BARCS hopes to address the “continuing crisis in space” with an adoption on Saturday

The Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter hopes an upcoming adoption event will help create space at the shelter after being called out in recent weeks for housing more animals than it has room for.

Last year, the number of admissions at BARCS increased significantly – in 2023, the shelter will accept 71% more dogs than in the previous two years. Shelter spokesman Bailey Deacon said the shelter is on track to significantly exceed that percentage this year.

In late May, the BARCS facility admitted 300 animals in a week, including 84 from one case that was found in a Cylburn/Pimlico terraced house covered in feces and cockroaches. According to Deacon, the shelter can accommodate about 250 animals.

However, Deacon said adoptions are not keeping pace. A day after accepting 84 animals, the shelter received a batch of 17 large dogs.

“We have several large cases each year – we just can’t always publicize them due to the litigation surrounding these cases,” Deacon said in an email. “What we cannot solve without help is the lack of space in our shelter and the overwhelming costs of these large cases.”

BARCS is the city’s only open-entry shelter, which means it does not turn away animals. To create space for new animals, BARCS is organizing a “Mega Summer Adoption” at the Timonium Fairgrounds on Saturday. The event, which will also feature Baltimore Animal Welfare Alliance partners including the Maryland SPCA, Baltimore Humane Society and Baltimore County Animal Services, will be held in the 4H Building from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the fairgrounds, 2200 York Road in Timonium.

The goal is to expose the animals to a wider range of potential adopters in a more positive environment than a shelter, in hopes of securing more matches and making room for additional animals.

“This is where our ongoing space crisis comes into play and the plea for foster homes and other solutions,” Deacon wrote.

As for the 84 animals rescued from the animal hoarding case, a list of the animals was posted on the BARCS website and within days information was provided on almost all of them available for adoption. That’s 47. Meanwhile, 35 animals were taken to other local shelters so BARCS could reopen to other admissions, Deacon said, adding that most of the animals that ended up at other shelters were juvenile puppies.

Only two animals from the incident remain at BARCS: Funfetti, a large bully dog, and Sponge Cake, a 6-year-old cat. Deacon said the shelter is currently evaluating whether to show them at the event given their shyness.

The shelter has high hopes for the adoption event, which it last held at the fairgrounds in 2019.

“It was wonderful to watch these animals, many of whom had been passed many times at the shelter, immediately bond with their wonderful family and leave the fairgrounds with a new name,” Deacon said.

“Large adoption events like this make it possible to save the lives of shelter animals,” Jennifer Brause, founder and executive director of BARCS, added in a statement.

All adoptions are first come, first served and pet adoption fees are waived during the event. Adopters must be over 18 years of age and have photo ID.