As of now, the Unlimited Learning Center in Cortez stands empty, with locked doors, unlit windows and a chained-off parking lot.
Just a few weeks ago, the nonprofit that provided educational services for adults was bustling with life, and not just the two-legged kind.
Unlimited closed its doors on June 28 – at least temporarily – for lack of funds. In the months before closing, staff members had been feeding a colony of stray cats that at one point numbered over 20, according to an estimate from Rachel Rose, member of the Cortez-based nonprofit Rescued Pet Society.
Rose became involved with the Unlimited cat colony this spring when she began practicing trap-neuter-release on site, a process intended to curb cat overpopulation. Rose said that of the 72 cats the Rescued Pet Society has trapped since March, 18 came from the Unlimited cat colony.
Unlimited employees and the HOA that owns Unlimited’s property, Montezuma County Housing Authority, agree the colony originated from cats abandoned at the Cortez Trailer Park and Prairie Mesa Estates apartment complex, owned by the HOA, which border Unlimited on either side.
Kathryn White, an employee at Unlimited, began feeding the stray cats and paid for the bulk of the cat food. She said she felt compelled to do so because, “there’s just a problem with people who have been irresponsible. If you’re going to get them (cats), you can’t leave them when you move.”
After White began feeding strays, she said the situation evolved into multiple staff members taking shifts feeding the cats and divvying up the cost of cat food every week. Soon enough, the whole cat colony began congregating at Unlimited on a daily basis.
That’s when the complaints started, said Tammy Samora, executive assistant for the Montezuma County Housing Authority. “Every time the trash people would come, out would pop 20-30 cats,” she said. “And it was a safety issue, because they were afraid the cats were going to get put into the garbage.”
Residents of the neighboring apartment complex also complained about cat droppings, noise and other inconveniences created by the sheer number of stray cats, Samora said.
As complaints piled up and it became apparent Unlimited was unable to remain open over the summer, the HOA voiced their concerns to Unlimited, and its director Virgil Caldwell formulated a plan.
“I fully agree with the concern of the owner,” Caldwell said. “I spoke to the staff at the school and informed them the cats that hang around the property are now causing complaints and we must stop potentially enticing them to come over.”
Since Unlimited stopped leaving out food the number of strays has dwindled, but according to Rose when she went to the empty building earlier this month there were still 5 to 10 cats remaining on the property.
These cats, if left to fend for themselves, face dangers such as predators like coyotes and mountain lions or being hit by a car. Some may also have medical problems that would go left untreated, such as recent reports of kittens walking around with eyes “gooped shut.”
nmetcalf@durangoherald.com
