LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. — A local Lehigh cat rescue grows day by day, and the community's donations help them expand their services as they've doubled in size since August.
The lot next to Amber Dockery's house was empty in August.
Five months later, crews fenced in the area for free, so she can expand her rescue, Dockery's Amazing Rescues.
"That's the biggest next step that we needed to start the sanctuary for the ferals," Dockery said.
Dockery runs the rescue out of her garage taking care of more than 80 cats, 47 outdoor feral cats and 36 kittens.
She renovated her garage with cages, electricity, air conditioning and more to house all the rescues.
Watch Lehigh Acres Community Correspondent Ella Rhoades report below:
People call and message Dockery to rescue strays and kittens, like Mittens who was found on Lee Boulevard on Christmas Eve.
"Her mother got ran over, and she was about three weeks old, so I went and picked her up and brought her to the rescue," Dockery explained.
She microchips the cats, takes them to the vet to get fixed, gives them their shots and nurses sick kittens in a special neo-natal unit.
She said Lehigh sees a large number of strays and feral cats, so the community needs the sanctuary outside.
Dockery said, "People love animals, but they can't take them all into their home, so they're feeding them, but they're not getting fixed."
Mostly, everything at the rescue is donated from the community. The carpets, toys, food, even blankets from the Cape Coral Animal Shelter, and now the fence from Real Fence Repair in Lehigh.
Antonio Ruiz with real fence repair saw on Facebook the rescue needed a fence, so he donated one worth $5,000.
"Being able to be in the position to be able to give back has been pretty good," Ruiz said.
"For somebody to even care about the animals like this and to devote their time, their business is just it means everything," Dockery said.
People across Florida, even Chicago, come to adopt from Dockery's Amazing Rescues to find the furever friend.
Learn more information on how to adopt, volunteer and donate at the rescue here.
