REGINA -- The Riche family has welcomed a young kitten into their home after finding it in a garbage bin outside their home.

The kitten, now named Luna, was found on Thursday evening by 15-year-old Marissa Riche.

Marissa was taking the garbage from the house outside when she heard a cat crying in a garbage bin.

“By the time I opened up the bin, she was sitting covered in snow and ice cold and just crying and she was shaking so crazy," Marissa said. "It was like somebody stuffed her in between a garbage bag and like a box, and she couldn't get out no matter how hard you tried. It was just really sad to see.”

Marissa took the cat into the family's home to warm up. She didn't know how long the cat would be able to stay because her mom is allergic to cats. But so far, Luna hasn't bothered her mom's allergies and she is now a member of the family.

"Everything happens for a reason," said Marissa’s mom, Michelle.

"I'm just going to kind of stick with that theory on this one. My entire life I've actually been severely allergic to cats. So as long as nothing goes wrong, Luna has definitely won everyone's heart in the house, even the dogs'.”

But Luna isn't the only cat the family has found abandoned.

On Monday night, Marissa found a young kitten outside caught in a fence.

The family has named that cat Lilly.

Michelle said they will keep Lilly until they can find her a good home, but her children would like Lilly to stay too.

“These girls are doing a good thing,” Michelle said. “And we just got to keep reminding our kids to do the right thing, not the wrong thing."

Since the start of 2020, Regina Cat Rescue has rescued more than 500 cats. Right now, the volunteer organization has 170 cats in its care.

It said abandoned cats are common in Regina and has become a growing problem.

“The problem is that we have a cat overpopulation crisis in Regina," volunteer with Regina Cat Rescue, Rachel Molnar said. "People don't spay and neuter their pets, so we have all these unwanted kittens getting born. There's just too many kittens and not enough people."