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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Because of economic conditions, the housing market and extreme hay prices, more and more horses are being surrendered or abandoned.
Many are turned lose on private land or starved. Many animal shelters just can't stay afloat enough to help all the animals in our region.

Black Forest Animal Sanctuary is the only no-kill shelter taking in every variety of animal in Colorado Springs.
The shelter has been serving the community for a decade even taking in about 50 horses during the Waldo Canyon Fire... adding 8-thousand dollars to their already struggling budget.

"Tmes are slow, times are hard. It usually averages about $4,000 to $4,500 a month just to feed and we're averaging about $200 to $300 a month in donations," Dan Andrews, one of the sanctuary's managers explained.

They have nearly 100 animals from llamas to horses, alpacas to goats and cows, all saved from sad situations.
Andrews said they've already had a number of phone calls this year about animals just wandering down the street or wandering through a yard when nobody knows where they came from.

We've all got our pockets pinched but the money just isn't there to keep these animals going. Black Forest doesn't have extra hands to help them out, either.
They say many people assume private rescue ranches like theirs receive federal funding, which just isn't true. While they can apply for some grants, there isn't much money there, and they say it won't come soon enough.

"The horses need to be gone by December," Andrews said, "that's when we'll run out of feed."

The future for these animals looks bleak at the moment.

"Our ultimate goal is to not send them to auction just because we don't have any control over where they go from there," Andrews explained, "What we'd like to do is either be able to place them in a good home or if donations come in, keep as many of them as we can."

The money issue isn't just a problem at Black Forest. They say while they're much larger than most, a lot of shelters in the area have had to close. They added many are turning away animals because of money instead of helping them like they want to.

If you'd like to volunteer or help Black Forest you visit their website www.bfasfarm.org.