Name: Christa Crater
Position: Medical Center Supervisor
First joining the ARL in 2011, Christa has performed countless duties around the shelter, from animal care to adoptions and, of course, medical care. After five years of service at the shelter, Christa took a few years to work in a private veterinary medicine practice, and in 2020, we were lucky to have her join our team again as our Medical Center Supervisor!
We asked Christa a couple of questions to share with our community.
Name any pets with their age/breed/etc that you have at home!
- Izzy (2012 ARL Alum) 10 years old, Doberman. (The beautiful girl pictured with me)
- MJ (2022 ARL Alum) 1 year old, Orange Domestic Medium Hair
- Niklaus (2022 ARL Alum) 2 years old, the most handsome Orange Mackerel.
- Mazikeen & Silver 4 years old, two sassy short hairs that were found on our property and we bottle fed.
- Eleven AKA MeowMeow AKA KiKi, 5 years old. She has many names. She was our first cat and my daughter’s best friend.
How long have you been working in animal welfare, and what made you want to work in this field?
I started working in animal welfare in 2011. I have always been a lover of animals and dreamed of working in veterinary medicine since I was a child. I spent a few years in emergency and private practice, but I really missed shelter medicine and being a part of an animal's new journey. Medically and behaviorally, it is awesome to watch them progress and move on to their forever homes. In 2020, I returned to the Animal Rescue League, and I could not be happier.
What is a day in the life of your job like?
Surgery happens every day until the afternoon, so during that time I am completing medical records, helping the team if needed, maintaining the schedule and appointments, and preparing our public patients for pick-up. After the patients and the team go home, the afternoons consist of meetings, inventory control, supply ordering, planning, safety committee/OSHA work. Most importantly, I lead an incredible team and I am there to cheer them on and help them be the best veterinary technicians they can be.
Over the eight collective years you have been with the ARL, you have been here through many organizational shifts. What accomplishments are you the proudest of that we have taken on as an organization?
Oh yes, I have been through many changes and worked in about every area in the shelter. Kennels, on-call, stray pick-ups, adoptions, and finally surgery. The shelter has grown so much over the last ten years, and there is a lot to be proud of. We now provide resources to the community, such as surrender prevention. We have a rockstar Animal Protection Department, and we perform nearly 40 surgeries a day! That is over triple what we were capable of a few years ago!
Tell us about a shelter animal you won’t forget.
Faith, a sweet injured dog who I picked up while I was on-call. Not being able to drive anywhere near where she was, I had to carry her 3 blocks back to the van. She had been hit by a car and suffered a broken leg. She buried her head in my shoulder and gave kisses the whole way. After going to foster, she gave everyone a scare one time by running away at an event, but thankfully she was found and was adopted into a magnificent home.
How does your department serve the animals at ARL, and how does it serve the animals in our community?
We perform any procedure our shelter animals may need and any treatments they need at the time (spay, neuter, amputations, enucleations, dentals, etc). We also handle emergent situations that may arise.
For our community, we offer low cost spay and neuter 4 days a week for cats and dogs. We also offer TNR services for outdoor community cats.
If you could cross one thing off your bucket list right now, what would it be?
Go to Disney World! I have never been there, and my son is OBSESSED with Mickey Mouse. He is non-verbal, but we 100% understand his love of Mickey. I cannot wait to see his face light up when we go one day!
What is one thing you wish people knew about your job?
I would love for those who have ever doubted us to visit and see all the wonderful things we now do.
Any last words of wisdom you would like to share with the community?
“'You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take – Wayne Gretzkey' -Michael Scott"