Critter Crossings is an all breed, all age, all size, dog rescue. Our philosophy is simple; we rescue, rehabilitate, and rehome dogs.
Critter Crossings was founded in March 2004 by our president, Julie Klingsberg, who began her rescue experience by fostering other dogs for local rescues; Pit Bull Rescue, Bichons & Buddies and San Diego Pet Rescue. Her first rescue of her own was a 6 year old Great Dane left at Fallbrook Animal Hospital because "they got new floors". This dog was in her care for nearly three months until a committed home could be found but once adopted, she went to the Humane Society and adopted an 8 year old Bernese Mountain Dog who had severe kennel stress, so much so that his paws and back end were chewed to bloody and his tail had a constant injury that bled due to being in such close quarters. And so it began, one dog at a time, until she realized she could do so much more by reaching out to the community for help.
Since that time, Julie has recruited a number of foster homes for the dogs – individuals or families who house, feed, and nurture the dogs into healthy, well adjusted canine citizens who are ready for adoption. No one in the organization takes a salary or other compensation for their efforts except for small administrative costs to keep our internet up and running the staffs' phones from dying and business cards (that are free except for shipping) and occasionally a tank of gas to drive four hours to rescue a dog from death. Our fosters are passionate about dogs, and are people who take in dogs for a day, a week, a month, sometimes even the better part of a year, while the dogs are assessed, immunized, spayed or neutered, healed, socialized, trained and turned into the best canine citizens they can be.
Critter Crossings is a breed apart from many other dog rescues, both locally and nationally. Some rescues will only take particular breeds of dogs, and some rescues will only take animals which are identified as easily adoptable – young dogs, dogs with no overt medical problems, - generally dogs that take pictures that people coo at and want to take them home instantly. These rescues are important, and they serve the function of matching healthy dogs from overcrowded shelters or breed-specific homeless dogs with dog owners who otherwise might pay for an animal from a breeder.
What makes Critter Crossings special, and gaining recognition amongst the rescue community, is our ability to see the incredible potential in every dog. We specialize in dogs that are considered hard to place - senior dogs, sick or injured dogs, dogs that lack basic training or socialization, dogs with shelter stress, or dogs that sometimes just plain smell bad. The dogs that we take may not seem like the most logical choices of animals to rescue, but at the core of our vision is the ability to see potential, where others see an undeniable fate; euthanasia. We see the injured, matted, mangy, despondent, old, broken, blind, deaf, and sometimes both dogs, and we know that these dogs are worthy and wonderful. With love, time and care, each dog is given the chance to become adoptable. We are a rescue’s rescue. We are the safety net for dogs without hope, who otherwise would meet their end without a family to call their own. These special needs dogs are our passion.
The unfortunate truth is that Passion, without precision, results in chaos. Where our passion would have us rescue every dog we could, we are limited by time, space, and money. On average each dog we rescue costs us $150, double that for seniors who require dental surgery and senior blood panels. This is the AVERAGE; we have rescued half a dozen dogs JUST THIS PAST YEAR who have required surgeries in excess of $1500.
Critter Crossings is basically the underdog rescue and we will continue to do so... rescuing dogs that are deemed unadoptable by shelters and abandoned by their owners. Whether they come in for a week or two or for the rest of their lives, we commit to them, for life. Our adopters are contractually obligated to return the dogs to our care if they are unable to keep their dogs; we have stuck to this obligation and luckily have only experienced about a 10% return rate... we're always happy to see their faces again, but our goal is to find that committed, loving, FOREVER home. If you decide that we are worthy of your funding, donation and sponsorship YOU will have made a contribution to saving the lives on homeless dogs in our community.
Amy Ardon, Director of Public Relations
[email protected]
These Dogs Have found Forever Homes through Critter Crossings
Critter Crossings Corp. is a Registered 501c3,
Public Charity in the State of California
EIN# 20-4269918
www.crittercrossingscorp.com
