‘Finding the right home’: Bridge to Home Animal Rescue celebrates helping 5,000 dogs
When Bridge to Home Animal Rescue’s founders began the organization in 2017, they were content to help 50 dogs in a year.
They ended up helping 100 within six months, and two weeks ago, they brought in their 5,000th dog – Todd the corgi mix.
“We were at another rescue, and we just thought that we could do things better,” said co-founder Tracey Crompton.
Crompton and four other women decided to start the rescue while sitting around Crompton’s dining room table. Their focus has been on rescuing dogs at risk of being euthanized in West Virginia and Kentucky.
“We help local dogs when they need it and when they fit into our program,” Crompton said.
Today, Bridge to Home has 30 foster homes in Washington County and the Pittsburgh area, including Crompton’s South Strabane Township home. Fred Crompton, her husband, is also very involved in the rescue.
Crompton said they took in Todd last week from a shelter in West Virginia. Todd had been in a bad situation, in what Crompton described as a “drug house.”
Todd is still being fostered, and still available for adoption.
“I haven’t found the perfect home for him yet,” Crompton said.
Crompton described the feeling of helping 5,000 dogs as “unbelievable.”
“We never imagined that the rescue would grow like it has. It has grown crazy,” Crompton said.
In addition to fosters, Bridge to Home also has volunteers who come to Crompton’s home to help with the dogs.
She says these “fairy dog mothers” help socialize the dogs and put them to sleep at night.
“Without our volunteers, we couldn’t do all of this … We have single moms, we have older senior citizens. I have a single mom that comes here with two kids once a week. A lot of kids come with their grandparents,” Crompton said.
Crompton emphasized that for Bridge to Home it is not about finding any home for a dog, but finding the “right” home.
One dog she fostered loved the swimming pool.
“I wanted a home that had a pool or boat … And I was not going to sacrifice that for her,” Crompton said, adding that the dog ended up with both.
Those who foster for Bridge to Home are obligated to give the dogs up eventually. Crompton notes that sometimes that can be bittersweet, but it is part of the mission of the rescue.
“Sometimes that dog just hits your heart a different way,” Crompton said. “We can’t keep them, because we have to focus on saving more.”