This Is Carolina: Myrtle Beach woman creates cat rescue to curb stray population

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) - You could call Dawn the “cat lady.”

“I really hate that term because it’s always the ‘crazy cat lady.’ And I have my crazy days, but I never thought that I would be the crazy cat lady when I moved here,” Dawn said.

And that’s not stopping Dawn from showing them some much-needed love. Nothing is.

“I’m allergic so I try not to have that many in my house,” said Dawn. “I’m just a kind person who has a hard time just looking away.”

So she doesn’t. Dawn joined a local non-profit that spays and neuters cats after she moved to the Grand Strand and saw tons of them roaming the streets.

“They were trapping cats and when the kitten would get in the trap, they would let it go and I thought it didn’t make sense. So, I started taking kittens in and I said, ‘Well, I’ll just find them homes,’” Dawn explained.

That only snowballed into launching her own rescue called C&D TNR and Kitten Adoptions.

“It wasn’t my goal. It wasn’t my plan when I moved here. It just kind of fell in course. My sister did rescue her whole life and I just feel like I just kind of took over when she passed,” she said.

Dawn and her volunteers team up with another non-profit to do weekly trips to North Carolina. They load 100 cat carriers every month to fix the felines for a discounted price. They even offer the service to cat owners who can’t afford it. That’s in addition to nursing the others back to health and finding them forever homes.

“Once they’re vaccinated and spayed, we’ll do a little photo shoot with them and post them on Facebook,” said Dawn.

The friendly felines are never cooped up in cages, but rather taking cat naps or playing with catnip around the house.

She’s even used her logo to make mugs and information cards to raise money for her rescue, so she can continue doing her charity work that she said seems to never end.

“People are moving in here and landlords will not allow pets or they charge pet rent which is a ridiculous amount, so people are surrendering their pets like crazy,” Dawn said.

But, when Dawn does find a cat their perfect home, she said it’s all worth it.

“When I get pictures from their new adopter, that’s when it really hits home, that wow, I saved that cat. It does feel good at the end of the day,” she said.

Click here to learn more about C&D TNR and Kitten Adoptions. If you have good news to share, email goodnews@wmbfnews.com or message Loren on Facebook.

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