Saving lives: Smithfield woman converts home to dog rescue, the Black Dog Club

Black Dog Club founder Dawn Herron is saving lives out of her Johnston County home – one furry face at a time.

Her Smithfield-based animal rescue and nonprofit was founded in 2015, but Herron has been rescuing dogs for more than 20 years.

"My original motto was 'one dog at a time,' and it was literally one at a time," Herron said.

Then two dogs turned into four dogs, four dogs turned into 30 dogs, and the rest is history, she said. Herron eventually left her career in telecommunications to dedicate 100% of her energy to the rescue.

She converted her two-car garage into indoor space for more than 20 dogs. Each has a crate for bedtime, and they spend most of the day outdoors, where they have 10 feet by 10 feet covered kennels and open space to play.

Herron calls the setup at her home the "mutt hut" and said she is with the dogs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

While the dogs take a nap midday, Herron is outdoors scooping poop and pressure washing the play area. She said her family is a huge help along with student volunteers from Cleveland High School.

Black Dog Club, on average, typically has about 22 dogs that need homes. That's in addition to Herron's own dogs – she has 10, ranging from 9 pounds to 110 pounds.

Herron is constantly accepting dogs from the Johnston County Animal Shelter, right down the road from her home, and other crowded shelters across the state desperate for more space.

Black Dog Club mainly pulls dogs from rural shelters and those with high-kill rates, but it's difficult to say no to anyone.

"That's the depressing part of the job," Herron said. "You're walking in to a shelter and you're pulling one dog and there's still 50 to 100 dogs in there. That's a little traumatizing. But we say to ourselves, we can only do what we can do and we can't focus on the fact that we can't take the other 99. We have to focus on the fact that we're at least saving this one."

Like other people who have devoted their lives to rescuing dogs, Herron often feels helpless, because there are always more dogs that need homes.

"I love it though," she said. "It's a blessing, it really is. You just can't put it into words."

Herron takes in all dogs, not just black dogs, but picked the name because it raises awareness. In shelters, black dogs and cats are adopted at lower rates than others.

Herron calls it "black dog syndrome."

People interested in adopting can visit the Black Dog Club website.