Critter Camp Exotic Pet Sanctuary

www.crittercamp.biz
Critter Camp Exotic Pet Sanctuary
Critter Camp is a registered non-profit 501c3 tax exempt charitable
organization. We are USDA and ILDA licensed and inspected, 100% no-kill,
and volunteer operated. Critter Camp cares for over 200 abandoned,
abused or neglected exotic and unusual pets of 30 different species. We are
the only sanctuary of our kind in the US, and possibly the world!
Our Belief:
At a certain point re-homing pets, particularly the unusual and exotic
ones, at all costs often serves only to make the people involved feel
better about themselves, irregardless of the stability and continuity of
care the elderly, abused or ill animal, actually needs. Euthanizing such
animals brings the rescuer down to the universally despised level of
“puppy-mills” in that if an animal is no longer useful to humans it
must be killed. This is incredibly heartbreaking. Again, people bred every
one of these pet animals for human enjoyment and/or profit, therefore
we as humans have an obligation to provide quality care for these
animals for their entire lives whether or not they are “pet quality.”

Critter Camp is also a member of the Rockford Chamber of Commerce and
the Northern Illinois Center for Non-Profit Excellence.

Not only do we give these elderly, ill, aggressive and otherwise
un-adoptable pets a safe, happy, healthy, final forever home but we also
provide educational hands-on tours of our sanctuary. At our current
location, in a private home in the small town of German Valley, with very
limited advertising, we have an average of 20 visitors per month coming
from Chicago and the suburbs, Wisconsin, Iowa, and even Missourri
specifically to see and pet the animals here. We also do educational
presentations at schools and other venues.

We are planning to build a "bricks and mortar" Sanctuary along Rte 20
between Rockford and Freeport within the next few years, possibly even
beginning construction in 2009. We have been writing grants for funding
and have opened a capital campaign fund at US Bank. We already have
committments of a volunteer general contractor and some skilled labor.

With the greater visibility and the larger capacity building (we will
be able to house over 650 animals) we expect to have thousands of
visitors coming to take our tours and to see the facility. According to the
IDOT the span of Rte 20 we are looking at sees average traffic of 15,000
vehicles per day.

The proprosed building will be built "green" utilizing passive and
active solar as well as wind power. We will compost the waste and even
"grow" redworms in the compost both to feed the animals we care for and
possibly to sell. These unique concepts will also bring increased tourist
to the area to see the building itself.

We believe that our new Sanctuary will be a fantastic, unique addition
to the Northwest Illinois region, as well as providing a much needed
service by caring for these abandoned pets that no other facility will
accept, and the educational aspect is a plus too.

Please see many more details on our website:
http://www.crittercamp.biz

We are also currently on the "short list" for a new series Animal Planet is developing right now. We are in talks with the producers every week!

Again this is the only exotic pet sanctuary in the country that accepts virtually any pet other than a cat or dog, and does not accept wildlife. We have hamsters, mice and geribls that are old, sick and are biters. Every single one of these small animals has a clean cage, fresh water, healthy food, toys to chew on and play with, and a wheel to run in. We have nearly thirty rabbits than
do not like human attention. We don't just 'warehouse' these animals
either, our set-ups for the animals are all quite innovative. The rabbits
and guinea pigs are free range, they do not live in cages! The ferrets
have a free range room and the fennec fox we have is free to roam as
well. The sugar gliders have very large enclosures so they can actually
glide and climb. We have two kinkajous about the same age (M & F, both
spayed/neutered) that we will introduce to each other in their brand
new kinkajou room when the building is built, so they can bond and live
and play together the rest of their lives. There are many more examples
that we can cite, but this gives you an idea at least.
Please visit our website!!!

Information provided by the owner