21 Cats Rescued From Former Evergreen Trailer Park

After rescuing 21 cats from the former Evergreen Mobile Home Park at North Main and Applegrove streets, a local animal rescue group now needs to find them all homes.

Residents were forced to move out of the park in June to . Several cats were left at the site after their move.

"In addition to the residents losing their homes, these animals lost everything and everyone they knew," said Jill Kirsch, founder of Cripple Creek Ferals and Friends.

A friend who lived in the mobile home park alerted Kirsch of the cats and she rescued them (10 kittens and 11 cats, all in good health) this week and got them all spayed and neutered.

Now comes the hard part: finding them all homes. Kirsch said she's already adopted out six.

You can find photos and descriptions of all the cats on petfinder.com. Email Kirsch at criplcrkferals@aol.com to start the adoption process. The process includes an application and background check.

"That way we find the most suitable homes for the animals," she said. "We can kind of match personalities. We do background checks and we make sure they’re allowed to have pets where they are. We want these animals to go to a home and that be their final home.”

The group also has the individual sign a contract that says the animal will return to Cripple Creek Ferals and Friends if the owner is no longer able to take care of it.

A minimum $50 donation also is required for adoption.

Kirsch said she hopes this situation can be turned into a positive by the community recognizing the need to spay and neuter their animals, especially the strays they choose to feed.

She said she doesn't blame the trailer park residents for leaving the cats behind.

"It was upsetting enough that the trailer park was demolished," Kirsch said. "It was a nice little community and the people who were there, they looked out for each other; they looked out for these animals. They fed them but when they lost their homes, they certainly couldn’t have taken all these cats with them.”

She said the rescue group also accepts donations, which could include gift cards to pet stores, cat food and litter.