Santa Fe cat rescue raises money to buy bigger building

SANTA FE, N.M. — Felines and Friends New Mexico, a cat rescue, wants to purchase the Santa Fe Cats building for more space to continue helping cats.

“We have been around for almost 20 years, and we take cats from all over the state,” said Bobbie Heller, the founder and executive director of the rescue.

She said the nonprofit usually has about 100 cats at any given time, but sometimes they are reaching 250.

“In this last year of 2020, with the pandemic, we realized that there was a need more than ever to rescue with other shelters closing down, eliminating or reducing services because of staffing,” she said.

Heller said they need more space to help. She has been renting to use empty kennels for her rescues from Santa Fe Cats, a boarding facility. She wants to buy the entire building.

“All the years of hard work will culminate in having a facility that can continue,” she said.

In just two months, she’s raised $350,000 through cash, checks, debit and transferred stock donations. She said they need $550,000 to buy the facility.

“So now, it’s a matter of the final $200,000, so that we don’t try to get a loan, which would be a back-up plan,” she said.

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