A Summer Tradition 10 Years in the Making
At BARCS, we’re surrounded by a wonderful community of donors and volunteers. Among these amazing individuals is a young girl, Gabby, who dedicates her time every summer to collect donations for BARCS and our deserving animals. Here is part of her school report, which talks about her experience collecting donations for BARCS: “For the past 10 summers, I've organized a community donation collection drive for BARCS—an a…
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Remembering Dana Hersl
“I can still remember the first day I met Dana when I interviewed her for a vet tech surgical assistant position,” remembers Laura Cos, former BARCS staff member. “I asked her if she had any medical experience with animals, and she replied in the most confident yet sweet, melt-your-heart-kind-of response, ‘I walked dogs at a local shelter!’ So naturally, I hired her.” Dr. Barbara Press, long-time …
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Community Lifesavers: Clara and Rowan
Last week, two young community members stopped by BARCS with two clear buckets of money. Clara and Rowan, pictured here with big smiles and even bigger hearts, let us know that they had been saving their hard-earned chore money for one year. Their parents told them they could spend the money on whatever they wanted: candy, books, toys… the sky was the limit! While playing one day, Clara and Rowan heard the news that BARCS was…
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A BARCS Volunteer's Thoughts on Compassion
At BARCS, one of our core values is compassion: for the homeless animals who come through our shelter doors and for the people of our community. Every day brings new challenges for our passionate staff and volunteers. Recently, Brigid H., a BARCS volunteer, reflected what compassion means to her after an average day at our open-admission shelter: “Today, I did a transport for a mama dog and her two puppies (one of whom is pict…
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Community Partnership Spotlight: The Transformation Center
Today, we want to give a very special “thank you” to our good friends at The Transformation Center. On the first Saturday of every month, The Transformation Center generously allows BARCS to host our monthly low-cost vaccine and microchip clinic. Many of the pet owners in attendance expressed gratitude for the convenient location of The Transformation Center and the fact that they didn’t need transportation to get the…
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Spotlight on GeoVets
At BARCS, we believe that animal welfare isn't just a shelter issue—it's a community issue. Part of our lifesaving mission includes providing resources and services to help keep pets where they belong: in their homes. Today, we want to feature a nonprofit organization called GeoVeterinary International that has partnered with BARCS to provide critically needed medical services to pet owners in need in Baltimore. Dr. Jo…
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Packing Bags & Saving Lives
When she’s not covered in muddy paw prints, BARCS volunteer Lily Stark is a speech language pathologist for special needs students at the Kennedy Krieger Institute’s Powder Mill Campus. We all know teachers are always spending their own money and time to do special projects for their deserving students, and Ms. Stark is no exception. In her own words, here’s a fun activity she arranged for her students: “I wo…
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Butter Biscuit's New Beginning
2-year-old Butter Biscuit is destined for bigger and better things. His story was marked by heartbreak—he was abandoned by his people, tied to train tracks, his fate seemingly sealed. But, thankfully, a kind citizen found him and brought him to the sanctuary of BARCS. It did not take long for Butter Biscuit to become a staff and volunteer favorite. His sweet demeanor, his amazing cuddling skills and his love for all of his dog…
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Pattycake's Very Daring Rescue
At 7am on Thursday morning, Baltimore resident Mike P. was awoken by a strange yowling sound. When he looked out his bedroom window, he saw a broken down car parked outside with its hood open. He waited a moment, and then, the howling began again. It occurred to Mike that the noise was coming from the car. Mike quickly went outside to help. The driver of the vehicle had been driving for at least 10 minutes before realizing that an o…
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Community Partnership Spotlight: Liberty Animal Clinic
In 2021 alone, BARCS treated nearly 800 animals through the Franky Fund. This would not have been possible without the growing number of veterinary hospitals we have the privilege of being partnered with. Liberty Animal Clinic is one of these big-hearted hospitals that cares for emergency and specialized medical cases that come through BARCS’ doors. In late December 2021, tiny one-year-old Fennec was found wandering around the…
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