BALTIMORE — Everybody loves an underdog right? Well this Giving Tuesday, you can save one at Baltimore Animal Rescue & Care Shelter, or BARCS.
“Maybe they're a super senior pet or maybe they’re a hospice case,” said Bailey Deacon, the Director of Community Engagement at BARCS.
These underdogs and cats have unique needs and end up waiting a lot longer than usual to find their forever homes. This increases the average cost of their care to $500 compared to the $300 for more adoptable animals.
“A lot of people are familiar with our Franky Fund, which is for those emergency cases and the really critical serious things we take in, but somewhere in between those animals and the really adoptable ones is what we call our underdogs,” said Deacon. “What we are trying to do today on our Facebook is share every single underdog and cat that we have at the shelter today and simply raise $500 each so that we can make sure that they are well taken care of before we find their forever homes.”
1-year-old pup Beautiful is an underdog waiting to be adopted. One of her front legs and paws is deformed, making it difficult for her to walk. 1-year-old pup Risa is another, who has been at the shelter for two months.
“While she looks like a perfectly happy, healthy dog, she does have an issue with incontinence so she is a dog that in a home is going to need to wear a diaper and that requires a lot of extra work. It’s totally worth it though because she’s such a cuddle bug,” said Deacon.
There are also some cats that need extra help too. Gucci is a 10-year-old who needs a prescription diet and 5-year-old Loki is asthmatic. There is also a pair of senior dogs, Harold and Glam, that are bonded and need to be adopted together.
Click to see all available animals
It’s close to Deacon’s heart because the most recent addition to her family this year was an underdog named Cooper.
“He came in extremely emaciated. He did have a lot of behavior issues from the abuse and neglect that he endured and I fostered him and fell in love with him,” said Deacon.
She hopes that not only will they raise $500 for each animal, but that they will find their forever homes as well.
As of Wednesday, December 4, they have raised $80,000 with donations still coming in.
