LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. — Four years ago, after Amber Dockery's neighbors cat gave birth, she helped find homes for the whole litter.
"We love it. I mean it's our passion. It's what I do, and with the rescue 24/7 that's the only thing I do, all day long, every day," Amber Dockery said.
She founded the non-profit Dockery's Amazing Rescueswhere she rescues cats in Lehigh Acres and specializes with pregnant feral cats, bottle baby kittens and trap neuter releases.
Dockery said, "Our biggest thing is helping the community as much as we can with our rescue with saving as many lives as we can...They are just everywhere."
Watch Lehigh Acres Community Correspondent Ella Rhoades report below:
She said most rescues and shelters don't have the space because there are so many strays in Lehigh.
More stray cats mean more stray kittens which adds to the growing problem in the area.
It's the reason she chose to convert her garage and bought the lot next to her house to build a sanctuary for her rescue.
Last month, Lehigh Acres Community Correspondent Ella Rhoades spoke with a Lehigh woman who rescued a pregnant cat, but she didn't want to take it to Lee County Domestic Animal Services because she feared for its life.
"There needs to be more places that need to be opened," Tammy Pankou told Rhoades last month.
To put the community's concerns into perspective,numbers from LCDAS show the number of cats it's euthanized the last few years:
2020 — 894
2021 —1,263
2022 — 987
2023 — 1,378
January to July 2024 — 839
This year, the county is on pace to euthanize more than 1,400 cats.
In a statement to Fox 4, Lee County said,
"Taking found animals to LCDAS is essential because it allows animals to be reunited with their families. People who find an animal may assume it is an abandoned animal, but it simply may be lost...The county provides TNR services. People can bring feral cats to our Lost & Found customer service desk and we will intake the cat(s) and schedule for surgery as the schedule allows if the cats are deemed healthy for surgery and the finder can pick up the cat(s) after surgery."
Dockery said she gets at least ten calls a day and messages on Facebook constantly from people who ask for help. Her family also helps her run the the rescue out of their home.
If you want to adopt from her rescue and later decide to surrender the pet, there's one condition.
"One biggest rule of mine is if it's been one hour or one year, we want our kittens and cats to come back to us," Dockery said.
