63 Cats and 16 Chihuahuas

We're an unconventional trust company. We do things banks would not even consider, like relocate 79 pets.

No, seriously.

Dorothy was recommended to us by her attorney; he recognized she needed help in using her inheritance to manage her financial affairs, and most importantly her care giving staff and her beloved animals.

Because she was bedridden we had to go to her home, which was nestled in the most beautiful, serene valley outside of Taos, with a river running next to her home. When we first visited her, however, we stepped no further than the entry-way, where a portrait of her beloved father - painted by a well-known Taos artist - seemed to gaze knowingly at us. Right then and there we determined ourselves to save Dorothy. The smell was overwhelming as we were soon to discover that she had sixty-three cats, and sixteen Chihuahuas, that she was caring for – inside the home!

We soon discovered that the caregivers were taking advantage of her and bilking her resources.  When she would send them for pet food, they would stop at the local gas station and call all their friends to also come and fill up their tanks. The situation was dire, but Dorothy was afraid to make any changes for fear that her beloved pets would be harmed.

In collaboration with Dorothy's attorney, a health management organization was consulted and a plan was quickly devised.

A healthcare specialist and a consulting psychologist were brought to Dorothy’s family home to fully assess the situation; later a judge issued a temporary order to appoint Heritage Trust as a temporary conservator and the health management company was named a temporary guardian.  We had no choice but to remove her from the home and get her to an assisted living facility, where she could get the medical care she needed. In addition to many ailments she was also diagnosed with severe COPD due to the noxious fumes from cat urine.

With Dorothy finally receiving the medical care and attention she required, and our commitment to Dorothy to take care of her pets, our staff sought to ensure a humane solution for the animals in the makeshift animal shelter her home had become. In the meantime, our staff managed the feeding and caring for the animals.

We coordinated with a veterinarian to evaluate the health of each one of the animals and enlisted the help of an animal rights activist, and Dorothy's great niece, to find a no-kill shelter for the cats. We placed every one of the sixteen the dogs into local homes.

We find a shelter in Colorado that would take the cats, but they required funding to build a special facility due to the number of cats. They also required that every cat be inoculated and photographed and a complete health history be developed before we could have them taken across state lines.

Once the cats were moved, we were able to provide photographs of the cats to Dorothy in their new home, which gave her great comfort knowing her pets were cared for.

Later, the local HOA contacted us with a demand to pay for the eradication of the skunks and raccoons that had overtaken Dorothy’s community.  It turned out she had been feeding them for many years as well.

Dorothy’s challenges were difficult to navigate, to say the least, but the experience helped us to truly rally around our values in a way that felt meaningful to our trust company. We stepped through Dorothy’s doorway, when others may have run out.

Dorothy lived out the rest of her life comfortably and found immense peace in knowing her beloved animals found happy homes.