Loma Cat House calls on community for help | News

The Loma Cat House is asking the community for support after a government inspection found the facility needs a significant number of repairs to remain open.

The shelter took in 150 stray and abandoned cats, but soon had to take in 50 of them after it was said they had more cats to care for than they could care for.

The remaining 100 cats will have to find new homes if repairs aren’t made, but Marie Ramstetter, manager of Loma Cat House, said there are few other places they can go.

“Everyone is so overloaded,” Ramstetter said. “Grand Rivers Humane called me and said, ‘I’d love to try to help by taking some, but we’re just overloading ourselves.’

“That’s the problem, there are far more cats in need of help than there are places or people who can provide help.”

Opened over 20 years ago, Loma Cat House rescues, houses, cares for and finds adoptive homes for stray cats.

The Pet Animal Care and Facilities Act (PACFA) program is the state’s inspector and licensing authority for all animal facilities, from shelters to grooming salons. The program consists of regionally assigned inspectors who enforce health and safety requirements through follow-up inspections, civil penalties, and license suspensions.

According to Ramstetter, the inspector told her she would need to refinish the flooring and make other, minor repairs, such as replacing the molding around some of the doors. Ramstetter added that the inspector indicated that the cost of repairs could exceed the facility’s financial capacity.

“To redo the floors, you have to sand them or scrape them,” Ramstetter said. “You have to go back to bare cement, and boy, that’s going to be tough, because even if the epoxy were to come off in any places, it would still be very, very difficult and expensive to get it all up. Then you have to put new stuff down, and if the epoxy isn’t good enough, I don’t know what is.”

She said the inspector has not yet provided an official inspection report. Ramstetter added that because the inspection occurred just before the regional inspector took time off, she has not had a point person to discuss the PACFA requirements for flooring before she can proceed.

In response to a request for public records, a PACFA representative said they were in possession of the records but could not share them because the investigation was ongoing. PACFA Section Chief Nick Fisher said the agency could not comment until the investigation was complete.

Ramstetter said the inspection came at a time when she was exhausted from the daily work and lack of funding needed to keep Loma Cat House running. She was increasingly doubting whether her efforts were worth the results or whether they were even being noticed by the community.

“I had been having a really bad day with one of the kittens being killed, and it was one of my favorite little kittens, it was just so unfortunate,” Ramstetter said. “And then here she is, demanding all this stuff, so I just had to vent my frustration, so I put a piece on Facebook. I feel really awful, I’m tired, and (I felt) like maybe no one appreciated it.”

Ramstetter said that shortly after her post, she received an outpouring of comments and phone calls from community members and other animal service providers expressing and offering their support. She said Roice Hurst and a few families had already offered to take in the 50 cats that were over capacity. Since a fundraiser was set up on Monday, more than $2,300 in donations have been made.

The Colorado Gives fundraiser goal is $20,000. The link to donate can be found on the Loma Cat House Facebook page.

“I appreciate everyone’s concern, it’s great from that standpoint,” Ramstetter said. “It’s pretty cool because you don’t hear from people until something like this happens, and then they all come back and say you’re doing a great job.”