CRYSTAL RIVER, Fla. — A wildlife enthusiast is helping animals find a home in Citrus County.

What You Need To Know

  • Crystal River wildlife enthusiast Alyssa Clossin is expanding her animal sanctuary operation with a new pet marketplace

  • It's a service, Clossin says, that Citrus County is in need of with only a handful of animal sanctuaries in the area

  • While the part animal thrift store and part grooming salon is helping fund Clossin's sanctuary and rehab facility, she has her sights on something more

For years, Alyssa Clossin dreamed of the day she would open up her very own animal sanctuary. Now that dream is becoming a reality.

“She’s like a love sponge. All she wants is love,” Clossin said.

For Clossin, loving animals has been a regular past-time.

“It’s always been a passion of mine to take care of animals,” she said.

That passion has now turned into a duty as she embarks on her new project: starting her very own animal sanctuary, aptly named Alyssa’s Critters. From farm animals to the more exotic, Clossin has spent years learning the trade.

“Incredible rescues that taught me so much and then I kind of decided to go out on my own and open Alyssa’s Critters,” Clossin said. “But I want to be different than all the other rescues. I want to do farm and exotic animals. If I have the money, I’ll just go ahead and take the animal.”

There are only a handful of animal sanctuaries in the area. Clossin says she wants to offer additional services, particularly for exotic animals.

“They’re just a lot of care and people don’t know what they’re expecting when they adopt these animals,” she said. “So I let them bring them here and I’ll either adopt them or keep them as an educational animal.”

Animals like Jack the coatimundi.

“He is an educational ambassador for my program,” she said. “He is going to be able to go to schools or out to any functions we want so people can enjoy him the way I get to enjoy the wildlife.”

She also recently opened Alyssa’s Critter’s Marketplace—part animal thrift store and part grooming salon—to help fund the sanctuary and rehab facility. She’s even making it a family affair by getting some help from her brother.

“We couldn’t do this without the community,” Clossin’s brother Timothy Dreesen said.

He’s vice president of Alyssa’s Critters Wildlife Rehab and Sanctuary.

“They’ve been top-notch to us. They’ve been so much help and we couldn’t do it without them,” he said.

It’s been a busy first few months for the duo. But they have their sights set on something more.