BARCS’ largest fundraising event of the year is happening this Saturday. BARCStoberfest helps the animal rescue organization care for the more than 12,000 homeless animals they take in each year.
The event will be held in Patterson Park starting at 7:30 a.m on October 28.
Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter (BARCS) estimates that they take in around 33 pets every single day. Animals like the one that came in last Wednesday. She was an older dog with little to no eyesight and hair so knotted it pinched her skin. The sweet pup was found on the streets, where she presumably had been for quite some time.
“You can see she still has a lot of mats all over her body here. We shaved her down the best we could without sedating her yet, so we're going to back through and try to get all of this cleaned up,” said Jennifer Brause, executive director of BARCS.
She'll get a good grooming and some much-needed TLC then she can rest easy now that she's in the care of BARCS.
“We have an open door policy. We're what's called an open admission shelter so every animal that needs sheltering will come to us,” Brause said.
Many of the animals they rescue require medical attention but they still take on the expense no matter the age, breed or species.
“We take care of everyone as an individual regardless of their age or their reason for coming in. Each one deserves our love and attention,” said Brause.
And they're able to do it through fundraisers like BARCStoberfest. The community event with lots of fun for you, your kids, and pets.
“There's scavenger hunts, coloring activities, we have obstacle courses, we have pet costume contests, and of course, one of the largest parts of the event is we have our Ready, Set, Sniff and it's our 5k run,” Brause said.
The fundraiser covers around 10 percent of their annual operating costs.
“Our medical costs are our highest expense for the shelter, and so fundraisers like this helps us to truly save thousands of lives,” said Brause.
The organization hopes to fundraise $250,000. If you’d like to contribute, click here.
There will be lots of animals up for adoption at the event and BARCS is waiving their fees through Halloween. For more information on BARCStoberfest and the list of events, click here.
