From a Folding Table to a Storefront: The Karma Cat Rescue Society Story

If you’ve driven past 39 S. Main Street in Milltown, NJ, you’ve probably seen the cats in the window. But the story of how Karma Cat Rescue Society got there started somewhere a lot smaller: a folding table set up every weekend at the North Brunswick PetSmart, back in 2010.

The early years

Karma Cat Rescue Society began as a small, all-volunteer effort focused on one thing: getting cats out of crowded shelters and into homes. There was no storefront, no dedicated space. Just a rotating crew of volunteers, a handful of carriers, and cats who needed someone to notice them.

That grassroots approach never really went away. It just grew.

A home of our own

In July 2018, the organization opened its first physical adoption center, a real space where people could meet cats in a calmer setting, and where volunteers could care for more animals at once. It was a milestone worth celebrating (there were balloons, a mascot, the whole thing), and it marked a turning point from a scrappy pop-up rescue to an established presence in the community.

Growing into the mission

As the organization grew, so did the scope of the work. Alongside adoptions, Karma Cat built out a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program in partnership with People for Animals Clinic in Robbinsville, running recurring “Snip + Tip” events to humanely manage community cat colonies. Volunteers started showing up not just to care for cats in the shelter, but to feed colonies, foster litters of kittens, run transport days moving cats between foster homes and the clinic, and even gather for craft nights making catnip toys for cats waiting to be adopted.

Who we are now

Today, the organization operates as Karma Cat Rescue Society, having grown from its original name into something that better reflects a sharper focus on cat rescue specifically. The adoption center at 39 S. Main Street in Milltown is open several days a week, staffed by volunteers who believe every cat deserves a chance, whether that means a forever home, a safe outdoor colony, or a soft place to land in between.

Over the past sixteen years, that belief has turned into real numbers: over 2,960 cats adopted into loving homes, and more than 1,970 community cats spayed or neutered through TNR.

What hasn’t changed

The table, the space, even the name have all changed over the years. What hasn’t is the reason any of it exists in the first place: cats who need people willing to show up for them. That’s still true today, and it’s still true one cat at a time.

Want to see it in action? Watch our story above, and if you’re moved to help, whether through adoption, fostering, volunteering, or a donation, we’d love to have you.