New Burlington animal rescue focuses on reptiles, small mammals

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - A new animal rescue in Burlington aims to find new homes for some nontraditional pets.

Safe Haven Critter Rescue started up in November of last year.

Founder Eva Erdogan says she’s been doing animal rehab for years but noticed some gaps.

She says there are no shelters she knows of in Vermont that take in reptiles that people don’t want anymore. Red-eared sliders-- an aquatic turtle-- are a common one.

And she says many shelters that take small mammals like rabbits have a backlog.

“There is a lack of resources here for small mammals, but especially reptiles. There are a few rescues that takes small mammals, but they tend to be very overloaded. And it doesn’t really meet the need of how many animals there are,” Erdogan said.

While she is accepting new foster families, Safe Haven is not taking in new animals right now because of the overwhelming amount of surrender requests.

The available animals are listed on Petfinder and on Safe Haven’s website for people to see.

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