SURFSIDE BEACH, S.C. — A rescue that began in its founders’ home now has a community base of its own. An Oct. 18 WMBF report said South Paw Rescue opened its first physical location that week. The Town of Surfside Beach event calendar had listed a ribbon-cutting for Sunday, Oct. 18, from 11 a.m. to noon at 825 1st Avenue North. The Town’s news flash called the listed event the rescue’s grand opening.
The milestone gives the volunteer-run group a shared place to welcome people and coordinate care, while its model remains centered on foster homes. In an Oct. 18 report, WMBF said the rescue opened its first physical site that week and moved its operations out of the founders’ home. The report does not specify the exact day the building first opened, so the ribbon-cutting date and the opening week are kept distinct here.
The facility includes rooms for dogs and cats, a microchip station and room for about 10 dogs at a time, WMBF reported; that figure describes the site’s capacity at one time, not the total number of pets South Paw cares for. The organization describes itself as foster-based, and its website says the animals live in local foster homes rather than kennels while they await adoption. The same site says each pet receives age-appropriate veterinary care and is microchipped before going home.
WMBF reported that South Paw plans to remain foster-based and use the building as a home base to move animals into foster homes faster. Co-director Betty Budd gave one example of that goal: volunteers could meet at the site to take in a litter of puppies and connect them with foster homes more quickly.
The center also creates a more public meeting place for people who are curious about rescue work but are not ready to adopt. Budd told WMBF that visitors can spend time with the dogs, ask questions or learn how to volunteer without making an adoption commitment. Budd also described it as a safe place for volunteers to gather.
South Paw’s foster approach is already described on its public website. The group says fosters provide a home, routine and observations about each pet’s personality, while the rescue supplies veterinary care and guidance. Applicants share details about their household and schedule, followed by a meet-and-greet; the site says pets receive age-appropriate vaccinations, deworming and preventives, a wellness check and a microchip before adoption, with spay/neuter when applicable. Those are the organization’s general practices; the new location’s role is to support the foster network, not replace it. South Paw says stays may be short or longer-term, including weekend fostering, vacation relief and foster-to-adopt; it also supplies needed items and pairs first-time fosters with experienced volunteers. The rescue’s site also describes a meet-and-greet where adopters may bring family members or resident pets. Those details show the steps the group says it uses to help a household and an animal get acquainted before an adoption is finalized.
The rescue says it serves communities along the Grand Strand, including Surfside Beach, Myrtle Beach, Murrells Inlet, Garden City, Pawleys Island, Litchfield and Georgetown. WMBF reported that the effort began about three years ago at the founders’ home after residents called about stray dogs. Organizers said community support helped them raise enough to establish the physical site. In the same report, Marion County Animal Shelter director Breanna Courcy said her facility then had 105 dogs for 80 kennels and had been over capacity for about six months. That is a separate shelter’s figure, not a South Paw count or a measure of the new site’s effect.
The sources reviewed do not provide a tally of additional animals placed because of the new building. Budd described the goal as helping volunteers move pets into foster homes faster; any change in placement totals will take later reporting to measure. For now, the rescue says individual foster homes will remain the day-to-day setting for pets awaiting adoption.
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