A community is rallying around a Bedford animal shelter that's facing the possibility of foreclosure.

The Rescue Right animal shelter owes more than $150,000 in taxes to the Town of Bedford.

"It is very, very scary for these animals," says owner Penny Smith-Burke. She says the pet-boarding industry is competitive, and now, with the pandemic, few people are traveling, so there's less demand.

"So business has been up and down for years, however the need for our rescue services has only gone up and up," Smith-Burke says.

The problem is that she needs the income from her kennel business to support the rescue services.

Without it, she's left trying without the means to pay off nearly $100,000 of the debt by Dec. 18.

"Initially, I was just in tears, but now I have a lot more hope that this will work out," Smith-Burke says.

That hope was only made possible by locals who're donating to her GoFundMe page.

Meanwhile, the town released a statement that says they understand the community's interest in the shelter's fate, but that they "cannot treat this property owner any differently from others who have defaulted on payment of their property taxes."

So far, the facility has raised about half the money they need, but there's more to go before the deadline in just a few weeks.