COCOA, Fla. — Some of her rescued animals may look a little scary, but it's only on the outside, Katherine Johnson says.

• Katherine Johnson runs the Animal Sanctuary in Cocoa
• She finds homes for shelter animals that are hard to adopt
• Animal Sanctuary doesn't take surrenders, only shelter animals

These dogs and cats at Johnson's Animal Sanctuary are not the pick of the litter — they're the ones overlooked perhaps because of age, illness, or temperament.

"We don't take the cute and fuzzy ones that are easily adoptable. We take the ones that have behavioral problems, they're sick, or need medical help," Johnson says.

The sanctuary does not take owner surrenders — only hard-to-adopt animals from Brevard County Animal Services. 

Most people want to adopt a puppy, purebred, or small breed, making the adoption of pit-bull mixes difficult. As Johnson explains, there are benefits to adopting a more mature dog or cat — the loyalty they provide is invaluable, and most of the time, they're trained with good household manners.

Johnson says the Animal Sanctuary started small about eight years ago, by rescuing one pet at a time, then fostering, until a permanent home for an animal could be found.

Now, she proudly says that 315 dogs and cats have been rescued.

Dogs such as Roxy take front and center at Johnson's rescue. Roxy wasn't young, had a broken leg, and was not a fan of other dogs. 

But one thing is "fur" sure: She loves her new family. Roxy was in foster care at Johnson's house for more than two years until a contractor doing work at her house bonded with the pup and adopted her earlier this year. 

Johnson rescues dogs from local shelters and finds foster homes for them. At any given time, there are about three fosters opening their homes to the animals and helping them get adoption-ready.

Over the next year or so, her 17 acres of land will have 11 buildings and be a safe haven for dogs, cats and some large animals such as Jessie the donkey, which came with the land along with three horses. The Animal Sanctuary broke ground in 2016 but an active hurricane season a couple of years ago delayed construction. Johnson is hoping the main buildings are completed this year so she can take in more animals from Brevard County Animal Services, which is run by the Sheriff's Office. 

The costs of acquiring land, construction, and providing health care for the animals has all been done without taxpayer money.

"Individual donors, foundations, people leave us in their will.... We don't get any state or county funding," Johnson says.

The sanctuary is always in need of volunteers and donations. As a reminder, the sanctuary does not take owner surrenders — only animals from the county shelter.