Kritter Korner closes door after 37 years
By BRENDA PITTMAN

NEWARK - For thirty seven years, people throughout the region have purchased pets of seemingly every description, as well as pet foods, treats and supplies, from Sally Reaves Kritter Korner Pet Shops.

But at the end of February, Reaves and her business partner, Robert Cislo, not only closed the doors of their two-year-old shop at 510 W. Union St., but also ended a chapter in their lives that has previously included ownership of four other Kritter Korner Pet Shops in Macedon, Farmington, Palmyra and Canandaigua.

'We're very sad about closing the store,' Reaves said. 'I can't tell you what it has meant to have had a hand in helping to bring literally thousands of animals together with their owners. All the smiles and wonderful stories they've shared with us about their pets have made us smile. And their tears, when they've lost a beloved pet, have tugged on our heartstrings as well. I feel like our customers are family.

The decision to close was not an easy one.

But Reaves said she decided to significantly reduce her operating costs by continuing in some retail sales, on a smaller scale, via the Internet. Her Web site will be www.kritterskorners.com.

Closure of the pet store will also allow Reaves to devote more energy to her wildlife educational organization, World Of Wildlife Educational Encounters, which annually conducts educational programs with exotic and other animals for children in schools, colleges and other locations and events throughout the Finger Lakes, the state and elsewhere.

'My hope is not only to continue our educational programs in schools and at other family-oriented events, but to finally be able to build a wildlife educational center where children and families can go to and see and learn much more about all the animals in our collection than they can in our 90-minute programs,' she said.

Reaves said she has always believed in the importance of teaching children amazing things about animals and instilling respect for them at a very early age.

'I've always believed that it is just as important for people to know how to properly care for their 79-cent goldfish as it is a very expensive dog,' she said. 'The common denominator is life, and it is to be respected and protected.'

WOWEE's programs educate not only about animals, but also the need to protect the environment they live in. Dr. Kevin Wolfer, a veterinarian at Lyons Veterinary Clinic who has worked with Reaves and her animals since 1989, said she is highly qualified to teach children about the animal kingdom.

'Animals have a very important place in Sally's life,' he said. 'She talks about them and thinks about them all the time. Her exotics are her real love and her heart is really with her educational programs for kids and helping to increase peoples awareness of the animal kingdom.'

Reaves educational outreach has long transcended the Finger Lakes region.

She and her animals have appeared on such programs as NBC's Today Show with Mutual of Omaha's Emmy-award winning zoologist Jim Fowler and Jack Hanna.

A wildlife educator licensed with the United States Department of Agriculture and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Reaves has often been called upon to temporarily care for animals, as with assisting with a wolf rescue with Lollypop Farms in 2006 and raising an orphaned tiger cub for a few months in 1998.

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