Crossed Paws Pet Rescue: Animal adoption is a lifetime commitment. 'They are just like your kids'
WINTER HAVEN — While the holidays are a time when people consider giving pets as gifts, Stefanie Badillo, owner of Crossed Paws Pet Rescue, urges people to remember they are making a lifetime commitment.
“Your pets are forever. They’re not for convenience," said Badillo, 48. "They’re not for whenever your life changes — they don’t change with you because they have feelings too. They should be treated just like your kids. You wouldn’t give your kid away because you were moving.”
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Badillo has been rescuing dogs for 10 years and started Crossed Paws in Winter Haven as a nonprofit in 2018.
The organization's mission is to "use the power of our community and online resources to find all of our amazing pets a stable and loving family."
“My passion is to go trap the sick and unwanted or the ones that are skin and bones out in the woods that barely have a day to live," Badillo said. "Most of my dogs, I have then-and-now pictures and they don’t even look like the same dog.”
According to the Crossed Paws website, the dogs Badillo's care have their medical needs attended to by a vet and receive vaccinations, spay/neutering, heart worm treatment and microchipping.
“I am strictly donations," she said. "Whatever comes in donations, every dollar goes to my dogs.”
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Badillo does not euthanize animals and said she makes room for any dog she rescues.
In order to adopt from Crossed Paws there is an application process. Adopters must have permission from their landlords if renting or provide proof of home ownership. Also, anyone who has surrendered a pet for a reason not beyond their control will be denied.
“If you’re adopting a pup for Christmas you have to make sure it’s something the whole family wants,” Badillo said.
If you must surrender a dog you received from Crossed Paws, Badillo asks that you return it to her.
“And for any reason at all, I don’t care if the dog is 10 years old from now, and you can’t keep that dog you are to surrender that dog back to us," she said. "We don’t want you surrendering it to someplace else.”
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In 2020 Badillo had a total of 898 dog adoptions and her facility is always full with dogs waiting for a home.
“It’s a lifetime commitment and they are just like your kids," she said. "They have to be taken care of because they can’t take care of themselves.”
Crossed Paws Pet Rescue is located at 2720 Havendale Boulevard in Winter Haven. For more information about adopting a dog visit www.crossedpawspetrescue.org.
Tips for gifting a pet
Make sure everyone in the house agrees to have a pet and understands the responsibilities of having a pet
Allow the receiver to choose a pet they bond with
Make sure enough time will be spent at home during the holidays to begin training for the pet
This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Crossed Paws Pet Rescue gives tips on gifting a pet for the holidays
