaign began on Thanksgiving Day, Wild Blue has adopted out 14 cats.
Adoptions are by appointment only during the pandemic. Potential adopters must be at least 21 years old and can begin the process with an online application. To see some of the kitties up for adoption go to wbcats.org/adopt.
Adoption fees for cats five months and to two years old are $85 each, or $145 for two. Kittens are $110 each, or $210 for two. To adopt barn cats, the refuge suggests a donation of $30 each.
In 2021, Wild Blue plans to open a 24-hour critical care unit that will cater to orphans and bottle babies and special needs cats. Donations are being accepted (wbcats.org/donate) for a Critical Care Unit where cats with special needs will be tended to, as well as a new building to house a nursery.
Wild Blue Animal Rescue and Sanctuary
Wild Blue Animal Rescue and Sanctuary in Black Forest is waiving adoption fees for cats 2 years old and older during the holidays.
Ribbon is a domestic short-hair with tabby markings. She is timid and would do well in a quiet home.
Photos courtesy of Wild Blue Animal Rescue and Sanctuary
Above left is Anstead, an orange tabby. He likes to chirp and talk to his friends and loves to hide in a safe place. A quiet home would be best for him. Above right is Osyka, a tortoiseshell short-haired cat. She has been a surrogate mom to 11 orphan kittens. She is about six years old.
Wickens is an eight-year-old long-haired gray who loves to talk. She enjoys human attention, but not that of other cats.
Osyka is a tortoiseshell short-haired cat. She has been a surrogate mom to 11 orphan kittens. She is about six years old.