The vision of CARE for dogs and cats is to decrease the euthanasia rate in our county by increasing adoptions. We operate as a limited intake rescue, meaning we take in only the animals we have room and finances to house until they are adopted. Because we are limited intake we are able to find homes for all our pets and we only consider euthanasia in cases of severe injury, illness, or aggression.
We obtain most of our adoptable pets from the Oconee County Animal Shelter, which is the local open intake shelter. An open intake shelter is one that takes in every animal, regardless of the available space. As a county shelter, OCAS is required to not turn away animals. This leads to the need for euthanasia of some healthy pets because there is simply not enough room for all the pets who are turned in at the shelter. There are often healthy adoptable pets at the OCAS who are euthanized simply due to lack of space. We most commonly take puppies and kittens from the OCAS because these are the groups they need the most help getting into rescues quickly.
We also obtain pets from individuals in the community who can no longer care for that pet. Our goal is to promote responsible pet ownership and help end overpopulation. To that end, we require that owners who wish to turn in a litter of puppies or kittens to us commit to having the mother of that litter spayed. We have limited space in our rescue so we cannot take in every pet though we try to take as many as we can.
Once we take in a pet, Crossroads Animal Hospital provides full veterinary care for that pet. Dogs receive an exam, heartworm test, deworming, vaccinations and spay or neuter. Cats receive an exam, feline leukemia test, deworming, vaccinations, and spay or neuter. Dr. Jordan also treats any illness or injury that the pet may have.
We keep pets in quarantine initially to ensure they have no signs of illness and after that period is finished they are put up for adoption. We house our adoptable pets in foster homes or boarded at Crossroads Animal Hospital. If possible, we prefer to house in foster care so that the pets get socialization and lots of play time. We house our adoptable horses at foster homes as well.