Helping Paws: How a Cat Rescue Brought a City Together
Photo Credit: Bails for Tails
By Anna Tart
Six years ago, it was not uncommon to see stray and abandoned cats in almost every alleyway of downtown Fayetteville, North Carolina. Dianne Carillo, the owner of a bail bondsman office in the downtown area, noticed the issue's severity when she found herself taking care of a cat colony living in the alley behind her office. “Just in the back, there were 27 cats living out there who were all starving, and it was just sad to see,” she recalls.
In 2017, caring for the neglected felines pushed Carrillo to transform her bail bondsman office into a non-profit cat rescue, Bails for Tails. The unique rescue is attached to a thrift store, filled to the brim with one-of-a-kind items donated by the community with all profits going directly to the rescue.
Since opening, Carrillo has tackled many obstacles including medical care, fostering and emergency rescues; however, neutering the countless colonies of feral cats in Fayetteville proved to be the biggest challenge of all. Carrillo says there are multiple colonies throughout the city, and without being spayed or neutered, the number of cats in each colony would grow exponentially. “Female cats can get pregnant at just five months old, and when they’re having four or five kittens at a time, it can get out of hand really quick,” Carrillo says.
One of Carrillo’s biggest endeavors took place in her first year of opening when a local man called and claimed he was no longer able to care for the stray cats living around his home due to health problems. “He told me that he started feeding a few cats in his neighborhood the year before, but when he called, he said he had like 75 cats coming to his house,” Carrillo says. “It took an entire year to trap, neuter and find a place for those cats to go.”
Carrillo continued curbing the overpopulation of cats throughout Fayetteville for years before hiring Christine Vance as general manager of Bails for Tails in the summer of 2022. Vance says she inquired about volunteering while adopting two cats from Bails for Tails. “When I asked to volunteer, Dianne said, ‘How would you like to work here?’ and I just instantly felt like part of the family,” Vance recalls.
The team has dedicated countless hours to rescuing cats from stray, abandoned and hoarding situations. With such a high volume of cats in the area, it does not take long to fill the limited kennels in the shop, and at some points, the team has helped adopt over 50 cats in just three months.
Of course, running the rescue can be overwhelming at times for Carrillo and Vance. With calls for rescues all over the county, a thrift store to manage, over $600 a month on supplies, a lack of fosters and surprise medical bills, the two have overcome several obstacles since working together. For instance, Pandora, a well-known community cat, was attacked last year by a feral cat who was dumped downtown. The Bails for Tails team naturally swooped in to help a beloved feline. Pandora is an older cat with a history of neglect and ended up losing an eye after his fight.
During Pandora’s recovery, Vance stepped in and fostered him for four months. For Vance, it was difficult at the time, but she feels reassured knowing that he is ‘living the high life’ at the Blind Cat Rescue & Sanctuary in St. Paul's. Fostering is one of the toughest parts of working at the rescue for Vance. While she loves being able to care for cats when they need it most, she said with Pandora, the goodbye was hard and warranted a few tears.
Despite facing hardships, Vance and Carrillo still put immense amounts of effort into the rescue by planning events and having volunteer opportunities to build a supportive community for the cats. Bails for Tails is hands on with downtown Fayetteville and has hosted several themed events to engage with the community and help the rescue.
Other downtown businesses in Fayetteville contribute to the efforts at Bails for Tails such as Back Around Records, a second hand record store just upstairs from the rescue. Shawn Adkins, the owner of Back Around Records, said he helps the rescue not because their businesses share a building, but because everyone there is like family to him. Adkins helps the rescue by selling shirts- “Noser” t-shirts which he created after his dog passed away. “I raise these donations and want to give it to them because they’ve helped me before,” he says. “I think everything helps.”
Several members of the community also lend a hand to Bails for Tails by volunteering. Lorie, who started volunteering last September, adopted a brown tabby cat, Angelo, from the rescue in 2022. Lorie said Angelo was thrown from a moving vehicle at just a few weeks of age, leaving him with a broken leg and needing medical attention. Now, in his forever home and feistier than ever, Lorie says Angelo is one of the best cats she has had.
At the end of the day, Vance and Carrillo believe that if they give something good to the community, it will come back to them. Being able to provide support to the cats is their overall goal, which is why bringing the community together is the biggest component of Bails for Tail’s work. “It really does take an entire community to raise these cats,” Vance says. Though this is a small rescue, Carrillo says they will continue their work in the city of Fayetteville, both in caring for the community cats and creating a close-knit community.
Anna Tart is a sophomore communication major at East Carolina University. She has enjoyed every bit of her studies and enjoys writing feature stories on people she comes across in my community. When she graduates next spring, Anna hopes to pursue a career as a magazine writer to continue uplifting the voices of amazing people.
